The Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship came to Blaxhall at the weekend. RICK BLYTH reports on a hot day with local success
Sunday saw a huge crowd of race fans descend on the Blaxhall Circuit near Woodbridge to witness the Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship take place in glorious sunshine.
Once again the circuit was immaculately prepared by the host club, Woodbridge DMCC.
Many of the race fans arrived hoping to see local riders Jake Nicholls and Elliott Banks-Browne take victory against a strong field of British and European riders in the MX1 class and the pair didn’t disappoint.
The morning practice and qualifying session set the tone for the day with Banks-Browne fourth fastest and Nicholls fifth.
With the long sweeping opening corner both riders were confident of good starts in the main races.
With the scorching temperatures at a high it was time for the opening MX1 race as the crowd packed the fence lines to see club member Nicholls rocket out of the gate on his Buildbase Honda and claim the Foxwood Trade holeshot award ahead of Geartec Husqvarna’s Banks-Browne in second.
With the local pair at the head of the field the crowd went wide as they cheered on their favourite and the duo soon pulled a gap on the chasing pack.
As the race reached the mid race Banks-Browne came under pressure from GP rider Tommy Searle and slipped to third.
Nicholls was still dominant at the front and even when Searle closed the gap, Nicholls responded and pulled away to take victory by 30 seconds with Searle in second and Bank-Browne chasing his back wheel over the line for third.
Fourth place went to the reigning champion Graeme Irwin with Russian Evgeny Bobryshev in fifth place.
After the excitement of the opening race, everyone was hoping for a repeat from Nicholls in the second.
When the gate dropped this time it was Banks-Browne who out-dragged Nicholls on the run to the first corner and claimed the Holeshot award. With Nicholls in second and pushing Banks-Browne, the pair quickly pulled a large gap over the rest of the field.
It wasn’t until the fourth lap when Nicholls took the lead and looked to pull away again.
This time it would be Bobryshev that moved ahead of Banks-Browne for second and put a challenge on Nicholls but it was to no avail as Nicholls regrouped and claimed a double race win and overall victory.
Bobryshev crossed the line in second with Banks-Browne in third, while Italian Ivo Monticelli took fourth and Estonian Erki Kahro in fifth.
The double race win gave Nicholls the overall victory in front of the home crowd and helped him to extend his championship lead to 19 points.
Next to Nicholls on the podium was Banks-Browne in second overall and he now sits fourth in the championship and just 35 points behind Nicholls with five rounds remaining.
Also making a trip to the podium was Club member and Blaxhall regular Luke Benstead who took the overall victory in the British Expert Championship.
In the other Championship classes it was Irishman Martin Barr who took the overall victory in the MX2 class with a 2-3 scorecard by virtue of the tie break with second overall’s Josh Gilbert and series leader Conrad Mewse took third overall.
In the first race it was Liam Knight who took the race win and broke the winning streak of Mewse, who bounced back in the second race to took the win in dominate fashion after coming from behind after a bad start. Local rider Lewis Tombs suffered a tough day after a bad first race but took a fifth in the second for 12th overall.
The British 2 Stroke produced some great racing as James Dunn took a double race win over teammate and series leader Mike Kras who took two seconds with Ashley Wilde taking two thirds.
In the MXY2 it was Callum Green who took the overall victory and the second race win after Rossi Beard suffered a bad result in the second race and ruined his chances of what was almost a perfect day following race wins in the first and final races.
Third overall was George Sim-Mutch.
Blaxhall - overall results.
MX1
1. Jake Nicholls - 50
2. Elliott Banks-Browne - 40
3. Evgeny Bobryshev - 38
MX2
1. Martin Barr - 42
2. Joshua Gilbert - 42
3. Conrad Mewse - 38
MXY2
1. Callum Green - 65
2. Rossi Beard – 63
3. George Sim-Mutch – 62
2 Stroke
1. James Dunn – 50
2. Mike Kras - 44
3. Ashley Wilde - 40
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