The boss of the Hitachi KTM team has reacted angrily after a protest over race MX2 winner Conrad Mewse was thrown out in the opening British championship at Culham. Roger Magee, boss of the Hitachi KTM team, says there is clear video evidence of Mewse jumping a double under yellow flag conditions. Magee’s rider, Isak Gifting, was second both times out behind Mewse, who recently split from Magee’s team. The results of the MX1 race were also investigated but no action was taken. The podium for both classes was delayed by more than an hour.

Magee said: “We had Isak Gifting competing in his first ever British Championship event. After getting used to the track and the deep rutted conditions, he came home in P2 and led moto two for over half the race distance. The unofficial provisional results show that he was P2 overall. Despite a team protest and clear video evidence that another rider clearly jumped a double on a waved yellow flag, the matter was inexplicably dismissed by the race director and other ACU officials who have not followed their own rules which is their duty and does not have to be instigated by a protest.
 
“The officials should consider their position as they would appear to be now untenable given the clear video footage available to them to make the correct decision in accordance their own rules. Anything else is nothing but cheating in my opinion and that of others who are well experienced within motocross.”

Although Gifting had not ridden at Culham before, he managed to record a time that put him inside of the top three in timed qualifying and followed that up with a solid second in the first race of the new campaign behind Mewse. Gifting battle with Mewse for the win in the final MX2 encounter and he led the first half of the race until Mewse got by and pulled away to win by four seconds. So Mewse took the overall from Gifting while veteran MX2 racer Jamie Law took home third overall on the two-stroke Apico Husqvarna.

Isak Gifting said: “It was my first time at the British Championship today and it was pretty nice, with a cool and gnarly track. I struggled a lot with my riding, but turned it around for moto two and rode better.”