APEX KTM UK were certainly very happy with their day’s work following round five of the AMCA British Motocross Championship at Fatcat Motoparc on Sunday.
All three of their riders present bagged podium places with Jamie Wainwright in MX2 and Brad Malin in 125cc’s winning their respective classes, while MX1 ace Gary Gibson took third overall.
Completing the roll of honour for winners at the South Yorkshire venue were Jamie Powell in the Veterans, Matt Tolley in the Youth and Neville Bradshaw in MX1.
The victories for both Wainwright and Bradshaw were to prove particularly decisive as it saw them move to the summit of their Championship standings.
Already this season in the AMCA series powered by Datatag and supported by Dunlop, the MX1 class has produced arguably some great racing.
And at FatCat they were at it again starting with a classic moto one as Shane Carless, Nev Bradshaw, Gary Gibson and finally Bradshaw again all took turns to lead this clash while James Dodd, Josh Waterman, Ashley Thomas and Luke Meredith were in the mix and waiting to pounce.
With Carless making a couple of mistakes which dropped him back to a sixth-place finish, Bradshaw took the win despite being charged down in the closing stages by Dodd. Taking third was Waterman with Gibson and Thomas next up.
In moto two Dodd led before Bradshaw and finally winner Carless came through. Eventually pacesetter Dodd had to settle for fifth but only after surviving a rather spectacular crash when he went off the side of one of the many FatCat jumps.
Despite losing two places the JSR Honda rider remarkably picked himself up, regained his composure and passed Meredith and Lee Harrison.
Following that scare, making it to the finish relatively unscathed could prove crucial later in the series, though, as all of his main title rivals, Bradshaw, Gibson and Waterman were ahead of him!
Buoyed by that moto two win, the fast-starting Carless then blasted his FUS Marsh MX Husqvarna to a last race victory from Bradshaw, Gibson, Dodd, Waterman, Will Hughes, Harrison and Meredith.
Afterwards it emerged that defending MX1 Champion Josh Waterman had produced true heroism to complete the event. Having injured his ankle practising at Fatcat during midweek his participation on Sunday was in serious doubt right until the last minute.
To then compound his agony, Josh jarred his back in moto two making it a very painful event so his eventual fifth overall was a truly brave effort.
Taking the overall win at Fatcat was Nev Bradshaw, his maiden AMCA podium top slot. With Waterman, Carless, Gibson and Adam Chatfield also already being 2019 winners, the pendulum continues to swing in this simply amazing class.
Just one point separated MX2 leader Kristian Whatley and challenger Jamie Wainwright going into Sunday’s event.
But it’s now sand king Wainwright who tops the table 37-points clear following a stunning Fatcat performance.
The talented Apex KTM UK rider comfortably won all three races producing a motocross masterclass. Equally impressive was the runner-up Henry Williams, who chased Wainwright home on each occasion while Josh Coleman took a very hard earned final podium step. Despite riding with a heavily strapped ankle, Ryan Crowder grabbed the holeshot in the opening MX2 clash before dropping down to sixth.
As Wainwright galloped clear to his first win of the day from Williams, Corie Southwood recorded another strong Championship ride to earn third as Coleman passed Whatley for fourth with Jansen Day, Richard Cannings, Luke Dean and Lee Truman next up.
Making a super start in the second MX2 clash, Truman led the way before Wainwright quickly took control for win number two. Williams was impressing again and taking second after holding off a determined challenge from Coleman.
With Whatley, Crowder, Day, Cannings and Josh Taylor putting some big points on the board this moto ended painfully for Matt Ridgway, forced out with a badly jarred knee.
In just about a repeat of the previous clash, Truman again holeshot the last MX2 moto only for the irresistible Wainwright to move into pole position before the completion of the opening circuit.
After gating in ninth, Whatley had his best ride of the day in this moto taking third place behind Williams but ahead of Coleman, Crowder, Day and Taylor.
Having a wildcard ride, Jimmy Margetson led the opening 125cc moto from gate to flag despite a determined charge from runner-up Brad Malin in the closing stages.
Behind the leading duo, the current Championship top two of Chris Povey and Lewis Dowdeswell were having a right old tussle for third, the verdict eventually going to Dowdeswell.
Also making the top ten in this opener were Travis Steels, Ryan Jones, Ryan Zebedee, Nathan Bache, Tomos Wright and Ben Murray.
Despite being on his spare bike, Malin was right on the gas in 125cc moto two and, having made his comeback to racing in 2019 after missing a couple of seasons, went onto bag his maiden AMCA moto win.
And, what a win it was by a massive 24-seconds with Margetson, Dowdeswell, Povey, Jones, Steels and Ryan Zebedee in there again.
In an incredible scrap in the early stages of the final 125cc moto, leader Povey was passed by Malin, Dowdeswell and Margetson in one crazy lap.
Following that maiden win in the previous scrap, Malin now was certainly enjoying the taste of victory and in this one he again took total control.
Stretching that throttle wire to the max, the fast Apex KTM UK pilot raced off and was comfortably first past the chequered flag, enough to also earn the 125cc podium top step.
Sunday’s results saw Margetson and Dowdeswell join Malin on the box while in the title standings Dowdeswell leads the way just a single point ahead of Povey.
Delighted to be taking the Fatcat glory, a very humble Malin said: “We had a few issues with the bike in qualifying so switched to the spare. It was a bit of a rush changing the suspension over from the stock to the tuned, but my dad and Derek got it done.
“I struggled in moto one a bit with my fitness but in the remaining races I felt really good, just got my head down and controlled it from the front.
“I can’t remember the last time I topped the podium so am very happy especially after only coming back in 2019 after taking some time away from the sport.”
Although claiming that he had not raced on any sand tracks for several years, Vets Championship leader Jamie Powell increased his series lead to a big 77 points.
In superb style Powell cruised to three big moto wins as James Lane got home in second place on each occasion. In motos one and two, the next best finisher was defending champion Simon Lane but in the last clash he had to settle for fourth as a determined Sean Smith got the better of him.
Smith was always right in the thick of the action throughout, taking fourth overall with Stephen Marlow, Gareth Dunsford, Craig Chamberlain, Lee Spurr, Colin Conduit and Stephen Elford completing the top ten.
In the Vets Championship race it’s still the LRT Honda duo of James and Simon Lane proving to be Powell’s closest challengers with next best being Craig Chamberlain and Colin Conduit.
Watch out though for Smith, already up to 12th despite missing rounds two and three due to a broken wrist.
After completing a fairly routine victory in the opening Youth race, Matt Tolley then produced arguably the ride of the meeting in moto two.
In the first ten yards of this moto, Tolley was brought to a standstill when a rival’s leg became wrapped around his KTM’s back wheel and frame. Thankfully not only was his rival able to quickly free his leg but most importantly he was unhurt and able to continue in the race.
For Tolley, though, he was in last place and with lots of work to do as the pack disappeared over the sand dunes. Incredibly by lap two Matt was already up to fourth then just three circuits later remarkably took the lead. Once in front he then increased his advantage with Max Lewis, Ezra Blackwell, Harry Ridgway, Joel Fisher and Reece Leverton next up.
With Tolley winning the last moto from Blackwell and Leverton it meant that with the points totalled up it resulted in a Fatcat podium consisting of Tolley, Blackwell and Fisher.
That maximum for Tolley now sees him with a very nice 150 points advantage at the top of the 2019 AMCA Youth standings.
With another vital overall win in the bag, talented Tolley said: “Round five was a great day for me. I topped qualifying comfortably as I do favour the loamy sand tracks.
“Race one was perfect leading from start to finish, however in race two I collided with another rider off the start. He caught his leg in my back wheel so I restarted last.
“Trying just to salvage some points I came through the pack to take the lead with just two laps remaining.
“The last race was just brutal and I felt burnt out after the earlier challenges but still made it to the finish taking the win.”
AMCA BRITISH MX CHAMPIONSHIPS, RD 5, FATCAT
MX1: 1 Neville Bradshaw (DK Offroad Kawasaki) 168, 2 Shane Carless (FUS Marsh MX Husqvarna) 163, 3 Gary Gibson (Apex KTM UK) 147, 4 James Dodd (JSR Thunderroad Honda) 146, 5 Josh Waterman (IDS/ Marsh Motors KTM) 142, 6 Will Hughes (CF Racing/ ACE Suspension Husqvarna) 121.
MX2: 1 James Wainwright (Apex KTM UK) 180,
2 Henry Williams (KTM) 162, 3 Josh Coleman (FUS Marsh MX Husqvarna) 144, 4 Kristian Whatley (Wulfsport/ Meredith MX Suzuki) 142, 5 Ryan Crowder (Hazport/ Sandiford KTM) 133,
6 Jansen Day (IDS/Passion Racing Husqvarna) 127.
125cc: 1 Brad Malin (Apex KTM UK) 174, 2 Jimmy Margetson (Husqvarna) 168, 3 Lewis Dowdeswell (FWC Construction Bay KTM) 150, 4 Chris Povey (FUS Marsh MX Husqvarna) 141, 5 Travis Steels (ANSA MX/ Redline KTM) 133, 6 Ryan Jones (SRH Racing KTM) 131.
Vets: 1 Jamie Powell (SRH KTM) 180, 2 James Lane (LRT Honda) 162, 3 Simon Lane (LRT Honda) 147, 4 Sean Smith (Wulfsport/ Gear 4 KTM) 144, 5 Stephen Marlow (DK Offroad Husqvarna), 6 Gareth Dunsford 123.
Youth: 1 Matt Tolley (Tolley Jewellers/IDS KTM) 180, 2 Ezra Blackwell (Whites Transport Services KTM) 154, 3 Joel Fisher 142, 4 Reece Leverton 136, 5 Harry Ridgway (Midwest Racing Husqvarna) 135, 6 Max Lewis 126.
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