New Cab Screens Honda signing Harri Kullas proved his worth by winning the both ProX fastest 40 races at the weekend’s round one of the Michelin MX Nationals at Sherwood. He did so with apparent ease and handed the team there first overall national win in very challenging weather conditions that tested all the competitors and spectators alike, writes Dick Law.

The track and paddock area were bombarded with strong winds all day on Saturday, but that didn’t stop a lot of spectators coming in and lining sandy hillside circuit. Come Sunday when the pro riders turned up, they brought with them the rain that started with a light drizzle but turned in to a down poor when they lined up for their first race.

But the pro actions started early in the morning with timed qualifying where Elliott Banks-Browne and Kullas set the fastest times and were separated by four-hundredths of a second, but third fastest was Buildbase Honda’s Josh Gilbert, and he was on an MX2 machine.

Kullas got the holeshot at the start of the first MX1 and MX2 combined race from his teammate Dan Thornhill, the ever-improving Ryan Houghton, Mel Pocock, who has just moved up to MX1 on an ASA KTM, and Scot Tony Craig. Team Green Kawasaki’s Lewis Hall had an off-track excursion in the first turn while Banks-Browne was punted off the track by another rider. He attempted another lap after picking himself up but pulled into the work area and went to the hospital with a suspected broken wrist.

Thornhill started to slip back into the pack, as he is not race fit yet while Pocock spent a lap in second place but was passed by a flying Josh Spinks on his MSR Redline Yamaha. Pocock was in trouble a couple of laps later when he was taken so wide by another rider that he was nearly forced to go through the work area. The collision broke off his left side footrest, but he struggled on to finish the race in eighth.

With just over a minute to go on the clock the very experienced Kullas worked out his lap times, and with an over twenty-second lead, he slowed just enough to take the two laps to go board, next time around. Gilbert had started eighth but with two laps to go passed Houghton for second on the track, but first MX2 rider.

So Kullas won the first race of the year by just over twenty-eight seconds from Houghton, Spinks, Gert Krestinov and Luke Burton in the MX1’s while Gilbert won the MX2’s by about the same margin from Martin Barr on his Crescent Yamaha, Ben Franklin, the injured Carlton Husband and Tom Grimshaw.

With the weather conditions getting worse, once again Kullas got the holeshot at the start of race two. He just cleared off for another comfortable win. Spinks spent all race in second place while Houghton had to fight his way through the mud and other riders from eighth at the start, passing Tombs at the halfway distance for third, as Tombs hung on to fourth.

But the battle for the rest of the places could have been anyone as Craig crashed out of fifth on lap one and finished twenty second. Gilbert had a big off on the same lap and dropped from sixth but recovered to ninth by the end of the race, complete with a twisted knee.

Pocock had a less eventful race and benefited from the other’s mistakes and finished fifth. Jake Shipton fell off while in ninth and again a lap later and finished out of the points while Jamie Law and Barr started eleventh and twelfth but finished with Barr in seventh and Law one place behind him.

Overall it was Kullas from Spinks, Houghton and Krestinov in the MX1’s and Barr from Gilbert, Husband and Franklin in the MX2’s.

The rest

It was a Meara one and two in the expert Rekluse MX1’s as John with two wins, and second and a third took the overall with Jason, who messed up his first race on Saturday relegated to second despite winning the two races John didn’t win. Good constant races gave Richard Bird third overall with Gavin Stevenson just missing out of a podium position.

It was very close at the top of the Bell expert MX2’s with race two winner Ben Clark taking the overall but just two points from Rossi Beard who scored two wins’, a second and had a DNF. Joel Rizzi won the first race of the weekend but also had a DNF in race two but with two strong second places on the wet condition of Sunday left the event third with Henry Williams, and Josh Coleman tied on points in fourth and fifth.

Aiden Christie seemed to like the drier conditions of Saturday as he won both the Moto Connection clubman MX1’s and did enough on day two on his way to the overall first place. Race four winner Kris Rea was second, just three points off the win, with Adam Hayward third.

Harry Fletcher was Mr 100% in the clubman RFX MX2’s winning all four of his races in fine style. He was chased over the finish line in each race by Brad Thornhill as Tallon Aspden and Toby Lightbown fought over the last step of the podium.

Youth

With two win’s and two-second places, Ike Carter was the man to beat in the combined Talon MXY2 and MXY125 mixed event. Race three winner Kacey Hird was second to Carter in the 250f side of the event with race two winner Kyle McNicol third.

In the 125 side of the event, James Smith won three of his races but crashed out of second place in race three with a couple of laps to go. But he had still done enough for the overall win. Ryan Mawhinney won race three and was second overall with Oliver Beamish third, just one point behind.

Sam Atkinson with three wins to his credit won the Wiseco big wheel 85’s from race two winner Bailey Johnston. Joe Brookes was third and Thomas Harris fourth.

Finlay Boxall didn’t finish out of the top two places all weekend for his overall win in the Gaerne small wheel 85’s. But three-race winner Tyla Hooley had to settle for second overall after a DNF in race two. Beau Brown was third on the podium while Joshua Vail was fourth.

Round two will be at Hawkstone Park on the 20th and 21st of next month. Look out for some interesting news about this event later in the week.

Top Ten Overall

ProX Racing Parts Pro MX1:

1 Harri Kullas (Cab Screens Honda) 25 + 25 = 50

2 Josh Spinks (MSR Redline Yamaha) 20 + 22 = 42

3 Ryan Houghton (Rob Hooper Yamaha) 22 + 20 = 42

4 Gert Krestinov (Phoenix Tools Apico Kawasaki) 18 + 15 = 33

5 Mel Pocock (ASA United KTM) 14 + 16 = 30

6 Luke Burton (Geartec Husqvarna) 16 + 13 = 29

7 Tony Craig (Husqvarna) 15 + 9 = 24

8 Dan Thornhill (Cab Screens Honda) 10 + 12 = 22

9 Lewis Tombs (Buildbase Honda) 3 + 18 = 21

10 Jamie Law (Apico Husqvarna) 7 + 14 = 21

ProX Racing Parts Pro MX2:

1 Martin Barr (Crescent Yamaha) 22 + 25 = 47

2 Josh Gilbert (Buildbase Honda) 25 + 22 = 47

3 Carlton Husband (Phoenix Tools Apico Kawasaki) 18 + 18 = 36

4 Ben Franklin (Chambers Husqvarna) 20 + 13 = 33

5 Michael Ellis (P&H KTM) 14 + 16 = 30

6 Tom Grimshaw (Yamaha) 16 + 14 = 30

7 Matt Burrows (Apico Husqvarna) 15 + 12 = 27

8 Callum Mitchel (KTM) 11 + 11 = 22

9 Jake Sheridan (RSR Plant Hire KTM) 12 + 9 = 21

10 Glenn McCormick (Unique Fitout Husqvarna) 13 + 8 = 21

Rekluse Expert MX1:

1 John Meara (Kawasaki) 25 + 22 + 25 + 20 = 92

2 Jason Meara (Kawasaki) 16 + 25 + 20 + 25 = 86

3 Richard Bird (KTM) 22 + 20 + 22 + 16 = 80

4 Gavin Stevenson (Manchester MC Husqvarna) 18 + 18 + 16 + 22 = 74

5 Aaron McCarroll (Chambers Husqvarna) 20 + 15 + 15 + 18 = 68

6 Maciej Wieckowski (KTM) 13 + 14 + 18 + 13 = 58

7 Josh Bentley (KTM) 14 + 16 + 7 + 11 = 48

8 Zac Stealey (Apico Husqvarna) 12 + 8 + 12 + 15 = 47

9 George Simmutch (Husqvarna) 5 + 13 + 14 + 14 = 46

10 Edward Briscoe (Husqvarna) 8 + 11 + 10 + 12 = 41

Bell Expert MX2:

1 Ben Clark (FTR/RFX/KTM) 13 + 25 + 16 + 20 = 74

2 Finley Rossi Beard (St Blazey Husqvarna) 22 + 0 + 25 + 25 = 72

3 Joel Rizzi (RFX KTM) 25 + 0 + 22 + 22 = 69

4 Henry Williams (KTM) 8 + 18 + 18 + 18 = 62

5 Josh Coleman (Fus Marsh Husqvarna) 16 + 22 + 10 + 14 = 62

6 Corey Hockey (Cheddar MX KTM) 18 + 15 + 15 + 12 = 60

7 Aaron-Lee Hanson (KTM) 10 + 13 + 20 + 16 = 59

8 Jordan Keogh (KT Kawasaki) 9 + 20 + 12 + 15 = 56

9 Charlie Putnam (RFX KTM) 15 + 16 + 11 + 11 = 53

10 Jansen Day (Passion Husqvarna) 12 + 14 + 14 + 0 = 40

Moto Connection Clubmen MX1:

1 Aiden Christie (LAAW KTM) 25 + 25 + 16 + 22 = 88

2 Kris Rea (Rea Distribution KTM) 22 + 20 + 18 + 25 = 85

3 Adam Hayward (KTM) 20 + 22 + 25 + 9 = 76

4 Harry Foster (DCR / MXP Husqvarna) 10 + 15 + 22 + 13 = 60

5 Callan Stevenson (Yamaha) 11 + 12 + 15 + 18 = 56

6 Luke Oldfield (SR 75 Suzuki) 15 + 16 + 4 + 20 = 55

7 Lewis King London (Island Coach Works Yamaha) 14 + 9 + 13 + 15 = 51

8 Stephen Kelly (KTM) 12 + 18 + 20 + 0 = 50

9 Alex Christopher (MXR KTM) 16 + 13 + 14 + 7 = 50

10 Danny Townsend (KTM) 8 + 14 + 12 + 14 = 48

RFX Clubman MX2:

1 Harry Fletcher (KTM) 25 + 25 + 25 + 25 = 100

2 Brad Thornhill (LMC KTM) 22 + 22 + 22 + 22 = 88

3 Tallon Aspden (Yamaha) 16 + 18 + 11 + 18 = 63

4 Toby Lightbown (RFX KTM) 14 + 14 + 18 + 10 = 56

5 Max Fletcher (Yamaha) 15 + 15 + 8 + 13 = 51

6 Oliver Cook (Broadsword Husqvarna) 0 + 10 + 20 + 20 = 50

7 Sam Howland (ASA United KTM) 20 + 8 + 15 + 7 = 50

8 Richard Roberts (Wildmoor Yamaha) 13 + 6 + 16 + 14 = 49

9 Elliot Cook (DBMX KTM) 7 + 9 + 14 + 16 = 46

10 Rory Wooton (Husqvarna) 9 + 13 + 12 + 11 = 45

Talon MXY2:

1 Ike Carter (GL12 Husqvarna) 25 + 22 + 22 + 25 = 94

2 Kacey Hird (Team Green Kawasaki) 22 + 18 + 25 + 22 = 87

3 Kyle McNicol (Manchester MC Husqvarna) 20 + 25 + 20 + 16 = 81

4 Ryan Thompson (Central Forestry Husqvarna) 18 + 20 + 18 + 20 = 76

5 Marshall Smith (FFR Yamaha) 15 + 15 + 13 + 15 = 58

6 Konrad Debrowski (KTM) 11 + 14 + 11 + 18 = 54

7 Conner Mullian (Hitachi KTM) 13 + 12 + 15 + 13 = 53

8 Lewis Wood (SJP Husqvarna) 14 + 13 + 12 + 9 = 48

9 Tom Murphy (ASA United KTM) 16 + 4 + 9 + 14 + 43

10 Aaron Patstone (Brenron KTM) 7 + 16 + 16 + 0 = 39

Talon MXY125:

1 James Smith (KJS Husqvarna) 25 + 25 + 13 + 25 = 88

2 Ryan Mawhinney (JGR Revo Husqvarna) 16 + 16 + 25 + 22 = 79

3 Oliver Beamish (Gold Arts Yamaha) 22 + 20 + 22 + 14 = 78

4 Louis Kessell (KTM) 18 + 18 + 20 + 12 = 68

5 Harry Barker (KTM) 15 + 15 + 18 + 18 = 66

6 Bobby Bruce (Crescent Yamaha) 20 + 22 + 0 + 20 = 62

7 Jack Parker (Hydraflow KTM) 13 + 13 + 16 + 16 = 58

8 Ben Kennedy (Yamaha) 14 + 14 + 15 + 0 = 43

9 Luca Pegg (SM Yamaha) 6 + 11 + 11 + 15 = 43

10 Trystan Williams (ET James KTM) 11 + 10 + 12 + 8 = 41

Wiseco Big wheel 85:

1 Sam Atkinson (KTM) 25 + 16 + 25 + 25 = 91

2 Bailey Johnston (KTM) 20 + 25 + 22 + 22 = 89

3 Joe Brookes (KTM) 18 + 20 + 20 + 20 = 78

4 Thomas Harris (JNSF KTM) 16 + 18 + 18 + 11 = 63

5 Charlie Palmer (Pioneer Kawasaki) 14 + 15 + 12 + 18 = 59

6 Tye Jones (Dynamic KTM) 15 + 11 + 15 + 16 = 57

7 Kayde Rayns (KTM) 13 + 13 + 14 + 12 = 53

8 Ollie Colmer (JGR Revo Husqvarna) 9 + 22 + 3 + 0 = 34

9 Ben Humphries (Fasthouse KTM) 7 + 12 + 0 + 14 = 33

10 Josh Bassett (JGR KTM) 0 + 4 + 16 + 13 = 33

Gaerne Small wheel 85:

1 Finlay Boxall (KTM) 22 + 25 + 22 + 22 = 91

2 Tyla Hooley (Vans KTM) 25 + 0 + 25 + 25 = 75

3 Beau Brown (AGR KTM) 16 + 14 + 14 + 16 = 60

4 Josh Vail (Husqvarna) 4 + 15 + 20 + 20 = 59

5 Harrison Roberts (KTM) 20 + 22 + 0 + 13 = 55

6 Ashden Barlow (KTM) 15 + 18 + 18 + 0 = 51

7 Dylan Meaney (Merthyr Husqvarna) 10 + 11 + 12 + 14 = 47

8 Warren Clarke (Ace Husqvarna) 2 + 16 + 9 + 18 = 45

9 Keelen Hope (KTM) 18 + 13 + 13 + 0 = 44

10 Harrison Greenough (Team Green Kawasaki) 0 + 12 + 10 + 15 = 37