Just a Little muddy!

By TMX Archives on 9th Oct 08

Motocross

Following a deluge of persistent rain both before and during the first half of the event, the eagerly awaited final round of the AMCA MX Championships at Little Bowden on Sunday instead developed into a serious battle of strength and survival, bordering on a farcical lottery.

In the MX1 class, reigning champion David Campbell ensured that the expected three-way shootout for the title would never actually materialise as he retained his crown by producing a stunning maximum points-scoring performance of masterful wet weather riding skill.
Meanwhile, whilst the experienced Scotsman was enjoying the spoils of victory, his main rival Ben Saunders could only watch in desperation as his own title aspirations sank in the mud. Just like 2007, this finale was to prove absolute heartache for Saunders recording three mechanical related DNF's, which not only denied him the crown but also saw him slip back to fourth in the final standings behind a delighted first year MX1 rookie, Brad O'Leary and Charlie Hollis.
Over in MX2, Phil Mercer comfortably wrapped up the title as expected, getting the business done early by gaining the required 14 points, finishing fourth in moto one. The main focus though in this ultra competitive class was the red hot battle for the silver and bronze medals as Lee Dunham outscored his rival Lee Payne by a further four points to thus deservedly earn the final championship runners-up spot.
With conditions at their very worst, the MX2 championship guys got the action rolling as
Mark Hooley led the opening mud fight chased hard by Dunham, Matt Porter, Mercer and Payne. Quickly Dunham found a way through as Hooley then disappeared from proceedings on lap four.
Despite slipping off on the final lap it was still Dunham though who took the win from Porter, Payne, Mercer, Simon Lane, Jack Taylor, Michael Reynolds, Aran Agius, Rob Clark and James Shaw.
Already even at this early stage, the awful going was taking its toll with ten non-finishers, riders heading for the exit gates and several serious mechanical problems with bikes boiling dry.
Despite already having the title in the bag, Mercer made a flying start to moto two before a mistake temporarily dropped him down the order. In his absence, first Hooley then Payne took control with the latter managing to stay aboard and earn a crucial win.
Still showing plenty of determination, the new champ Mercer climbed back up to snatch second spot from Dunham, Porter, Hooley, Tom Neesam and a brave James Lane who was out of there and mixing it for points despite still suffering from a sore back after his big crash the previous week in Switzerland.

AMCA MX1/ MX2 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Final Rd – Little Bowden (Northampton SC)
AMCA MX1 CHAMPS

MOTO ONE: 1 David Campbell (450F Honda), 2 Rick Du-Feu (450F Delkevic Kawasaki), 3 Richard Meakin (450F Honda), 4 Danny Blakeley (250 Silvesters Yamaha), 5 Charlie Hollis (450F Mission Control Honda), 6 Craig Chamberlain (450F Suzuki), 7 Brad O'Leary (450F Direct CCTV AMS KTM), 8 Aaron Crowder (450F Sandiford Honda), 9 Matt Gordon (450F Honda), 10 Martin Jones (450F Honda), 11 Ben Smith (450F Kawasaki), 12 Sean Eckersley (250 Kawasaki), 13 Clinton Thomas (450F Honda), 14 Elliot Barrs (450F KTM), 15 Paul Coward (450F CAS Honda), 16 Kevin Neesam 17 Gary Chappel (450F Yamaha), 18 Steve Bailey (450F Honda), 19 Robert Fox (450F Kawasaki), 20 Ed Reynolds.
MOTO TWO: 1 Campbell, 2 Du-Feu, 3 Hollis, 4 O'Leary, 5 Blakeley, 6 Meakin, 7 Chamberlain, 8 Gordon, 9 Smith, 10 Coward, 11 Jones, 12 Eckersley, 13 Chappel, 14 Graham Hill (250 Honda), 15 Thomas 16 Aaron Lowe (450F Kawasaki), 17 Barrs, 18 Neesam, 19 Paul Kroner (450F Honda).
MOTO THREE: 1 Campbell, 2 Hollis, 3 Du-Feu, 4 O'Leary, 5 Blakeley, 6 James Russell (450F Corby Kawasaki), 7 Meakin, 8 Barrs, 9 Chamberlain, 10 Jones, 11 Smith, 12 Coward, 13 Thomes, 14 Hill, 15 Chappel, 16 Eckersley, 17 Lowe, 18 Kroner, 19 Neesam.
OVERALL ON DAY: 1 Campbell 75 points, 2 Du-Feu 64, 3 Hollis 58, 4 O'Leary 51, 5 Blakeley 50, 6 Meakin 49.
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS: 1 David Campbell 401 points (CHAMPION), 2 Brad O'Leary 366, 3 Charlie Hollis 332, 4 Saunders 329, 5 Du-Feu 290, 6 Clinton Barrs 259, 7 Crowder 223, 8 Blakeley 194, 9 Meakin 190, 10 Russell 189, 11 Jamie Powell 172, 12 E Barrs 169, 13 Gary Davies 156, 14 Tom Fish 125, 15 Eckersley 107, 16 Coward 105, 17 Jonathan Slesser 96, 18 Stephen Tillotson 95, 19 Bailey 81, 20 Gordon 79.
AMCA MX2 CHAMPS
MOTO ONE: 1 Lee Dunham (MotoXtreme Kawasaki), 2 Matt Porter (Select Homes Honda), 3 Lee Payne (Malin Floors Rocket Centre Yamaha), 4 Phil Mercer (Delkevic Kawasaki), 5 Simon Lane (Sutton Honda), 6 Jack Taylor (T&W Racing KTM), 7 Michael Reynolds (Yamaha), 8 Aran Agius (Thornbury Kawasaki), 9 Rob Clark (Suzuki), 10 James Shaw (Delkevic Kawasaki), 11 Jamie Dobson (MTR Honda), 12 Scott Mathia (Wulfsport KTM), 13 Wayne Holder (KTM), 14 Adam Castledine (Suzuki), 15 James Lane (Sutton Honda), 16 Joseph Barry (Yamaha), 17 Dan Hill (KTM), 18 Sean Frayne (Honda), 19 Barry James (Honda), 20 Tom Neesam (Delkevic Kawasaki).
MOTO TWO: 1 Payne, 2 Mercer, 3 Dunham, 4 Porter, 5 Mark Hooley (Delkevic Kawasaki), 6 Neesam, 7 J Lane, 8 Shaw, 9 Aled Bellis, 10 S Lane, 11 Reynolds, 12 Taylor, 13 Dobson, 14 Frayne, 15 Mathia, 16 Barry, 17 Castledine.
MOTO THREE: 1 Porter, 2 Mercer, 3 Dunham, 4 Taylor, 5 Payne, 6 Hooley, 7 S Lane, 8 Reynolds, 9 Shaw, 10 Neesam, 11 Frayne, 12 Bellis, 13 J Lane, 14 Mathia, 15 Colin Conduit (Honda), 16 Barry, 17 Holder, 18 Castledine.
OVERALL ON DAY: 1 Porter 65 points, 2 Dunham 65, 3 Mercer 62, 4 Payne 61, 5 Taylor 42, 6 S Lane 41.
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS: 1 Phil Mercer 454 points (CHAMPION), 2 Lee Dunham 395, 3 Lee Payne 388, 4 Porter 315, 5 Frayne 244, 6 S Lane 235, 7 J Lane 222, 8 Owen Delaney 212, 9 J Dobson 186, 10 Taylor 185, 11 Shaw 184, 12 Mathia 165, 13 Agius 146, 14 Andy Marchant 109, 15 Carl Benjamin 89, 16 Reynolds 86, 17 Hooley 73, 18 Shaun Pearce 67, 19 Brad Nixon 66, 20 Rob Clark 51.
NON-QUALIFIERS/ EXPERT: 1 Charles Davies, 2 Ryan Pridmore, 3 Thomas Parsons.
JUNIOR SUPPORT: 1 James Marshall, 2 Ryan Harris, 3 Ashley Matthews, 4 Jared Quinn, 5 Stephen Cornelius, 6 Aron Barwell.

FOR FULL REPORT, SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2008


 Lee Dunham takes the chequered flag in the opening moto of the MX2 Champs.

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