It was double wins all round at Desertmartin on Sunday as the Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship supported by Pro Clean touched down in Northern Ireland.
Wild card rider Tommy Searle (Bike It DRT Kawasaki) went 1-1 in the MX1 class and Conrad Mewse (Hitachi ASA KTM UK) followed suit in MX2 while Mike Kras (GL12 Racing KTM) remained unbeaten all day in the British Two-Stroke Championship.
Searle, who’s now planning on racing the remaining rounds, topped qualification by 0.76 and then streaked to back-to-back wins in the two 25-minute plus two lap motos.
“I’m feeling a lot better but it’s taken a little time,” said Searle, who broke his collarbone in mid-March. “I raced the last round at Blaxhall but I was still coming back from injury so today I was fastest in qualifying and won both races – it’s nice to be back at the top where I feel I belong.”
His winning margin in the first moto was just under two seconds from defending champion and home hero Graeme Irwin (Hitachi ASA KTM UK). Jake Nicholls (Buildbase Honda) – who was on a four-race win-streak heading into Desertmartin – was third after a crash ahead of Elliott Banks-Browne (Geartec Husqvarna) and Russia’s Evgeny Bobryshev (Lombard Express Suzuki with PAR Homes).
In race two Searle stretched his advantage out to over six-and-a-half seconds ahead of Italian Ivo Monticelli (iFly JK Yamaha) with Bobryshev a further 10 seconds behind chased by Irwin and Nicholls.
In the championship it’s still Nicholls on top on 176 points with his lead unchanged at 19 after tying with Bobryshev who sits second in the standings. Irwin, who was second on the day ahead of Monticelli, holds third 10 points behind Bobryshev.
Mewse was in sensational form, topping MX2 qualification comfortably before winning the opening moto from local star Martin Barr (REVO Husqvarna UK) by over 35 seconds. The Irishman’s team-mate Mel Pocock was third from Josh Gilbert (Buildbase Honda) and Josh Spinks (M Smith KTM).
In race two Mewse crossed the line 40 seconds ahead of second-placed Gilbert. Spinks booked his place on the podium with a hard-fought third from Liam Knight (Pope KTM) and Pocock.
“It was a good weekend for me and we won both races by quite a big margin,” said Mewse. “It was fast. When I walked the track I thought it was going to be wide-open but it surprised me. It got really rough and rutty and turned out to be amazing – the last race called for a lot of technique to be able to ride the track properly.”
In the championship Mewse now leads on 188 points from Gilbert on 157 and Pocock on 142.
Defending B2S champion Kras also dominated with two comfortable wins ahead of Italian Manuel Iacopi (iFly JK Yamaha) and Ash Wilde (RMJ Husqvarna UK).
“Today was one of those better days,” said the Dutchman. “It’s a really nice place to ride and after taking pole in timed practice I really looked forward to racing. After taking both holeshots I could push for good lap times and pull away from the rest to run 1-1.”
With one round to go Kras leads Wilde by 19 points with James Dunn (GL12 Racing KTM) and John Adamson (KTM) tied for third another 36 points off the pace.
Picture © Imagerich Media
