And just like that winter is in the past and the season kickstarts once again. Fatcat Motoparc was the venue for the opening round of the 2023 Acerbis Amatuer Nationals series and what a year its set out to be too with stacked classes and a perfectly groomed racetrack, all was set for an exciting opener.
First up was the Manchester Xtreme Junior Open category and with the top 5 from 2022 being moved up it was as wide open as ever. After the 4 motos were complete first and second overall still haven’t decided who wants to take control of the class as Riley Voase and Dan Nevitt finished the weekend tied on points with Voase taking the overall by way of the final race result. Nevitt gave Voase a run for it in the last encounter but it wasn’t to be and he had to settle for runner up overall in the end while Kawasaki duo Stefan Robson and James Newby finished the weekend third and fourth respectively.
In the LS2 Helmets Vets Over 40 class, just like his son had done a mear 15 minutes prior, former GP rider Ryan Voase claimed the overall victory but the difference being with 4 moto wins over the weekend, starting his campaign off perfectly. Adam Wilkinson had two second places on day one backed up by two thirds on day two to give himself runner up overall just four points ahead of defending series champ Lee Martin. Danny Tollett and Alan Pearce rounded out the top five.
Defending Motoverde Ladies Champion Grace Richards got her title defense off to the perfect start by claiming all four race victories and stood on the top step of the podium for her efforts. Nadiya Jones had a solid start to her campaign by taking home runner up overall just a couple of points ahead of Grace Packman. Rebecca Newham was consistent with a 4-3-4-4 scorecard and took home fourth overall for her efforts while Taylor Scott took a third race second to help her to fifth overall.
In the Roberts Plant Engineers Vets Over 50 class Simon Bonsor took his 250 2 stroke to a maximum haul of points and the advantage into round two as he dominated on the rough sandy circuit. Richard Miller managed to pip Ady Bradley to runner up overall after the pair had a titanic battle in the final moto to decide who stood on the middle and lower steps of the rostrum. Sean Smith led laps over the weekend and was always inside the top four even claiming a runner up in race two to help him to fourth overall.
The Moto Connection 125 2 stroke class as always provided us with some brilliant racing and it was young Ryan Waggott on his Team Hutch racing KTM who was most consistent and took the honours with a 3-1-2-2 scorecard. Damon Strydom took two race wins over the weekend but a third race seventh ultimately put a spanner in the works and so had to settle for second overall. Harry Linton was also a race winner and took third overall while Troy Willerton finished in fourth. Former GP rider Nev Bradshaw was on for a podium until a final moto bike failure left him outside the top 6 in 8th overall.
The MX Dreams California Open 2 stroke class was hotly contested with EMX250 podium finisher Josh Spinks putting in a solid weekend of racing and went home with the top spot on the podium when all was said and done. Last years runner up James Dent pushed Spinks all the way however and was rewarded with second spot overall and a solid start to his championship aspirations. Flying scot Ryan McLean showed he still had speed after a few years off from racing and even claimed the final moto victory in convincing fashion helping him onto the podium in third tied with Rory Jones who had to settle for fourth.
In the Craig Motorcycles sponsored MX2 class it was Craigs Motorcycles pilot Mitchell Meadows who ended the weekend on top after the four races as he took two wins on Saturday followed up by a third and a fifth to stand on the top step ahead of Jake Winnard who, after a moto one spill, came back to win both of the races on Sunday and claw his way back to second overall. Zac Stealey also had misfortune in the second race of the weekend only managing a 13th but his three runner up spots in the rest of the races gave him third overall ahead of Logan Wilcox and Jordan Hearn.
The heavily fought Acerbis MX1 category provided us with some frantic action in each race and it was Josh Bentley who came out on top with two runner up spots followed by a pair of wins on Sunday to get himself onto the top step just ahead of reigning champion Jack Beniston who should take the series lead as Bentley was a wildcard for the weekend. Andy Wilson finished the weekend third overall just one point ahead of Seb Berthauime in fourth.
With round one in the history books all attentions turn to round two where we head over the Scottish border to Duns in April.
Report: Arran Murphy | Photo Credit: Matthew Rudd Photography
