It was a day to remember for the Crendon Tru7 Honda team as both riders maintained their podium results in round two of the Plews British Master championship at Hawkstone Park.

Adam Duckworth Story and Images

Conrad Mewse kept his unbeaten run intact with a dominant double win in the series and Jamie Carpenter went even better than at the first round. He took second overall and moved up from third to second in this short championship. There is now just one round remaining.

The day started well for the team with Mewse dominating qualifying, almost four seconds a lap quicker than anyone else. Carpenter was fourth fastest, but the best was yet to come. In the opening moto, Carpenter held second place from the start but the race was quickly halted for medics to attend to an injured rider.

In the restart, both Crendon Tru7 Honda men started next to each other and got great launches off Hawkstone’s unique concrete start pad. But Mewse’s bike went sideways and the pair had to back off to avoid going down. They rounded the first corner near the back of the field, and both men put on incredible charges forward on the rough, punishing circuit.

By the end of the first lap, Mewse was through to 11th place with Carpenter three spots behind. It was impressive to watch as both riders picked off their rivals one by one, with Mewse setting a fastest lap a stunning five seconds quicker than anyone else. He eventually caught and passed race leader Charlie Heyman then continued to stretch out his lead to just over a minute at the flag.

Carpenter also showed determination as he moved up through the field, and by the end he was third – just four seconds behind second placed Ben Mustoe.

Race two saw both Mewse and Carpenter make much better starts, as Mewse was second with Carpenter fourth. It didn’t take long for Mewse to snatch the lead from Carlon Husband on the opening lap.

And after some suspension set-up tweaks between races, the British champ was more comfortable than ever and stretched his lead out on every lap with lap times up to six seconds quicker than anyone. He crossed the line 52 seconds in front of second placed Carpenter, who had picked off his rivals with authority to take second place overall – one better than at the opening round.

Conrad Mewse: “A really good day. In the first race I messed the start up a bit. I got an amazing jump and normally we’re used to holeshot devices on to keep the front down. But as it was on concrete, we didn’t use it and I got a bit squirrelly! I made the passes and came through. I made up for the start in the second, almost a holeshot but ended up behind Carlton Husband. I quickly got into the lead so it was two great races to take the win. And the bike is working great, as the team did a great job. It was nice coming back here and get the set up right after the first British round where I wasn’t 100% comfortable. I’m in a good place at the moment, and now looking forward to the year ahead. The track was awesome and the team here put on a fantastic event. What a day. The only downside was Calum Mitchell who had a start crash and my best wishes go to him and his family.”

Jamie Carpenter: “So second overall and now second in the championship with just one round to go shows it was a good day! I got a great start in the first start – second place – but unfortunately it got red-flagged. In the restart I got OK off the start line but had an altercation with my team-mate along the start straight and we were both right at the back. And I came back all the way back to third, not far from second. Then the second race was solid, a good start and second place. I hate to keep saying it but I’m still not at 100% but feeling better and better every week and slowly ironing out some niggling pains from previous injuries. I’m feeling a bit sharper so hopefully carry on that momentum through the season. There’s a lot of races left to go.”

Team manager Ryan Thorpe: “A fantastic result for the team today on a tough track. You can’t ask more than one-two overall and to be first and second in the championship. It was great to get Conrad more comfortable with set-up and you can see in his riding how smooth and in control he was all day. And Jamie came through the pack so well, too. It’s a team effort and everyone played their part. Our MX2 rider Charlie Richmond put on a great performance at Arco in Italy in his first ever EMX250 race again very tough competition and on a technical and tricky circuit. He qualified straight through for the races in 14th place in his group. And he was just outside the top 20 in both races. In that class of racing there are battles right through the field and he held his own. He was 29th in the first and 28th in the second after holding 22nd for the first three laps. That’s a really decent result for his first experience of international racing on the Honda CRF250R.”

Pro Open results

1 Conrad Mewse 90
2 Jamie Carpenter 84
3 Ben Mustoe 84
4 Josh Vail 76
5 Carlton Husband 76
6 John Adamson 70
7 Lennox Dickinson 68
8 Glenn Mcoirmick 65
9 Jamie McCanney 61
10 Brad Anderson 59

Championship positions after two rounds

1 Conrad Mewse 180
2 Jamie Carpenter 162
4 Josh Vail 152
5 Carlton Husband 148
6 John Adamson 135