Conrad Mewse’s perfect British MX1 championship season continues as he dominated both motos to clinch the overall victory in Sunday’s event at Blaxhall in Suffolk. Mewse set the fastest lap in qualifying and also in both races to win by massive margins despite riding with a niggling wrist injury.

His Crendon Tru7 Honda team-mate Jamie Carpenter battled through to take a fourth in the first race then after a nasty crash on the opening lap of moto two, he came from last to an incredible sixth. That gave him fifth overall and stay fourth in the series, as he edged closer to third place man Josh Gilbert.

And in MX2, local hero Jake Nicholls came back from a poor start in the opener to claim a hard-fought seventh, then took a fine fourth in moto two to clinch fourth overall on his Crendon Tru7 Honda CRF250R.

All eyes were on Mewse in the MX1 opener as he got a good start, moving into second place behind former British champions Adam Sterry. Mewse took control on the second lap and was in a class of his own as he stretched his winning margin to 42 seconds, with a fastest lap almost four seconds faster than anyone else.

Carpenter also had a good start, rounding the first lap in fifth place, and put on a charge in a bid to take his first ever MX1 British championship podium. After showing incredible pace early on, he moved his Honda CRF450R into fourth on lap three then at half race distance he followed Gilbert past Sterry. Carpenter chased hard after Gilbert but a couple of laps from home was caught and passed by Tristan Purdon, finishing fourth.

In the second moto, Mewse tailed Frenchman Matheo Miot around the first corner but two corners later the Honda man struck and took the lead. In a stunning display of riding on a track that was getting rougher, Mewse once again pulled away on every lap and won by 29 seconds from Sterry and Purdon.

But the heroic action was all around Carpenter who went down hard on the first lap when a rider crashed in front of him and the Crendon Tru7 Honda man landed on his rival’s bike and was spat off. Carpenter’s machine was badly damaged with a bent front brake and gear lever, but the brave 25-year-old got back on and set off in pursuit of the pack.

With no front brake, he then quickly discovered he could only change up the gears using his left hand! So he moved the bike into fourth gear by hand, and rode the whole race like that. It was a brave ride as he pulled right through the 30-strong field to take sixth on the last lap, good enough for fifth overall. And that means he stays fourth in the title hunt.

Conrad Mewse: “Another number one trophy so I’m very happy. It was a perfect day, starting fastest in qualifying, a great ride to win moto win and an amazing start on the bike again helped me get away in moto two. Once I’m in the race and the adrenaline kicks in, I don't get too much pain from my wrist, which is good. So I just try and play about with the track to make it a bit less physical and that was exactly what I was doing. The Crendon Tru7 Honda was great, the team have been amazing and it was just a faultless day really. We've been building back up the last couple of weeks trying to get back to 100%, back to full bike fitness and get my speed back up and we're getting there. We're not quite there yet, but we're making steps. I’ve got a few more weeks now to put the hammer down, get some good work done and come back ready for the next one.”

Carpenter: “What a weird day! After the last round at Canada Heights, I had good speed and came here to keep that going. I had a solid fifth and qualifying, which was all right, then the first race I started about seventh. I got up to fourth and was with Sterry and Gilbert. I got into third which was really good. Just let the last couple of laps let me down a little bit as Purdon got me which was a bit of a shame as third would've been my best result. Then I didn't get the best to start in the second one and I got caught in the chaos. Somebody crashed in front of me on a jump, their bike was right in front of me and it was too late to do anything. I landed on the bike and had a big crash. When I got up, the gear lever was bent around under the footpeg and I had no front brake. It took me a couple laps to figure out the gears. I managed to get it stuck in fourth gear so rode the whole race in fourth with no front brake and got all the way back sixth from dead last. So I’m pretty happy with that.”

In the MX2 class, Crendon Tru7 Honda CRF250R rider Jake Nicholls was keen to show his speed on a track he has ridden many times over the years. But he didn’t get a great start and was 13th on the first lap. Urged on by the crowd and his family and friends, the 35-year-old staged an amazing charge through the field and ended up seventh.

But he really showed his pace in race two by getting a flying start and held second place on the opening lap behind GP regular Oriol Oliver. Nicholls was put under pressure by the men battling for the red plate, Tommy Searle and Billy Askew, with EMX 250 rider Gyan Doensen in pursuit.

Nicholls, who now only races part-time, couldn’t hold off the hard-charging men right behind and dropped back to fifth, but then took fourth when Doensen went down. That gave Nicholls fourth overall and moved him into the top ten in the championship.

Jake Nicholls: “It’s nice to be at the local race. And I'm not going to lie, when this place gets a bit wet after a lot of rain like we had Friday, it's never really my cup of tea. So I was a bit sceptical how it'd be, but it turned out great. In the first race had a rubbish start and I worked really hard first ten minutes to get through and just absolutely spent myself. So I never really recovered from that, but ended up seventh, which was sensible. And then second one got out of the gate good, came around second and then hung in there. I really put a shift in for 10 or 15 minutes. I was really tired, riding around thinking I wish I did more training and more riding. But needless to say it was a good day. Seventh and the fourth in a local race, on a really, really tough track. So it made me feel a bit better as a 35-year-old part-timer now to hang in there. I had lots of family, friends sponsors and business customers here so it’s good to pt on a good show.
“And I have to say the bike was fantastic. The bike took me around there today, it really did. The suspension was great, thanks to Mark Eastwood, which we tweaked in between the races and the engine was fantastic. It got me out of the start. Hopefully I’ll get that mid-season flow and go from there.”

Team manager Ryan Thorpe: “It’s been an incredible day for all the riders who really did fantastically well on a really rough track. Of course, Conrad was simply in a class of his own and did exactly what he had to do. A true professional. And Jamie showed his true speed and determination, especially after that second race crash. The front disc was bent, the gear lever bent and he still managed to bring the bike home and stay fourth in the championship. In MX2, it was so good to see Jake riding so well and that fourth place in the last race was a amazing ride, mixing it with the full-time pro riders. He’s very happy at the result and so are we as a team. Another successful event for the whole team and a credit to everyone involved.”

Adam Duckworth story and image