The weekend of July 20th & 21st saw Mitch Conway take the trip to Culham MX Park situated alongside the River Thames just outside Abingdon for the fourth round of the Bridgestone British Masters. Following a week off the bike due to a holiday, Mitch ended the weekend 17th overall and moved up to 9th in Championship with two rounds to go.
Here is how Mitch’s weekend went at Culham.
It was a tough weekend for Mitch at the Bridgestone British Masters at Culham. After a weeks holiday, the weekend certainly was a wake up call going straight into a national event, as Mitch had trouble getting motivated to run with the high calibre of riders, after an overall win at Walterstone the other weekend with Cotswold MXC.
Arriving late on Friday evening, the track looked as if it had been ripped deep and with the MXY2 class being the first class out over the weekend, it was going to be a true wake up call for Mitch. First up was qualifying where after a fairly clear run qualified 17th but struggled to get on the pace.
The opening race for the fourth round, Mitch managed to get a decent start out the gate. Struggled to get into any rhythm and find a flow but managed to end the race in 17th place. The track had become very challenging during the first moto with single lines becoming very dug out on the corners and all riders really battling for traction despite using a sand tyre. Mitch experienced goggle problems with the pull cord on the roll-offs completely breaking off and not being able to see properly for the final few laps.
The second moto was next, Mitch started well, but couldn’t stay with the pace of the quicker riders due to being in pain. The track at this stage of the day was brutal, finishing 18th overall in the race but wasn’t happy with his performance.
Unfortunately the day was cut short due to an accident in the 125cc class. Sending a get well soon to Troy Pascal Haywood. Due to the day being cut short classes would have three races on the Sunday.
Sunday morning was here and Mitch felt a lot better heading into the day. Race three he changed gate position to the far inside left and got a great start when the gate dropped sat around 12th into the first corner. Mitch had some tremendous battles with Fenton Ryns throughout the race passing back and fourth between each other. Eventually Fenton held his lead with a drag race to the line and Mitch came home in 15th place. During the closing stages of the race, Mitch experience goggle issues again after putting a new set on with the goggles jamming and provided limited vision.
Race 4 and some issues again. Mitch didn’t get my timing right and had to work his way through the pack, circulating in about twelve place. Eventually his hands had blistered so badly, that Mitch had to let a few others and Fenton through due to the fact he wasn’t able to hold on. Mitch crossed the line in another 15th place, his speed was better and showed that he can run with the faster riders.
“Overall, it was an extremely frustrating weekend, with things not going the right way, but that`s motocross and we will build on it and look forward to the final NORA Cup round at Marshfield in a couple of weeks. I did however, manage to move up to 9th place in the Bridgestone Masters MXY2 class with two rounds remaining. Many thanks as always to the NORA CRS Development Team and the associate sponsors and last but by no means least, James E Smith Timber Products, Factory Motocross Graphics and Mission MX my personal sponsors.”
