Red plate holder Conrad Mewse took a gritty double win in the British MX1 motocross championship at Canada Heights in Kent on Sunday despite riding with a wrist injury, meaning he is still unbeaten in UK National motocross this season. His Crendon Tru7 Hondateam-mate Jamie Carpenter also battled through the pain barrier after smashing his knuckles in the opening race to take a fine fourth overall – matching his score from the opening round at Hawkstone Park.

And in MX2, Jake Nicholls had an incident-packed first race which was cut short due to a rider crashing. He came back even more determined in the second race to take a solid fourth place on the Crendon Tru7 Honda CRF250R.

After only riding once in the past four weeks due to a wrist injury, Mewse was uncertain how strong he’d be but started the day in incredible form as he was fastest in qualifying with Carpenter a strong third. As the gate dropped for the first race, Mewse rounded the first turn in second place behind Honda rider Josh Gilbert, but carved through into the lead by the end of the first lap. He then ignored the discomfort from his wrist and pulled away on every lap to win by a staggering 43.9 seconds from Adam Sterry and Gilbert. Mewse set the fastest lap, two seconds quicker than nearest rival Sterry.

Carpenter didn’t get the best start and rounded the first lap in ninth place. He then consistently hounded down his rivals and made passes to get to sixth but then smacked his left hand into a fence post. He lost a place and took a lap to get used to riding in pain but then came back strong and snatched sixth back on the last lap.

Despite the track being much rougher for race two, Mewse was in no mood for backing off. He took the CRF450R to a clean holeshot and nobody got close to him. He led every lap, set the fastest lap of the race and won by 21.9 seconds from Sterry and Gilbert.

Carpenter used the power of the Crendon Tru7 Honda to get a much better start and held fifth place. By the end of the first lap he made a lunge to take fourth but lost control and went down. He got back on in ninth and despite the discomfort from his hand in jury, worked hard at moving forward. He got involved in a dramatic battle and came home a fine sixth, right behind fourth and fifth place riders. That gave him fourth overall once more, just as he finished at the opening round at Hawkstone.

Conrad Mewse: “I’m so happy with today’s result and that win meant a lot. It’s been tough few weeks. I arrived here not really knowing what to expect as I’ve only been able to ride once in four weeks after injuring my wrist, and that was at the Scottish championship which I’m leading. Not being able to ride at all in the week gets to you mentally. But it made me look for better lines where usually I go bombing through the bumps and just hit them. That helped me get the pass into the lead on lap one of the first race. I’m also pleased to get better starts as that is something I focused on after Hawkstone Park where I was a bit of inconsistent. We spend so much time doing motos and you can forget about the most important part of the race – the start. We’ve really knuckled down and I’ve definitely got the starts nailed now.”

Carpenter said: “I felt like I had more to give today after a great start to the day, qualifying third fastest. But I didn’t get such a good start in the first race and while coming through the pack, hit my hand on a post and broke a knuckle but still got back to sixth. In the second race I had a good start and while going for an overtake on fourth place on the first lap, I crashed going down a hill. I got up as quick as I could in ninth and got back to another sixth place. The next two riders were right in front but I just couldn’t make the pass. Nevertheless, a solid day for the championship with another fourth overall. My riding and speed was there to be with the top few so I’ll keep working hard and looking forward to the next round.”

In the MX2 class, Crendon Tru7 Honda CRF250R rider Jake Nicholls took fifth in his qualifying session and was looking forward to the racing on a track he rides well. But just as disaster stuck in the opening round when another rider took him down in the first corner, the same thing happened again at Canada Heights.

Nicholls picked himself up and made some quick passes as he chased hard, coming through to 16th place by the end of the first lap then 12th by the second lap. Then it was went wrong again as he clashed with pole-setter Oriol Oliver and both men went down.

Despite a bent bike and sore knee, Nicholls got back on and started to make passes but then the race was red-flagged. As it was deemed to be more than half distance, the result stood leaving Nicholls just inside the points in 19th.

Second time out and Nicholls scored a much better start, coming out of the first corner safely inside the top ten. As GP rider Oliver disappeared at the front, Nicholls made his way forward, making consistent passes to get to fourth by lap ten after overtaking red plate holder Bobby Bruce. He gave chase to second place Tommy Searle and third place Billy Askew, with all three men setting virtually identical lap time. But the Honda man couldn’t quite get by, and came home in fourth place.

Jake Nicholls: “I had a pretty good day overall. Qualifying was good then in the first race I got a decent start and someone crashed right in front of me in the first turn which was frustrating. I had a really good few laps then had a coming together with Oriel Oliver. On video it looks like a 50/50 thing bit I felt like I just got nailed from behind. It put me down pretty hard, and I twisted my knee, bent the bike completely, and got dirt in my goggles which ruined the race. Then the race was cut short so my result was pretty poor. But race two I got a better start and got round the first corner unscathed. I rode good, found some good lines and ended up fourth so I was really pleased. Any result like that is great. And the bike was great, too. I really enjoyed it!”

Team principal Dave Thorpe said: “Once again it’s been another successful day for the team, despite some difficulties for all the riders. Of course, you have to be impressed by Conrad Mewse who really did everything perfectly to win both races and by such big margins. As he has not been able to do any riding in the run up to the event, it was always going to be a difficult day but he proved what a tremendous athlete and true professional he is. And for Jamie Carpenter to take fourth overall is also a fantastic result, especially after hurting his hand in the first race and having a big crash in the second. He definitely has the speed and talent to get on the podium this year. You’ve also got to hand it to Jake Nicholls who doesn’t get to race as much as lots of his rivals yet still has the speed to mix it up with them. MX2 winner Oliver was clearly very fast but Jake has the pace to race for podiums.”

Results MX1

1 Conrad Mewse 50

2 Adam Sterry 44

3 Josh Gilbert 40

4 Jamie Carpenter 30

5 Tristan Purdon 29

6 Jason Meara 27

7 John Adamson 25

8 Carlton Husband 22

9 Taylor Hammal 22

10 Brad Todd 21

Championship points after two rounds

1 Conrad Mewse 100

2 Adam Sterry 88

3 Josh Gilbert 78

4 Jamie Carpenter 64

5 Brad Todd 52

6 John Adamson 51

7 Jason Meara 51

8 Tristan Purdon 49

9 Carlton Husband 47

10 Ben Edwards 39

MX2

1 Tommy Searle 47

2 Billy Askew 38

3 Bobby Bruce 36

4 Gyan Doensen 35

5 Ben Mustoe 31

6 Oriol Oliver 29

7 Charlie Heyman 25

8 Brad Anderson 23

9 Ollie Colmer 23

10 Glenn McCormick 23

11 Jake Nicholls 20

Championship points after two rounds

1 Tommy Searle 89

2 Bobby Bruce 83

3 Billy Askew 78

4 Ben Mustoe 63

5 Gyan Doensen 59

6 Charlie Heyman 56

7 Ollie Colmer 54

8 Glenn McCormick 50

9 Jake Nicholls 43

10 Josh Vail 36

Adam Duckworth story and image