After ten years, the Michelin MX Nationals sign off at Hawkstone Park.
This Saturday and Sunday will not only be the final round of the Michelin MX Nationals of 2023
but also the last ever, at least as we all know it. With news that the MX Nationals have a new
format and new championship name in the pipeline for 2024 (watch this space for further
details), the series will draw to a close at the world-famous Shropshire circuit.
To wrap up the Michelin MX Nationals, the team and everyone involved want to sign off in
style, and of course, there are championship titles to be decided in all but one of the 13 classes,
which will offer up brilliant race action as it has at each round. With all its history and heritage,
Hawkstone Park is a more than fitting venue to say farewell to the Michelin MX Nationals and
crown the last-ever champions after ten superb years of race action.
The battle for the Leatt MX1 Elite title has been raging all year, and it comes down to
Hawkstone Park with three riders in with a shout of the championship. Crendon Fastrack
Hitachi Tru 7 Honda racing teammates Conrad Mewse, Josh Gilbert, and Cab Screens Crescent
Yamaha’s Harri Kullas. Mewse holds a narrow 10-point lead over Gilbert and both will race hard
to win the championship, teammates or not! They’ll confidence will also be bolstered with
news that they have both been selected to represent Team GB at the Motocross of Nations in
Ernee on October 7/8th. You can’t rule out Kullas at pulling a bit of a ‘rabbit out of the hat’ last-
round performance and sneaking the title to make it three in a row and his fourth Michelin MX
Nationals crown as he’s still just about in striking distance 27 points off series leader Mewse.
Still, it’s a big ask of the Estonian even though he’s carrying form from a good run racing the
last three AMA Pro Motocross rounds. With Tom Grimshaw (Chambers Racing), Ivo Monticelli
(ASA United Gas Gas), Jason Meara (Moto Cycle Gas Gas), Evgeny Bobryshev (SC Sportshomes
Husqvarna), Jamie Carpenter (Cab Screens Crescent Yamaha), Tristan Purdon (Gabriel SS24
KTM), Martin Barr (Apico Factory Racing Husqvarna), Callum Green (Tru 7 Honda Racing
Academy), Miro Shivonen and his teammate Charlie Putman (SC Sportshomes Husqvarna) all
looking to sign their championship off on a high as the support act and potential spoilers to
any of the top three it’s going to be an action-packed last round to bookend the championship.
It’s also likely to go down to the last moto of the championship in the Apico MX2 Elite class and
will no doubt be a nervy time for Charlie Cole (Blades Kawasaki) after he picked up the red
plate and the championship lead last time out at Cusses Gorse. He’s going for his first pro
national title and has an eight-point lead over Jamie Wainwright (WPH SBE Pure Redline
KTM), who will want to get that red plate back at the right time to swap it in for a gold one. So,
too, will Carlton Husband on his Phoenix Even Strokes Kawasaki as he sits just one point
behind Wainwright. Unlike the Leatt MX1 Elite class, there are realistically more than three
riders with a shot of the title in the Apico MX2 Elite class. Lying in fourth in the championship,
11 points off the lead, is young Joe Brooks (GRT Impact KTM), and just a further three points
behind him is Calum Mitchell (Lexa Racing), so there’s a lot hinging on that first moto on
Sunday. With the likes of Dylan Walsh (Matt Smith KTM) Sam Nunn (Cab Screens Crescent
Yamaha), Joel Rizzi (DK Off Road Gas Gas), Bailey Johnston, Dylan Woodcock (Verde Shiloh
KTM), Charlie Heyman (Tru 7 Honda Racing Academy) and Irish MXON team member Glen
McCormick all capable of wins and podium results the Apico MX2 Elite class should sign off in
style.
As will the Syntol Supermini, Fly Futures, Spiral Clubman MX2, Work Sports Insurance
Clubman MX1, Motoverde Amateur and RFX Expert classes over the two days of racing to
decide who is going to be crowned the 2024 and final round Michelin MX Nationals
champions. The exception is Billy Askew (GTCI Revo Kawasaki), who is looking to do a ‘Jett
Lawrence’ on it and score a perfect season in the Fly Futures MXY2 class after wrapping up the
championship last time out. He’s also looking for a perfect season in the ‘Planet Moto First Lap
Leader’ championship with Josh Vail, the only rider who can mathematically beat him to the
prize of a Spanish MX ride holiday.
Practice starts at 9 am on both days, with the Leatt MX1 and Apico MX2 Elite riders lining up
behind the gate for their last Sunday's Michelin MX Nationals ‘Hawkstone Hoorah’.
Spectator tickets are available online and, at the gate.
Words: Press Release
Image: Crendon Fastrack Honda