Champion Conrad Mewse remains unbeaten in the Fastest 40 championship as he took his fourth double win while his Crendon Tru7 Honda team-mate Taylor Hammal was again on the podium in third overall in only his fourth major championship race on a 450 at the weekend. Words: Crendon Honda
Riding at the wet and slippery Brookthorpe track in Gloucester, which was being used for its first national-level pro meeting, Mewse and Hammal remain first and second in the series, as they have been since the second round of the series.
The hard-pack, hillside track was lashed by rain in the morning of the event but Mewse was the master of the mud, putting his CRF450R on pole position with Hammal more cautious in sixth.
Mewse knew the key to success was a good start and took his Crendon Tru7 Honda to a clear holeshot in the first moto, leading the way while Hammal was in fifth on the opening lap. On a track that had one drying line, it was incredibly difficult to pass but as Mewse pulled away at the front, Hammal was soon in third place and chasing down Tristan Purdon.
Every lap Mewse completed saw him pull away from his rivals, and by the time the flag came out he had a huge lead of over 47 seconds – setting a fastest lap three seconds quicker than anyone else. Hammal tried hard to catch second place Purdon, often matching his lap times. But the South African rider rode a sensible race to keep Hammal in third.
Race two was a carbon copy of the first moto for Mewse who again pulled a holeshot and relished the drying, rutty and far more technical conditions. The 25-year-old – who last raced on the track on an 85cc bike in his youth days – set consistently quick lap times and stayed out of trouble at the front, winning by 42 seconds.
Hammal also made a decent start and held third place, chasing fellow Honda CRF450R rider Martin Barr. But disaster struck on the third lap as Hammal slipped off. Being too eager to catch up to the front runners, he made another mistake and went down again which put him back in ninth.
As Barr eventually slipped off and dropped down the running order, Hammal dug deep and pushed hard. Even though the track was difficult to overtake as there was really only one fast line, 24-year-old Hammal made passes lap after lap and by lap 11 he was in fourth place. But the gap to third was too much and he brought the Crendon Tru7 Honda home in fourth which gave him third overall.
Mewse: “Two awesome starts made my life so easy today. I didn’t get one bit of roost all day and that was lovely! The Crendon Tru7 Honda team built a fantastic bike and it’s nice to get results on days like today.
“It was a mudder this morning but I went fastest in qualifying and 1-1 in the races to keep my winning streak alive in the championship and really enjoying it while I’m doing it. The track was awesome so I’d like to give a big shout out to the crew. They had their work cut out with the weather we had last night. But they put on a fantastic event and in the last race, that track was GP standard – really technical conditions.”
Hammal: “To be on the podium is good but I’m not really happy with how things have been going for the last few weeks. I seem to be in a good position then something happens and I’ve been a bit unlucky.
“Today was my fault, crashing in the second race, then getting back on and crashing again a few corners later. I was really fed up after that. I was lucky to get on the podium really, but I’ve been on the podium at every round so that’s a positive. I’m looking forward to getting back on the 250 for the British championship at Foxhill next week.”
Image: Crendon Honda
