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Travis shows his Steel! 2023 Acerbis Amateur Nationals Round 5 – Race Report & Results

Travis shows his Steel! 2023 Acerbis Amateur Nationals Round 5 – Race Report & Results

The Acerbis Amateur Nationals moved into the second half of the 2023 series at the legendary Farleigh Castle circuit just outside of Bath and with heavy rain on Friday and some excellent track prep from the team, the circuit was prime all weekend even with a couple of torrential downpours.

Race Report by Arran Murphy – Images courtesy of Matthew Rudd Photography

First up to hit the grassy hillside were the Acerbis sponsored MX1 class and what a tight affair it was too with some seriously close action. Travis Steels was a wildcard at the event and snook the overall victory in the final moto by taking a win to back up his previous 2-6-2-1 results. Just two points further back was another wildcard and a former 125 champion of the series in Jimmy Margetson, who claimed the final moto win on Saturday which helped him to runner up overall just ahead of current series leader Jack Beniston who was just one point further back. Will Hughes and Mark Roberts were there or there abouts all weekend to take home fourth and fifth places respectively.

Keelan Hope

Everything got tightened up in the Craigs Motorcycles MX2 category as we left Farleigh with a new points leader. Enduro ace Lee Sealey excelled on the old school circuit and especially in the wet conditions taking home two wins and three runner up spots to claim the overall victory and with it the series lead heading into Culham. Louis Vincent was a wildcard and was always in the mix claiming the three remaining race victories on his way to runner up overall while the ever consistent Alfie Calvert kept his championship hopes very much alive taking the lower step of the rostrum and leaving just 6 points down in the championship chase. Logan Wilcox took his Suzuki to fourth while former points leader Jake Winnard took fifth overall just 11 points back from Sealey in the series.

Alfie Calvert battling one of the heavy rainstorms

Returning to the circuit which was part of his 2013 British MX1 championship winning year, Kristian Whatley showed up to Farleigh in fine form claiming a maximum points haul in the ultra competitive Moto Connection 125 2 stroke class. The Yamaha man fended off the attentions of series regular Ash Harland who pushed Whatley all the way to the flag but ultimately had to settle for runner up overall but most importantly claimed a maximum score for the championship points. Fresh from his World Junior championship outing in Romania Freddie Gardiner took third overall even after a disappointing third race where he finished a lowly 13th while Paul Neal and Matt Ridgway rounded out the top five overall.

Damo Strydom

It was business as usual in the MX Dreams California Open 2 stroke class as Josh Spinks extended his already hefty margin at the top of the standings to a solid 62 points after claiming his third maximum points haul of the season as he dominated the weekend. Rory Jones pushed hard all weekend and ended up runner up in all five races to stand on the second step of the podium ahead of rival and fast starting Cumbrian James Dent. Drew Roe had a solid weekend with a 3-6-4-5-5 scorecard putting him back into the top five and consolidating his fourth place in the standings with just two rounds left to go. Mitch Armour claimed fifth just five points behind Roe overall on the weekend.

James Dent

After a sixth place finish in the first moto, championship leader Riley Voase went on the take the remaining four race wins in the Manchester Xtreme Junior Open category and extended his lead to 94 points capitalising on closest rival Dan Nevitt not having the best of weekends. Lewis Petfield fresh back from injury took the opening race win but eventually had to settle for runner up overall after being pushed all weekend by Lewis Griffin who stood on the lower step of the podium. Marcus Feltham took a pair of runner up spots in the wetter races of the weekend which helped him to fourth overall finishing the weekend tied on points with James Milne.

Grace Packham

In the Motoverde Ladies class reigning champion Grace Richards put her Honda on the top step of the podium once again taking four wins backed up by a fourth in the final moto extending her lead at the top of the standings to 90 over closest challenger Rebecca Newham. Even though she lost points Newham had a consistent weekend with 2-2-4-4-3 results for second overall just fending off Grace Packman who had a sterling final moto where she took a very convincing race win in the wetter conditions to help her finish third overall. A pair of former champions in Nadiya Jones and Tanisha Thomas rounded out the top five.

Adrian Bradley

In the LS2 Helmets Vets Over 40 class the 100% win record is still well and truly on the cards as Ryan Voase once again went on to claim five race wins from five starts even having to come through the pack after a bad start didn’t hinder the Kawasaki man on his way to the maximum. Craig Chamberlain had a solid weekend and was mega consistent with 2-3-3-3-3 results on his way to runner up overall while Danny Tollett managed to fend off Carl Stannard and Lee Martin for the lower step of the rostrum, all three riders separated by just 6 points come the end of play Sunday.

Nigel Smorfitt

The final group to hit the track were the Roberts Plant Engineers Vets Over 50 riders where Simon Bonsor extended his points lead with the overall victory but he didn’t have it all his own way as Ady Bradley took a couple of moto wins over the weekend to secure the runner up overall on the tie break with Richard Miller. The fast starting Cumbrian put up a strong fight in his quest for a race victory but unfortunately came up short and had to settle for third overall ahead of former champion Chris Brown, while Andy Watkins was always in the mix and eventually finished fifth overall.

Cory Hockey

With Farleigh now in the rear view mirror all attentions turn to the penultimate round being held at Culham on the banks of the River Thames on the 12th and 13th August.

Zac Cheel

Results

MX1

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4 R5
1 TRAVIS STEELS 186 38 30 38 40 40
2 JIMMY MARGETSON 184 36 36 40 38 34
3 JACK BENISTON 183 40 40 29 36 38
4 WILL HUGHES 176 34 38 34 34 36
5 MARK ROBERTS 158 28 32 36 32 30
6 JAMES HUTCHINSON 154 30 34 32 30 28
7 KEELAN HOPE 142 26 27 28 29 32
8 BRADLEY FLAGG 137 24 26 30 28 29
9 SIMON BOOTH 130 27 28 25 25 25
10 JAY LEWIS 118 23 23 23 26 23
11 ED BRISCOE 116 22 29 26 22 17
12 KIA THIRLWELL 111 21 22 21 21 26
13 GLEN PHILIPS 110 29 27 27 27
14 BRADLEY BARFOOT 109 20 25 24 19 21
15 DAN WHITEHEAD 108 15 24 22 23 24
16 ADAM THIRLWELL 101 14 21 20 24 22
17 LUKE TURNER 88 17 19 18 16 18
18 LEWIS BARFOOT 84 16 17 17 15 19
19 TED BAILEY 77 18 20 19 20
20 CORY NEMETH 43 25 18
21 ARRAN WELLS 38 18 20
22 MICHAEL OGDEN 36 19 17
23 ANDY WILSON 32 32

MX2

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4 R5
1 LEE SEALEY 194 38 40 38 38 40
2 LOUIS VINCENT 186 40 30 40 40 36
3 ALFIE CALVERT 180 34 38 34 36 38
4 LOGAN WILCOX 158 36 34 27 27 34
5 JAKE WINNARD 152 32 32 32 30 26
6 PATRICK GILLIGAN 150 27 36 25 34 28
7 TROY JONES 140 25 28 30 25 32
8 LEWIS MEADOWS 140 29 29 26 26 30
9 OLLY JONES 140 28 21 36 28 27
10 BEN WHITE 139 30 27 28 29 25
11 MITCHELL MEADOWS 134 18 26 29 32 29
12 HATDEN STEVENS 120 24 25 24 23 24
13 CONNER CHALLINOR 116 23 24 23 24 22
14 JORDAN HEARN 114 26 22 21 22 23
15 ADAM NEVITT 103 20 23 22 20 18
16 ARRAN MURPHY 98 22 19 19 21 17
17 LUKE PRICE 93 19 20 16 19 19
18 ALEXANDER MORRIS 86 16 16 20 14 20
19 KYLE NOBLE 74 21 18 18 17
20 ALEX CHAMBERS 69 14 14 14 13 14
21 DANNY BOORER 68 13 15 13 12 15
22 JAKE BAKER 49 17 17 15
23 LUKE POSS 47 15 17 15
24 TALLON C 39 18 21
25 KEIRAN WEBB 36 12 13 11
26 LEWIS COUSENS 32 16 16

2 Stroke Open

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4 R5
1 JOSH SPINKS 200 40 40 40 40 40
2 RORY JONES 190 38 38 38 38 38
3 JAMES DENT 178 34 36 36 36 36
4 DREW ROE 164 36 30 34 32 32
5 MITCH ARMOUR 159 30 29 32 34 34
6 JAY CHEEL 154 32 34 30 29 29
7 ROSS BENTON 145 29 32 28 28 28
8 JAMES HANSCOMB 137 28 26 29 27 27
9 REECE WAINE 136 26 28 27 25 30
10 GEORGE BAYLISS 119 24 25 24 22 24
11 ALEX NEEDHAM 116 21 27 25 20 23
12 OLIVER BARNES 112 22 24 21 26 19
13 TYLER WILCOX 110 20 23 22 23 22
14 JASON MARTIN 110 23 22 23 21 21
15 JOE JORDAN 94 25 26 17 26
16 FRED BOX 79 19 21 19 20
17 JAMIE CASSIDY 56 18 20 18
18 JORDAN BARRS 55 30 25
19 CHAE JENKINSON 27 27
20 BEN WALKEN 24 24

125 2 Stroke

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4 R5
1 KRISTIAN WHATLEY 200 40 40 40 40 40
2 ASH HARLAND 182 36 38 34 38 36
3 FREDDIE GARDINER 173 38 36 38 23 38
4 PAUL NEAL 166 30 34 36 36 30
5 MATT RIDGWAY 150 34 27 28 29 32
6 DAMON STRYDOM 149 28 32 30 30 29
7 HARRY LINTON 144 32 29 27 28 28
8 LUKE NEWMAN 140 25 25 29 34 27
9 COREY HOCKEY 135 7 30 32 32 34
10 ALAN PEACRE 130 26 28 24 26 26
11 TROY WILLERTON 129 29 22 26 27 25
12 HARRY BARKER 116 23 23 25 25 20
13 RYAN WAGGOTT 111 27 26 17 22 19
14 SEAN VENESS 103 21 24 20 15 23
15 WYATT McGREGOR 100 15 21 21 21 22
16 ASH CROSSLEY 96 5 20 23 24 24
17 OLLY HATHWAY 91 20 18 16 16 21
18 WILL TURNER 89 22 15 19 19 14
19 CAMREN JACKSON 80 24 22 17 17
20 JACK EVANS 80 19 16 18 11 16
21 ADAM DYER 70 11 19 15 13 12
22 SONNY NOBLE 68 17 14 14 12 11
23 BRYN BROOKES 63 16 10 13 9 15
24 ARCHIE TAYLOR 63 18 17 8 20
25 LOUIS PERRIN’BROWN 60 10 11 12 14 13
26 CRAIG REYNOLDS 52 12 12 11 7 10
27 TOM BLACKWOOD 39 8 9 10 6 6
28 OLIVER ELMS 35 6 7 9 5 8
29 JACK TOTTLE 28 10 18
30 JAMIE ALLAN 28 9 8 4 7
31 LEWIS COUENS 27 14 13
32 KRISTIAN HUTHINGS 18 18
33 JAKE CHAMBERLAIN 17 8 9
34 BENJAMIN SULLIVAN 13 13

Ladies

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4 R5
1 GRACE RICHARDS 194 40 40 40 40 34
2 REBECCA NEWHAM 180 38 38 34 34 36
3 GRACE PACKMAN 174 32 26 38 38 40
4 NADIYA JONES 174 34 36 36 36 32
5 TANISHA THOMAS 163 36 25 32 32 38
6 CATLEN NEWMAN 144 26 29 30 30 29
7 LILLY MORELAND 141 29 27 28 27 30
8 AMBER McGREGOR 139 28 28 27 28 28
9 KADY MOORE 136 27 32 25 26 26
10 EMILY NOON 133 25 30 26 25 27
11 TAYLOR SCOTT 122 30 34 29 29

Vets Over 40

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4 R5
1 RYAN VOASE 200 40 40 40 40 40
2 CRAIG CHAMBERLAINE 182 38 36 36 36 36
3 DANNY TOLLET 174 36 30 38 38 32
4 CARL STANNARD 170 30 34 34 34 38
5 LEE MARTIN 168 32 38 32 32 34
6 DAVID EVANS 152 34 28 30 30 30
7 ANDY LILENTHALS 139 25 32 28 27 27
8 NEIL GRIFFTHS 138 28 26 27 28 29
9 DAVID WILCOX 138 29 23 29 29 28
10 DALE SILK 119 23 22 24 26 24
11 MARK SUTHERLAND 117 24 21 22 25 25
12 MARK SLADE 110 19 27 20 21 23
13 GAVIN HALL 105 21 18 21 24 21
14 CHRIS ROWLANDS 94 18 20 18 18 20
15 STE MARLOW 92 26 25 19 22
16 RICHARD BRYCE 91 17 19 17 19 19
17 ANDY DUFILED 89 22 25 20 22
18 ANDREW LITTLE 82 27 29 26
19 JOHN CARRUTHERS 67 20 24 23
20 NEIL LONG 49 23 26
21 GARY CHESHIRE 49 16 16 17

Vets Over 50

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4 R5
1 SIMON BONSAR 190 40 38 40 40 32
2 ADY BRADLEY 182 36 40 32 34 40
3 RICHARD MILLER 182 38 36 36 38 34
4 CHRIS BROWN 172 32 34 34 36 36
5 ANDY WATKINS 170 34 30 38 30 38
6 NIGEL SMORFITT 144 29 28 28 29 30
7 DAVE DUNN 144 24 32 27 32 29
8 CHRIS ELCOCK 137 28 29 26 28 26
9 EWAN JOHNSTON 135 30 21 30 27 27
10 PAUL WIECZOREK 124 17 26 29 24 28
11 ADRIAN LEWIS 121 21 24 25 26 25
12 BRIAN FRASER 107 22 22 24 15 24
13 STEVE HOWES 100 16 23 16 23 22
14 PAUL CURTIS 99 18 20 21 17 23
15 ADRIAN JESSOP 99 20 19 17 22 21
16 IAN WILSON 94 19 15 22 20 18
17 DAVID HOPKINS 91 14 25 19 18 15
18 STEPHEN HUMPHIRES 87 13 13 20 21 20
19 MICHALE JOHNSTON 73 15 18 13 14 13
20 STEVE ELFORD 72 27 27 18
21 ALAN REECE 69 9 16 15 12 17
22 SIMON SMART 63 23 17 23
23 IAN POSS 56 11 10 11 8 16
24 NEIL PRINGEL 47 10 9 14 14
25 STEVE MATTHEWS 44 25 19
26 VINCE LARCOMBE 44 6 7 10 9 12
27 JOHN CARD 39 5 12 9 13
28 PHIL WEST 29 12 7 10
29 COLIN BERRY 27 7 8 12
30 JAMES WITLOW 26 26
31 CHRIS STEMP 25 25
32 ANDREW PROSSER 25 3 11 11
33 PAUL RODGERS 23 5 7 11
34 ANDY STEPHENS 20 6 8 6
35 JOHN PRISTLEY 19 19
36 CHRIS MURPHY 18 4 14
37 TONY PRIESTLEY 16 16
38 ROB BAYMAN 9 5 4
39 NEIL JENKINSON 8 8
40 BRIAN LINTON 6 6
41 ed briscoe 5 5
42 PAUL BUNN 2 2
43 MATT JONES 1 1

Junior Open

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4 R5
1 RILEY VOASE 190 30 40 40 40 40
2 LEWIS PETFIELD 182 40 34 34 38 36
3 LEWIS GRIFFIN 166 34 32 32 36 32
4 MARCUS FELTHAM 161 27 38 29 29 38
5 JAMES MILNE 161 29 36 30 32 34
6 KIERON MULLOY CARD 158 38 24 38 28 30
7 LIAM GUNNING 147 32 22 36 34 23
8 BILLY WIECZOREK 139 36 21 28 30 24
9 DAN NEVITT 135 28 29 27 22 29
10 SAMUEL RAYNER 133 24 30 26 27 26
11 JAMES NEWBY 126 23 28 24 24 27
12 TAYLOR MISSELBROOK 114 19 27 19 21 28
13 SHEA RYAN 108 26 13 25 25 19
14 BEN HUGHES 106 25 25 18 17 21
15 STEFAN ROBSON 92 20 17 20 18 17
16 THOMAS CARRUTHERS 92 10 20 22 26 14
17 TOM CARD 85 22 26 17 20
18 DAN TIMBRELL 81 13 15 23 23 7
19 SAM HAMER 78 15 23 12 10 18
20 KERION DAVIES 76 18 11 15 19 13
21 DAN EVANS 74 16 19 14 15 10
22 JOE WINNARD 71 14 8 13 14 22
23 ANTONIO SOUZE 71 21 6 9 20 15
24 ADAM BARFOOT 68 11 12 21 13 11
25 MATT BENNETT 58 7 18 8 9 16
26 LLOYD CLARKE 56 17 9 7 11 12
27 JAKE BASHFORD 54 8 14 16 16
28 ZAC CHEEL 36 6 10 12 8
29 JOSH OATES 33 12 7 11 3
30 TY MAYTOM-JONES 29 9 4 7 9
31 ADRIAN WHITCOMBE 26 4 16 6
32 KEIRON WOODS 25 25
33 TOM BERRY 19 5 10 4
34 RYAN NEALE 17 3 5 1 8
35 RYAN WOODS 14 2 2 4 6
36 BEN PROSSER 11 5 6
37 STURAT BARFOOT 9 1 3 5