Each year when the motocross fixture list is published, riders frantically scroll through it to find their ‘must ride event’ for the new season ahead and one such event which Youth riders regularly ‘ear-mark’ is the All British two-day National Motocross Championship promoted by the Severn Valley SSC at Maisemore in Gloucestershire.
It’s easy to see why this popular meeting has stood the test of time – always being professionally presented and creating a true feel-good atmosphere.
Although the entry-level for 2019 was slightly lower than expected due to fixture clashes, if the sport is to progress and prosper it’s very important that it continues to attract the class of new, young riders!
So what a very pleasant sight it was at this year’s All British to witness a totally full line-up of talented and very determined Juniors.
The All British is now also a memorial event for the late Andy Bubb so how fitting it was that his grandson young Ollie Bubb took the overall Junior win with a superb five ride maximum score. Ollie started the weekend with a big 18 seconds victory chased home by Harley Prickett, Riley Small, Jack Evans and Olly Waters.
In moto two all of the above lads were again right in the mix before Prickett’s hopes of a final podium place took a severe hit following a fall in the last race of day one.
Onto Sunday and Bubb completed his march to glory with another brace of classy moto wins. With Prickett missing from action, Small took full advantage to claim the eventual overall runners-up slot from Ward, Evans, Waters and Danny Flude. Indeed Flude really enjoyed himself on day two bagging a strong 5-4 scorecard.
The Auto also produced a very impressive line-up at Maisemore as the trio of Junior Carroll-Stone, James Gittins-Jones and Charlie Mitchell rather dominated day one.
Carroll-Stone took victory in both motos one and three with Mitchell first past the chequered flag in race two. On the opening day of racing, Luca Thatchell, Aiden Wait, Jack Sebury, Jack Brown and Finley Thompson also posted some big results.
Day two in the Autos and Carroll-Stone won both motos with Mitchell chasing hard as Zac Bubb posted his best result of the weekend with a third spot in moto fourth.
Stars
In the final overall standings, Carroll-Stone finished eight points clear of Mitchell with Gittins-Jones a further 10 points in arrears. Well done to all the Autos and Juniors, the true stars of the future!
In the Small-wheel 85s it was the brilliant Tommy Smith all the way, taking five from five moto wins chased home on every occasion by Louis Vincent.
Jay Bond and Harlow Green took it in turns to come home in third spot with Green eventually earning the final podium step. Also having a good weekend in this class were Freddie Gardiner, Max Miles and Gus Mustoe. Incredibly, a rider with the surname of Smith also took the top honours in the Big-Wheel 85s contest. Jake Smith built the foundations for his eventual overall success by winning all three motos on day one.
George Hopkins then got the better of Smith in Sunday’s opening clash before normal service was resumed in the final moto of the weekend. In that one it was Smith from Roan Delaney, Lewis Roden, Dan Arkell, Hopkins and Dylan Williams. In the overall standings, Hopkins and Arkell joined the victorious Smith on the podium.
Some of the most spectacular action of the weekend was provided by the Seniors class. The fact that it was a combined 125cc/Open class pitching those lovely 2T screamers against the four-bangers added extra spice to a bar-banging contest.
Typifying just how competitive this was, Ross Millard and Harvey James tangled when hotly disputing the lead in Sunday’s opening race before picking themselves up and dusting themselves down before mixing it all over again. Coming out on top after five very hot motos was Liam Gale ahead of Alfie Boy Jones, Callum Watson and Ross Millard.
In the combined AMX/Open class, Brad Tranter led the AMX standings after day one with a 2-2-1 ahead of last week’s Hawkstone AMCA Championship star Corie Southwood.
On day two though, Tranter crashed out of moto one so the overall win went to Southwood ahead of Luke Newman, John McKenzie and Owen Wilkes. Luke Dean would surely have also figured in that podium shake-up but missed the first moto of the weekend before going 3-2-1-1 in the remaining clashes.
Over in the Open class, there was no doubting the winner as Paul Neale won four out of five motos, his only blip in Sunday’s opening race when Southwood landed on his machine when landing off of a Maisemore jump!
Rolling back the years, former BSMA star Matt Gardiner won four from five Veterans motos, Matt’s only defeat coming in the first contest of day two. Taking the win on that occasion was Welsh ace Alan Pearce also earned second overall ahead of Kieran Lewis,
Chris Peaty and Gareth Dunsford. The final Maisemore class catered for Novice Adult riders with Charlie Haskins taking top slot from Daniel Sheam and Dean Palmer.
2019 All British Motocross Championship Results
Autos: 1 Junior Carroll-Stone 2 Charlie Mitchell 3 James Gittins-Jones 4 Luca Thatchell 5 Jack Sebury 6 Jack Brown.
Juniors: 1 Ollie Bubb 2 Riley Small 3 Riley Ward 4 Jack Evans 5 Olly Waters 6 Danny Flude.
Small-Wheel 85cc: 1 Tommy Smith 2 Louis Vincent 3 Harlow Green 4 Jay Bond 5 Freddie Gardiner 6 Max Miles.
Big-Wheel 85cc: 1 Jake Smith 2 George Hopkins 3 Dan Arkell 4 Lewis Roden 5 Louie Smith 6 Dylan Williams.
Seniors: 1 Liam Gale 2 Alfie Boy Jones 3 Callum Watson 4 Ross Millard 5 James Parkin 6 Lewis Glynn.
AMX: 1 Corie Southwood 2 Luke Newman 3 John McKenzie 4 Owen Wilkes 5 Luke Dean 6 Bradley Tranter.
Open: 1 Paul Neale 2 Jamie Smith 3 Gareth Artus 4 Joseph Davies 5 George Stanley 6 Declan Roden.
Veterans: 1 Matt Gardiner 2 Alan Pearce 3 Kieran Lewis 4 Chris Peaty 5 Gareth Dunsford 6 David Cooper.
Novice: 1 Charlie Haskins 2 Daniel Sheam 3 Dean Palmer 4 Mike Rudge 5 Adam Dixon 6 Ricci Burton.
