British champ Conrad Mewse gave the bumper Easter Sunday crowd a stunning display of incredible speed and determination as he chased down five-times world champion and fellow Honda rider Jeffrey Herlings in both British championship races at Preston Docks in Lancashire.

Adam Duckworth Story and Images

Although the Dutch sand specialist managed to fend off attacks from the Brit to the flag in both motos, it was an epic performance from the CrendonTru7 Honda man who took second overall and closed to just three points of the championship lead at round two of the series.

And there were inspired performances by his team-mates Jamie Carpenter and Charlie Richmond, who both showed good form in their respective MX1 and MX2 classes after some gritty rides.

But all eyes were on Mewse who went head-to-head with Herlings at the Preston Docks track two years ago, where they shared a win and a second place each. The rivalry started in qualifying, where wildcard entrant Herlings was fastest from Mewse by 0.6 seconds, setting up another epic clash in the races.

But both men had poor starts, with Mewse hampered worst by a crowded first turn and he came across the line in 26th place with Herlings nine places in front. The pair worked their way forwards, and by lap nine the Dutchman took the lead then two laps later, Mewse overtook MXGP regular Oriol Oliver to take second place.

Mewse – who set the fastest lap of the race – set off in pursuit of Herlings and got within striking distance. But the factory HRC rider used his experience and racecraft to stay in front and take the win by just over a second at the flag.

It was also a memorable race for Carpenter, aiming to put behind him the memories of the event last year when he injured his knee and had to have ninth months off for surgery and rehab. He got a great start, and when race leader Josh Gilbert fell from his Honda and Ben Watson slipped back, Carpenter was up to third place.

Determined to be consistent and make it to the end of race, he fought back some arm pump as the track began to get much rougher. He couldn’t hold off the fastest men, including hard-charging Herlings, Mewse and Watson, but settled into a rhythm and took eighth.

The second moto saw Herlings and Mewse snatch much better starts, with the Dutch ace making sure the Brit ran wide in the first turn. Herlings led with Mewse fifth, but by the end of the first lap the Crendon Tru7 Honda was into third then a lap later moved to second after passing former British champ Adam Sterry.

Herlings focused on setting an incredible pace on those early laps, pulling a small gap. Mewse parried for a couple of laps and began to make a small indent into the HRC man’s lead. But as the wind-battered crowd urged on Mewse, Herlings managed to just slowly stretch the lead, fractions off a second off at a time.

Mewse never gave up and managed to get a bit closer to the leader on a couple of laps, but never got close enough to make a serious challenge. With two second places, he reduced his nine-point championship deficit to just three behind Ben Watson and Oriol Oliver who led after the Hawkstone opener.

Carpenter again had made a decent start but first lap traffic saw him drop back to 13th. He managed to regroup and made sure yet steady progress forward, taking eighth again which was good enough for seventh overall. And the consistency paid off as he improved by a position to seventh in the series.

Conrad Mewse: “I wasn’t too stressed after Hawkstone but the boys there were on a different level to me. It wasn’t a true reflection of what I’m capable of. Since then we’ve done a lot of testing, come back strong and I’m riding more like myself. It was a good race in the first moto. I felt solid, made some passes, and I’m feeling much more like myself. It’s one thing catch up to someone like Jeffrey but it’s another thing to get past him. We were both riding very hard so to make a pass would have meant finding somewhere I was a lot faster than him or for him to make a mistake. He’s so good, that chance never came. In the second race I had a lot better start and got into second then tried to keep him in my sight. I need to try to learn from him, latch on and go with his pace. Overall, without him here as a wildcard, it would have been a 1-1 finish and I’d be leading the championship. So I’m happy with how I’m riding.”

Jamie Carpenter: “It was a lot better than here last year where I only got round a couple of turns! I had a couple of decent starts – after we made some changes from the Hawkstone round - and two eighth places for second overall. I can’t really ask for too much more, considering my riding at the moment as I still don’t feel like I’m back to my best. I tried to pace myself and with the track being sketchy in places, and keep going to the end of both races. And I’m now seventh in the championship which is all good. And I’m in one piece. I’ll keep plugging away and I’ll get better.”

In the MX2 class, the results show CRF250R rookie Charlie Richmond didn’t have the best day but the reality is he showed incredible speed and made lots of passes after a couple of poor stars then an untimely red flag cost him dearly.

Fifth in his qualifying group, Richmond got boxed in by rivals and had a terrible start in the first heat, then he was halted by some crashed riders on the opening lap. Coming back from 25th place, he showed mature riding rather than risking it all to make passes. The 17-year-old made his way through to 16th and it looked like he could get into the top ten but then the race was red-flagged due to a crash and the results declared.

In the second race he once again made a bad start but by the end of the opening lap was up to 17th. Trying to stay with race one winner Charlie Heyman and battling with Calum Mitchell who won the last race of the 2025 season, the Honda rookie was quick and again made his way forward. His determination showed in the last couple of laps when he took ninth spot for a respectable ninth overall.

Charlie Richmond: “I know I’m riding well and the bike is fantastic. And I liked the track, too. But bad starts – and the first lap incident in the opening race then the red flag – cost me a lot of points. I have things to work on and I’ll be back at the next round.”

Team manager Ryan Thorpe: “A solid day for the team with some great riding, results and no injuries on a tough track. Of course, Conrad was the star and after finding it difficult at the first round, he looked back to his usual self. Challenging Jeffrey Herlings for wins in both races show what a great talent he is and how much he has come on in the past few weeks. And it was great to see Jamie so near the front in the first MX1 race on a rack that doesn’t have good memories. He’s getting back to form after such a long time off and it’s great to see.

“For Charlie, he rode incredibly well in both races but it was his starts both times that hurt his results. Of course, it’s his first year on a 250 four-stroke after racing a 125 two-stroke in the youth ranks. So we have come up with a plan where he will do lots of testing and working on his starts over the next few weeks. Once he gets that sorted, he’s going to be a real force in the class.”

MX1 Overall

1 Jefrey Herlings 50
2 Conrad Mewse 44
3 Ben Watson 38
4 Oriol Oliver 38
5 Adam Sterry 31
6 Taylor Hammal 31
7 Jamie Carpenter 26
8 Bobby Bruce 23
9 Tom Grimshaw 21
10 Carlton Husband 20

Championship points after 2 rounds

1 Ben Watson 85
2 Oriol Oliver 85
3 Conrad Mewse 82
4 Taylor Hammal 69
5 Adam Sterry 63
6 Jeffrey Herlings 50
7 Jamie Carpenter 48
8 Ben Edwards 44
9 Tristan Purdon 43
10 Bobby Bruce 42

MX2 Overall

1 Tommy Searle 45
2 Charlie Heyman 41
3 Joe Brookes 40
4 Billy Askew 35
5 Gyan Doensen 32
6 Jamie Keith 30
7 John Adamson 26
8 Ben Mustoe 26
9 Josh Vail 25
10 Charlie Richmond 17

Championship points after 2 rounds

1 Charlie Heyman 81
2 Gyan Doensen 75
3 Tommy Searle 69
4 Jamie Keith 55
5 Joe Brookes 55
6 Ben Mustoe 54
7 Josh Vail 53
8 John Adamson 52
9 Charlie Richmond 45
10 Joel Rizzi 42