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Pontrilas power up! 2022 Acerbis Amateur Nationals Round 5 – Race Report & Results

Pontrilas power up! 2022 Acerbis Amateur Nationals Round 5 – Race Report & Results

Pontrilas, just a couple of miles from the Welsh border, was the host venue to round 5 of the 2022 Acerbis Amatuer Nationals, and with the hot weather baking the circuit through the week, dust and a hard surfaced track were the order of the day for Saturday but rain turned up and dampened things down for Sunday.

Report by Arran Murphy – Images courtesy of JMFS Photography

First up this time around was the Craigs Motorcycles sponsored MX2 class who were first out where GasGas man Dom Newbury continued on his run of form. After claiming the honours at Culham, he backed up his performance and went on to take the overall victory at Pontrilas with two wins, a third and a fourth, just pipping series leader Dylan Spencer by a couple of points. Spencer took a win of his own in moto 3 but just fell short, while wildcard Zac Stealey was always in the mix, claiming third for his efforts. Olly Jones took a season-best fourth while Harry Linton, who looked in the running for the overall had mechanical issues in the final race dropping him to fifth.

In the Paradise MX Holidays MX1 category 2019 Weston Beach Race winner Ashley Greedy made a wildcard appearance on board his Kawasaki and he dominated the weekend, claiming all four race wins and maximum points. MX1 class leader Jack Beniston extended his points lead out from the original 37 points as he went home with a bag full of runner-ups on the day, finishing ahead of his championship rivals each time out. Luke Meredith will have moved up to runner up in the series after capitalising on Ed Briscoe having issues this weekend as the number 17 bike stood on the lower step of the rostrum while Sion Talbot and the returning from injury Andy Wilson rounded out the top five.

In the Moto Connection 125 2 stroke class Ash Harland took his new GasGas machine to its maiden victory. 1-1-1-3 results were the outcome and in the process, proving the switch from blue to red was worthwhile. Rob Holyoake consolidated his spot at the top of the standings extending his lead further with the runner-up spot at Pontrilas, claiming the final moto win on his way as Joel Fisher got better as the weekend went on with 5-4-3-2 results to land him on the lower step of the rostrum. Matt Ridgway and Damon Strydom fought hard all weekend to take home the final couple of spots inside the top five.

Corey Hockey was close to making it a full sweep of race wins in the California MX Dreams Open 2 stroke class as three wins split by a moto 3 runner up place as the rain came down, gave him the honours extending his already whopping 88 point gap at the top even further. Rory Jones pushed hard all weekend and landed inside the top three in all four motos but just couldn’t hang onto the flying 54 machine. Cumbrian James Dent put his enduro skills into good use in the third race of the weekend as the rain came down, and he took the remaining race victory to help him to third overall on the day. Reigning champ Adam Harris finished the weekend in fourth aboard his Fantic and Jordan Barrs rounded off the top five.

In the LS2 Helmets Vets Over 40 class Danny Tollett and Lee Martin continued on with their season-long scrap for top honours as the title race nears the closing stages. Tollett took his KTM to a pair of wins over the weekend backed up by a second and a fourth giving him the honours by just a couple of points over Martin, who came into the event 51 points up. Simon Bonsor was always in and around the top three and eventually finished the weekend with third overall for his efforts. Barry Gray had a pair of fifth places and a pair of thirds to give him fourth overall while Craig Chamberlain took his first moto win of the year on Saturday to boost him to fifth overall.

It was business as usual in the Roberts Plant Engineers Vets Over 50 class as Brian Wheeler did his usual holeshot and checked out in each moto on his way to four more wins and keeping his 100% undefeated streak alive. Chris Brown, now Honda mounted, had no answer for the former GP rider and once again, as he has all year had to settle for runner up overall as Cumbrian Paul Coward had a solid weekend taking home a fifth, fourth and two thirds on his way to standing on the final step of the podium. Adrian Lewis took home fourth while Brian Fraser won out on the tie break for fifth with Rob Prosser.

In the Motoverde Ladies category, things were blown wide open as championship contender Kathryn Booth had a huge crash in the second race, causing a big cut to her forehead from the impact meaning a DNF and huge points lost. It was wildcard returnee Elaine MacEachern who made the trip down from Scotland to take the victory with two wins a two runner up spots. Elaine didn’t have it all her own way though as series leader Grace Richards capitalised on Booths issues and took a pair of race wins herself on her way to runner up overall ahead of her new closest challenger Amie Goodlad. Grace Packman and Rebecca Newham finished the weekend in fourth and fifth places, respectively.

There was a fresh face on the top step of the Manchester Xtreme Junior Open category for the first time in 2022 as Jack Gotts dominated the weekend claiming four wins from four starts showing everyone he enjoys riding the harder-packed circuits and giving himself maximum points. Liam Somerville already with a huge lead at the top of the standings had to settle for runner up this time around but will still have a solid gap going into the final 2 rounds. Luke Price tied on points with Somerville, but the final race went against him, and so third was the end result while Tom Card and Jake Bashford finished the weekend fourth and fifth overall respectively.

The series now heads to the famous Farleigh Castle for the penultimate round of the series.

Results

MX1

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4
1 ASHLEY GREEDY 160 40 40 40 40
2 JACK BENISTON 152 38 38 38 38
3 LUKE MERADITH 129 34 29 34 32
4 SION TALBOT 129 36 36 28 29
5 ANDY WILSON 128 30 32 36 30
6 LEE SEALEY 124 22 34 32 36
7 CORY NEMETH 116 28 27 27 34
8 JOSH GREEDY 105 27 28 26 24
9 JOSH CANTON 101 19 26 30 26
10 ED BRISCOE 97 25 25 20 27
11 DANIEL PARRY 94 26 21 19 28
12 PATRICK GILLIGAN 92 24 16 29 23
13 JAY LEWIS 91 21 24 24 22
14 TYE BARRS 90 18 22 25 25
15 ADAM THIRWELL 90 29 19 21 21
16 SIMON BOOTH 87 23 23 22 19
17 KIA THIRWELL 83 20 20 23 20
18 HARVEY TILLOTSON 77 32 30 15
19 PETE HAMLETT 71 17 18 18 18
20 DEAN CUMMINGS 67 16 17 17 17
21 THOMAS O’CONNOR 61 15 15 16 15
22 NICK DAVIS 43 14 13 16
23 HARLEY JONES 14 14

MX2

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4
1 DOM NEWBRY 150 36 40 34 40
2 DYLAN SPENCER 148 34 38 40 36
3 ZAC STEALEY 140 38 28 36 38
4 OLLY JONES 131 29 36 32 34
5 HARRY LINTON 127 40 32 38 17
6 ALFIE CALVERT 123 32 34 27 30
7 JORDAN HEARN 114 28 29 28 29
8 SCOTT MERADITH 112 27 24 29 32
9 MITCHELL MEADOWS 110 25 27 30 28
10 OLIVER BARNES 99 26 21 25 27
11 AARON COLLINS 94 22 23 24 25
12 RYAN MANLEY 93 23 26 21 23
13 JUDE HARDTWELL 90 20 18 26 26
14 ELLIOTT COOK 87 24 25 20 18
15 ARRAN MURPHY 83 21 19 22 21
16 LUKE TUNRER 81 17 17 23 24
17 ADAM NEVITT 81 18 22 19 22
18 DANIEL NEVITT 76 19 20 18 19
19 LEWIS GLYNN 60 30 30
20 SIMON ALDRIDGE 37 17 20
21 GEORGE PATTINSON 16 16

2 Stroke Open

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4
1 COREY HOCKEY 158 40 40 38 40
2 RORY JONES 150 38 38 36 38
3 JAMES DENT 148 36 36 40 36
4 ADAM HARRIS 134 34 32 34 34
5 JORDAN BARRS 128 30 34 32 32
6 KEELAN HOPE 122 32 30 30 30
7 MATT HOCKENHALL 108 25 27 27 29
8 JAMES HANSCOMB 108 29 29 29 21
9 MATT LOMAS 101 26 25 22 28
10 RYAN MATTHEWS 101 27 26 24 24
11 REECE WAIN 97 23 23 26 25
12 SEAN VENESS 96 24 22 23 27
13 REECE WILKINSON 86 22 20 21 23
14 AJAY SIMPSON 84 21 21 20 22
15 RYAN DEACON 81 28 28 25
16 ALEX NEEDHAM 78 24 28 26
17 TOMMY SIMPSON 20 20

125s

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4
1 ASH HARLAND 156 40 40 40 36
2 ROB HOLYOAKE 150 34 38 38 40
3 JOEL FISHER 140 32 34 36 38
4 MATT RIDGWAY 134 36 36 32 30
5 DAMON STRYDOM 132 38 32 30 32
6 LIAM GALE 128 30 30 34 34
7 TIM GARDHAM 113 29 28 27 29
8 HAYDEN STEPHENS 106 24 26 28 28
9 LEWIS PETFIELD 104 25 29 25 25
10 HARRISON FORDE 104 27 24 29 24
11 ALAN PEARCE 100 28 27 22 23
12 GEORGE POOL 99 26 21 26 26
13 TROY JONES 96 20 25 24 27
14 JOSH NOON 86 23 19 23 21
15 BEN HUNTER 83 19 23 21 20
16 HAYDEN BROWN 80 21 20 17 22
17 CRAIG REYNOLDS 75 18 18 20 19
18 JACK JORDAN 69 16 17 18 18
19 LOGAN POWELL 63 22 22 19
20 RYAN LOWES 17 17

Junior Open

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4
1 JACK GOTTS 160 40 40 40 40
2 LIAM SOMERVILLE 133 36 27 36 34
3 LUKE PRICE 133 38 28 38 29
4 TOM CARD 124 34 30 28 32
5 JAKE BASHFORD 122 27 36 29 30
6 RICHARD EVANS 117 26 34 30 27
7 TAYLOR MISSELBROOK 113 30 32 25 26
8 DAN TIMBRELL 109 19 38 16 36
9 FINNLY ABOTT 94 32 24 15 23
10 KEVIN BROWN 94 29 12 32 21
11 DALE LYONS 92 20 25 27 20
12 BILLY WIECZOREK 89 21 29 23 16
13 JACK GATLAND 83 18 21 20 24
14 SAM HAMER 81 22 19 21 19
15 STEFAN ROBSON 80 28 26 13 13
16 SHEA RYAN 75 23 17 10 25
17 ADRIAN WITCOMBE 74 4 16 26 28
18 KIERON DAVIES 74 15 15 22 22
19 CONOR BROOKES 72 34 38
20 MATT BENNETT 67 17 20 12 18
21 ADIEE SMITH 66 16 22 18 10
22 DAN EVANS 59 13 18 11 17
23 MARK RIDGWAY 57 14 11 17 15
24 TOM EVANS 51 10 13 19 9
25 JAMES MILNE 48 24 24
26 KEIRON WOODS 41 11 23 7
27 HARRY WIECZOREK 40 6 14 6 14
28 LOUIS SMITH 39 9 9 9 12
29 BEN PROSSER 37 12 6 8 11
30 SEB BASHFORD 25 25
31 TOM BERRY 25 5 7 5 8
32 TOM MATTHEWS 25 8 10 1 6
33 AIDEN MURPHY 23 7 8 3 5
34 RYAN NEALE 18 2 5 4 7
35 HARLEY JONES 14 14
36 RYAN WOODS 9 3 2 4
37 JASON BRICE 8 3 2 3
38 BEN LOCKLEY 7 1 4 2
39 CIA NICKSON 1 1

Ladies

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4
1 ELAINE MACEACHERN 156 40 38 38 40
2 GRACE RICHARDS 150 34 40 40 36
3 AMIE GOODLAD 140 36 36 34 34
4 GRACE PACKMAN 124 30 32 32 30
5 REBECCA NEWHAM 121 29 30 30 32
6 EMILY NOON 115 28 29 29 29
7 KATHRYN BOOTH 112 38 36 38
8 LILY MORELAND 111 27 28 28 28
9 ANDREA TAYLFORTH 104 25 26 26 27
10 AALIYAH HULBERT 80 26 27 27
11 NADIYA JONES 66 32 34

Vets Over 40

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4
1 DANNY TOLLET 152 40 34 40 38
2 LEE MARTIN 150 38 38 34 40
3 SIMON BONSAR 144 36 36 38 34
4 BARRY GRAY 136 32 32 36 36
5 CRAIG CHAMBERLAINE 129 34 40 30 25
6 PAUL WIECZOREK 119 28 30 29 32
7 DAVID EVANS 114 30 22 32 30
8 CHRIS RUDD 112 27 29 27 29
9 NIGEL SMORFITT 108 26 26 28 28
10 MARK SUTHERLAND 103 24 27 26 26
11 GUY LANANEAD 98 23 24 24 27
12 DALE SILK 96 22 25 25 24
13 GAVIN LOWES 88 21 21 23 23
14 ADAM WILKINSON 57 29 28
15 STEVE RILEY 48 25 23

Vets Over 50

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4
1 BRIAN WHEELER 160 40 40 40 40
2 CHRIS BROWN 152 38 38 38 38
3 PAUL COWARD 138 32 34 36 36
4 ADRIAN LEWIS 119 28 29 30 32
5 BRIAN FRASER 115 29 27 29 30
6 ROB PROSSER 115 27 32 32 24
7 ADRIAN JESSOP 109 23 25 27 34
8 STEVE HUMPHRIES 104 25 24 26 29
9 STEPHEN POLLOCK 99 24 22 25 28
10 DAVID HOPKINS 96 34 28 34
11 STAN MORFITT 94 19 20 28 27
12 MIKE JOHNSTON 87 22 17 23 25
13 ANDY WATKINS 72 36 36
14 ANDREW PROSSER 67 19 22 26
15 JOHN CARD 65 20 21 24
16 ANDREW LITTLE 60 30 30
17 STEVE HOWES 49 26 23
18 COLLIN BERRY 47 21 26
19 TIM RIGGS 34 18 16
20 ROB LEWIS 18 18