Culham was the venue for a season-concluding spectacular, as after a summer break, the Plews Tyres British Masters Motocross Championship powered by Rock Oil returned for the 2026 champions to be crowned.
Race Report by Chriz Czora – Images courtesy of Reminscent Imagery
It was the first time the Oxfordshire venue had served as the championship finale, and it certainly delivered with a well-prepared circuit and good weather, a continual breeze ensuring the track ran loose and dry, albeit with occasional watering breaks to keep any excess dust at bay. With all of the youth and amateur titles yet to be decided, it was a tense weekend on the track, yet for everyone it was a cause for celebration, with the traditional Saturday night end-of-season funfair and party keeping riders and families entertained well into the night.
But before the revelry and the on-track excitement, there was firstly a moment for pause and contemplation. At 8:45 on Saturday morning riders, officials and spectators gathered to remember John Heathcote, whose passing had been announced in the weeks between the previous round at Little Silver. A popular and much-loved member of the British Masters organising team, John’s passing was sadly felt, and it was an emotional moment as riders brought their machines up to the race control shortly before the action began on Saturday.
A minutes’ silence was impeccably observed before the command was given to start engines and perhaps the perfect tribute to old John, as riders of all ages revved their engines before taking to the track for a lap of honour.
As the action got underway, the big question was who would emerge as 2026 Masters champions, and that question was the most unclear in the opening Clubman class, with an incredible nine riders still in realistic championship contention!
Hayden Stevens took a brace of wins at Little Silver to lead the charge by just five points from Frank Elwell, and a solid third in the first moto was enough for Stevens to consolidate his championship lead on Saturday, as Elwell struggled in the midfield.
But the real championship challenge began to emerge from further back, as previous red plate holder Kyle Briggs swept to the front on both of Saturday’s opening motos to take a double victory. Briggs had been the rider to beat in the opening two rounds, but a mid-season no-score at Schoolhouse had pushed him down to seventh in the title race. He was back to his best though, and took another win in moto three with Stevens in trouble after a bad start, only managing 15th place.
This still left the title in Stevens’ hands, with 17th or better in the final moto enough to guarantee the title. As the gate dropped Briggs was able to fight through the top ten to get past the fast-starting Tallon Aspden, taking a lead that he held to the chequered flag with a clean sweep of wins. All he could do was look back down the field and see where Hayden Stephens finished up. It was a tough race for Stevens as after a good start in the top ten, another rider collided with him and at the end of the second lap, Stevens was sitting on the bubble in 17th place! It was a tough final moto with the championship pressure but Stevens was able to keep his cool and move through the field up to 11th place at the flag, more than enough to secure the title, the screams of joy and relief under the helmet as Stevens crossed the flag certainly proved it was a job well done!
Briggs’ consolation for narrowly missing out on the title was a superb clean sweep of wins to take the weekend overall, with the fast-starting Liam Deegan enjoying his best round of the year, often running at the front with a brace of runner-up positions enough to secure second overall by just one point from Jamie Collins, whose third overall jumped him up to fifth in the final standings!
The Amateur MX1 title looked a bit more clear-cut as Mackenzie Marshall arrived with a 52-point lead over Raife Broadley; however, the title race was by no means a foregone conclusion as Broadley had been in good form at Little Silver with two moto wins.
Broadley’s title fight got off to a tough start, however, as a first-lap melee saw him right at the back of the field as Harvey Cashmore led from Leon Williams, Shaun Springer, Charlie Hamlet and Marshall.
Cashmore was locked in a fight with Hamlet for third in the championship and was looking good in moto one before despair, a mechanical issue putting him out of the race. The beneficiary was Leon Williams, who backed up his Little Silver podium by taking the first moto win, his first in 2026. Shaun Springer looked a threat in second place, and he went one better in moto two to control the race and take the win from Williams, whilst Marshall put in a strong third place.
That result meant that Marshall had one hand on the title, and as Cashmore fought back with a win in moto three, fifth place for Marshall meant that he celebrated with the bubbly! Title in the bag, Marshall had to dig deep in the final moto after slipping down on a freshly watered track, fighting back into the midfield.
This meant that the overall was up for grabs, and Shaun Springer took the opportunity as he fought through to the win from Leon Williams, who settled for second overall. It was closely fought for third, but Charlie Hamlet, who had run amongst the leaders all weekend, took the honours, and with it, the fight for third in the title race from Cashmore.
Over in Amateur MX2, Beau Brown looked to maintain his title lead from Harrison Greenough, after both had suffered misfortune at Little Silver.
Neither rider had an answer to wildcard rider Bailey Johnston, however, who put on a superb display of speed and smoothness to take a clean sweep of victories. This was despite overcoming a scare before moto three, when he suffered a nasty-looking tumble on the Sunday practice laps and damaged the bike. Repairs made, however, he showed no ill effects as he swept to the flag!
The battle for second overall saw quite a few riders in the mix; however, Alfie Calvert took a third in moto three to secure second overall, enjoying his best result of the year, just ahead of another rider enjoying his personal best, Conor McGrath. A fall in moto one hampered his initial progress, but a strong second in the final gave him the final step of the podium, after former champion Scott Alldridge, making a wildcard appearance, suffered a DNF in moto two which cost him a podium shot.
As for Beau Brown, he simply had to finish ahead, or close to main rival Harrison Greenough to secure the title. Greenough certainly fought hard, eventually taking fourth overall with a best result of third in the final moto. However, Brown’s fourth in moto two gave him the advantage, and a safe seventh in the final moto gave him fifth overall and the title. Incredibly, Brown did not win a moto all year, but equally he did not have a bad moto either, and his consistency meant the former MXY2 champion took a second Masters title, adding Amateur MX2 to his resume, the hhard-fightingGreenough settling for second, whilst reigning champion Zac Stealey had a solid weekend as he secured third in the title race.
The 125cc title was the closest to a foregone conclusion, as Ryan Waggiott essentially just needed to finish moto one to wrap up the title, with closest rival Jordan Bachelor needing to win all races.
Fourth in moto one gave Waggott the title, and from then it was the battle for the weekend, which brought with it some close racing! Neville Bradshaw and Maison Jones made much of the early running in moto one before Bradshaw was hit with an unfortunate puncture, and Jones, recovering from an injury-hit season, was passed by a selection of the frontrunners.
Joel Winstanley-Dawson has emerged as one of Britain’s fastest 125cc riders in recent months, and he swept to the first two wins from two welcome returnees, Matt Bayliss and Robbie Daly respectively.
Champion Waggott fought back in moto three to take a commanding lead, but Winstanley-Dawson refused to give up, and as the two landed off the final uphill jump to the flag, he managed to get the back wheel down just that fraction sooner, out-dragging Waggott to the line by one tenth of a second in a spectacular dash to the line!
Waggott was unable to respond to Winstanley-Dawson in the final race as he took a clean sweep of wins, whilst Robbie Daly took a hard-fought second overall. By far his best result of the year, Daly’s result was extra special, having occurred at the same circuit where a serious injury had ended his 2025 campaign before it had begun.
Champion Waggott took third in the final moto to secure third overall, whilst series runner-up (and former 125 champion) Jordan Bachelor fought back the years to take second in the final moto, fourth on the weekend just behind Bayliss.
Third in the title race was young Jack Leese, who put in some solid finishes on the edge of the top ten to snatch eleventh overall, on his comeback from injuries sustained during the summer.
MXY2 brought an entertaining title battle to a close as Jayden Jones looked to secure the title, despite Malachi Allen’s constant presence across the year.
Marley Alder has been the ‘best of the rest’ this year, and despite being a rank outsider for the title, nonetheless saved his best for last as he topped the qualifying charts and took three dominant wins, the only blot on the copybook being a fall in moto two, which relegated him to third place.
Taking the second moto win was Jones, perhaps a vital one to maintain the cushion at the top of the table, and with Allen taking a brace of second places it meant the three front runners were tied on points going into Sunday.
No one had an answer for Alder on Sunday, but crucially for Jones he was able to take a brace of second positions on Sunday to wrap up the title, just 37 points ahead of Allen, with the winner Alder closing the gap between the top three to 80 points at season’s end. It was certainly a good championship battle between these three riders, any one of which would have made a worthy champion!
In the 65cc Junior class, Kobe Roberts arrived as the champion elect having put together a strong ride at Little Silver; however, with the improving Cohen Llewellyn a threat after Little Silver, and previous red plate holder Mason Foreman back from European duty, there was still work to do.
No-one however had an answer for wildcard rider Jack Waters, establishing himself as one of the fastest 65cc riders in the country he continued his good form with a clean sweep of wins to take the overall. Blake Marks-Bracey followed him home in moto one, but his impressive season drew to an early end as he retired from moto two and was a non-starter on Sunday.
Kobe Roberts had taken a steady fourth in moto one, and he improved in the final three races to snatch three second-place finishes behind Waters, enough to outscore main rivals Llewellyn and Foreman and secure the title with one moto remaining. Roberts’ good weekend saw him take the second podium spot just ahead of Mason Foreman, who’d grabbed third places in both the third and final motos. Freddy Budgen continued his strong finish to the season, although not quite as successful as Little Silver he nonetheless managed to put some consistent finishes together and finished fourth overall ahead of Archie Pearce, another young gun who’s finished the 65cc season off strongly. Brendan McAreavy made the long journey across the Irish Sea a worthwhile one as he bagged the final prize-giving spot in sixth overall.
With the 65cc title done and dusted, there was still late drama even into the final part of the meeting, as the 85cc classes were yet to be decided!
The Small Wheel class appeared a little more clear cut as Frankie Noll had taken trio of wins at Little Silver, and with principal title rival Ronan Watson absent, it left the door open for him to wrap up the title, although third place Tommy Gaddes was still a threat.
Gaddes clearly kept up his side of the bargain with a win in the opening moto, and a strong Sunday as a second in the final moto was accompanied by another win as class frontrunner Riley Rogers dropped out of the final moto, and with it, ensuring Gaddes snatched the overall. That was of no concern to the second-placed overall rider Noll, who had spent the weekend playing the percentages, not necessarily battling for the win but always amongst the frontrunners, knowing he had the title in the bag.
The final moto was almost a formality for Noll, but he clinched the title in style taking a strong third behind Gaddes and the wildcard rider Ronnie Morgan. Noll’s first national title was a cause for celebration as the meeting drew towards a close; he also took second overall on the weekend behind Gaddes, whose impressive ride had been a little short for the title but nonetheless elevated him to the runner-up spot. Barrow took third overall ahead of Harrison Chiddey, whose consistent top-five finishes were enough to get him past the absent Ronan Watson for third in the championship. Morgan took fourth overall whilst Riley Rogers’ bad luck played into the hands of Bradley Thompson, who ran with the leaders all weekend and was rewarded with sixth overall.
So, as the 2026 season drew to a close late on Sunday afternoon, there was still one more title on the line as the final race of the weekend, the Big Wheel 85s took to the line.
The season had developed into a duel between Franky Donoghue and Riley-Ray Barrow, the two riders trading race wins and the red plate over the past few rounds. Two moto wins for Donoghue at Little Silver meant that the red plate was in his hands as the series headed to Culham, but only by four points.
The first two motos saw the two title rivals fight to the front; however, Barrow seemed to have a little more in the tank around Culham and was able to get past his title rival in the first moto to take a comfortable win, with Jamie Thorpe continuing his good run of form to finish in third.
Henry Lewis charged past the title rivals in the second moto as he took the flag. Crucially for Barrow, he was able to take second and, with Donoghue following him home in third, it meant they were level on points going into Sunday’s decider.
Sunday’s opening moto was pivotal, as Barrow again charged to the front from Lewis, the two riders battling hard for overall honours, with Tommy Hutchison fighting back from a difficult Saturday to finish third. Ethan Gawley put in a strong performance to finish fourth from Dylan Standing and Sidney Williams; however, in the title race, Donoghue was cut adrift from the pack in 16th, after fighting back from a bad start.
This meant the advantage lay with Barrow as the riders took to the gate for the final moto of the 2026 season. At the gate, Tommy Hutchison swept into the lead with Barrow giving chase. The two soon pulled away from the chasing pack, with Jamie Thorpe and Henry Lewis battling for third, with Ethan Gawlwy leading Donoghue, who was locked in a battle with Sydney Williams and Dylan Standing.
As the laps drew down, Barrow knew the title was in his hands and opted to drop back slightly in the final two laps as Hutchison pulled out five seconds to take his first moto win of the season. There was celebration in the Hutchison camp afterwards, but he was shortly followed by the entourage to celebrate Barrow’s title win, a hard-fought campaign which was evident in Barrow’s emotions, as he took a moment to compose himself before embracing his big moment. A tense, yet exciting finale to the 2026 season!
As the track crews packed up the banners and the final riders started to pack up and leave the paddock, it was certainly a moment to contemplate the season just gone as the Masters started its new era under the Plews Tyres banner. There were a couple of setbacks along the way, and the loss of the beloved John Heathcote meant that the season finale was somewhat poignant for many in the paddock.
However, Culham served as a great bookend to what had been a great season of racing, with good weather and some fantastic action on the track! The Plews Tyres Masters remained a rider favourite, and with more than 200 riders already completing their season registration forms, it looks like 2027 will continue in the same manner.
SEE THE FULL ROUND 6 RESULTS >>HERE<<
Final Championship Standings
Amateur MX1
Amateur MX2
Clubman
125
MXY2
Big Wheel 85
Small Wheel 85
65cc Junior
FIX AUTO UK TRIPLE CROWN (Final Standings after Round 3 – Wroxton)
