Red plate holder Conrad Mewse extended his lead in the MX1 British championship to 26 points with a flawless performance at Duns in Scotland, talking two stunning race wins in technical and rough conditions.

“When I saw the track in the morning," Mewse said. "I knew it was going to get really rutted and technical which are perfect conditions for me. And I absolutely loved riding here on this track. It was a solid day and I can’t complain at going 1-1 again. Especially in that first race, I felt amazing - super-comfortable on the bike. But not so much in the second race as I was battling the track a bit but to win is great and I can’t complain. As always, the team did a fantastic job of and hat’s off to those guys – it’s nice to bring home another win for the Crendon Tru7 Honda team. So one round to go and it’s all down to the last round!”

Adam Duckworth Story and Images

With most of the UK fighting off drought and enduring heatwave conditions, overnight rain means the spectacular circuit carved up into lots of ruts which served Mewse well as he’s the master of technically tough terrain.

In the opening race he made a fine start, exiting the first turn behind Travis Steels and Carlton Husband, but in the middle of his title rivals Oliver Oriol and Ben Watson. Steels dropped back immediately, Husband led from Oliver, Mewse and Watson.

But the Crendon Tru7 Honda rider was determined to get away at the front, and quickly snatched the lead on the first lap, immediately pulling a gap on the chasers. Watson rapidly made it through to second, but Mewse was in no mood for letting anybody get close to him.

On every lap the British champion set a faster lap time than Watson so pulled away, and by the end of the race was a huge 44 seconds in front. Mewse’s quickest lap was 1.3 seconds faster than Watson, who was second quickest. Oliver took third, 11 seconds adrift of Watson.

The second race saw Mewse make another great start on his Honda CRF450R, exiting the first turn behind fellow Honda rider Josh Gilbert and Oliver. Some bunching up in the next corner allowed two more riders to come out ahead of Mewse, but he was soon back in third place and riding hard in a bid to get out front.

Gilbert, returning from injury, held the lead from the Spaniard but on the second lap Mewse got by both riders and began to edge away. Watson came through from eighth place and by half way took control of second from Oriol and Gilbert.

Despite some rain falling and the track at its most rutted, Mewse managed his lead effectively to ensure he took the race win, crossing the line more than seven seconds in front. That means with on round to go, he now has a 26-point lead over Oliver. There are 50 up for grabs at the final round at Blaxhall next month.

In comparison, the rest of the team had difficult days and despite some gritty and determined riding, both Jamie Carpenter and Charlie Richmond didn’t have the best results.

In MX1, Carpenter is still struggling with his knee injury which means he can’t ride and test much in the run up to races. And with the rutted track not being the best place to be riding with a knee injury, he was always going to find it tough.

But he used the power of the Crendon Tru7 Honda CRF450R to make a respectable start first race, and rounded the first lap in 11th. Even though he hadn’t ridden the circuit for eight years, he got to grips with it quickly. He took two laps to battle through to ninth but the tricky circuit and his lack of bike time means he struggled to keep up the pace and dropped back to 14th at the finish.

He was determined to get a better result in race two despite being only 15th on the opening lap. He rode consistently and slowly picked his way forward despite the circuit offering limited passing places. He crossed the line in a solid 11th place for 11th overall. And he sits in ninth overall in the championship.

He said: “Another two races down and I finished in one piece. I had decent starts in both races so that’s a positive. Especially the second race but everyone pushed wide into the bank and it all really bottled up. So I lost a few positions, then spent the race gaining a few back. I’ll regroup, change a few things and get as prepared as possible for the last round. I like Blaxhall, so hopefully I’m looking to have some good rides there to finish the season.”

It was an even tougher day the team’s MX2 rider Charlie Richmond, who arrived in great form after scoring points in both races in his GP debut at Foxhill then beating all the 450s to win overall at a race at Blaxhall last week.

But right from the first race, things went wrong. He made a solid start inside the top ten, but the pack bunched up on one of the first rutted corners and he went down. He got going again in 28th place then put on an amazing ride through the field. He passed riders consistently on the first five laps, but the top ten had already made a break away. He made a further pass and finished in 11th spot.

The second race was even more difficult as he made a respectable start but then went down hard with another rider on one of the most fearsome downhill parts of the track. He was winded but bravely got back going again. He was dead last but then spent the next 12 laps relentlessly picking off riders until he made it as far forward as 16th place. Then once again it all went wrong as he wiped out hard on one of the fastest parts of the circuits. He was unable to continue and had to retire. So that meant he finished 16th overall and is now eighth in the championship.

Team manager Ryan Thorpe said: “It was an incredible day for Conrad who carried out the plan exactly as we hoped. Two race wins on a really tricky track proved what a great rider he is. And he now takes a decent lead into the final round.
“Jamie had another difficult day as he’s just not been able to prepare as he normally would due to his injuries. But he finished both races in the points and had some decent starts too. Hopefully he’ll be able to ride like we know he can at the last round.
“And you have to feel sorry for Charlie, especially with the run of great rides he had coming into this event. He had the speed but unfortunate incidents meant he couldn’t get the scores he deserved. He’s very upset about his results but he’ll be back.”

MX1 Results

1 Conrad Mewse 50pts
2 Ben Watson 44
3 Oriol Oliver 40
4 Josh Gilbert 34
5 Triston Purdon 33
6 Adam Sterry 31
7 Tom Grimshaw 28
8 Bobby Bruce 26
9 Jason Meara 23
10 Ben Edwards 22
11 Jamie Carpenter 17#

Championship points after 7 rounds

1 Conrad Mewse 315
2 Oriol Oliver 289
3 Ben Watson 276
4 Taylor Hammal 209
5 Tristan Purdon 199
6 Tom Grimshaw 168
7 Adam Sterry 158
8 Ben Edwards 150
9 Jamie Carpenter 149
10 Bobby Bruce 137

MX2 Results

1 Gyan Doensen 42
2 Joe Brookes 41
3 Jamie Keith 40
4 Charlie Heyman 40
5 Ben Mustoe 34
6 Ollie Colmer 31
7 Tommy Searle 31
8 Freddie Bartlett 25
9 Billy Askew 25
10 Joel Rizzi 22
16 Charlie Richmond 10

Championship points after 7 rounds

1 Charlie Heyman 298
2 Gyan Doensen 243
3 Ben Mustoe 205
4 Tommy Searle 200
6 Billy Askew 185
7 Joe Brookes 185
8 Charlie Richmond 175
9 Jamie Keith 174
10 Joel Rizzi 174