Report: IMBA European Championship
By Mike Wood on 3rd Aug 16
IMBA European Championship history was made at Penkridge, Staffordshire, on Sunday as Cannock MXC in conjunction with the AMCA became the first organisation to accommodate racing for all four classes, MX1, MX2, Ladies and Sidecars, at the same event.
And an already special day became a whole lot better for the AMCA and Great Britain as their riders produced a bunch of outstanding performances.
In MX1, wildcard rider Luke Burton scorched to the overall with a hat-trick of moto wins, while in MX2 Josh Waterman topped the podium ahead of Lewis King.
Jack Etheridge/ Scott Grahame took third overall in the Sidecar class, which was enough to leave them top of the series standings.
As well as those GB podium highlights, there were plenty of other positives, with Ryan Crowder, James Dodd and Edward Briscoe all inside the MX1 top ten overall.
Jamie Wainwright, Luke Mellows, Paul Neale and Jack Gardner got inside the MX2 top ten and Gabrielle Hamlet produced a gutsy performance to finish sixth in the Ladies.
Sunday's Sidecar racing proved particularly bruising for the British lads but they still gave it their all in the shape of George Kinge/ Zac Snell tenth, Michael Hodges/ Bradley Conner 11th, Dan Foden/ Josh Haynes 12th and Sam Osbaldiston/ Nathan Cooper 13th.
In what was a busy day of European Championship action, the MX1 class opened proceedings and it was a brilliant start for Team GB, as wildcard riders Luke Burton and James Dodd led the charge to turn one.
From there onwards Burton controlled the contest all the way to the chequered flag ahead of Danish star Jim Sorensen and Belgian IMBA series leader Vincent Collet, with fast-gating Dodd fourth.
Also starting the meeting strongly, Ryan Crowder moved up from an early 12th to take sixth while Sam Smith had his best IMBA finish of the campaign so far in eighth.
Brit Ed Briscoe grabbed the moto-two holeshot to lead the way from Collet, with Crowder, Burton, Scott Bates and Dodd all inside the early top ten places.
Briscoe remained in control at the front of the pack for three laps until first Collet, then Burton found a way through and after another four rip-roaring circuits Burton sailed past his Belgian rival for win number two.
At the finish, Crowder took a fine fourth with early pace-setter Briscoe in six, Dodd seventh and Bates tenth but Smith crashed out of race two and was forced to retire from the event.
Collet led the final MX1 clash from Dutchman Danny Gerards on the two-stroke 250cc Yamaha and a quartet of Brits in Crowder, Burton, Briscoe and Dodd.
Two separate battles developed as Collet, Gerards and Burton locked horns for pole position while Crowder and Dodd went at it for fourth.
By lap six Burton was in control and raced on to his third win of the day, while in the battle of the Brits, Crowder just got home ahead of Dodd by the narrowest of margins with Briscoe seventh and Bates in 12th, both finishing the day with another solid ride.
Despite badly injuring his wrist in a big ‘off' during practice, Bradley Tranter decided to still compete in the opening IMBA MX2 clash and he grabbed the moto-one holeshot.
With Tranter off to a flyer, his fellow team-mates had also made a fantastic start with James Wainwright, Waterman, Jansen Day, Lewis King and Jack Gardner chasing hard.
Brits filled the top six places and three laps in IMBA title contender Waterman hit the front and stayed there to bag a vital win.
King (second), Wainwright (third), Gardner (fifth), Adam Wells (seventh) and Luke Mellows (eighth) started the day in style with great rides but Tranter, in obvious pain, slipped back to tenth just ahead of compatriot Paul Neale.
IMBA series leader John Cuppen was initially well down in 22nd before remarkably blasting through to claim fourth.
Showing his class, Cuppen then blasted to a smooth gate-to-flag win in MX2 moto two, with the Brits again performing in style.
Waterman moved up from fourth to chase title rival Cuppen home and King won a frantic tussle for third, which featured no less than ten riders including Day (5th), Wainwright (6th), Mellows (9th), Tranter (11th), Gardner (12th) and Neale (13th).
With Tranter deciding to sit out the final MX2 clash, Lewis King claimed the holeshot and led the hungry pack before Dutchman Jacky Tausch took control on lap two.
King, though, after already encountering more than his fair share of misfortune this season was desperate to earn a podium finish and remained composed to hold a solid second throughout.
The main battle this time round was for third as Cuppen recovered from an early 14th place to rapidly move up and reel in Waterman.
With the battle on, Cuppen then fell in the final turn, but did managed to remount and earn fourth.
Having his best ride of the day, Neale bagged a strong fifth with Mellows sixth but after impressing in the opening two motos, young Wainwright was left very frustrated when his gate was slow to drop.
Starting last he put in a great effort to climb back to 13th.
There was no doubting the star of Ladies racing as four-times World FIM Champion Steffi Laier of Germany strolled to three moto wins.
Gabrielle Hamlet also produced a superb performance. Always in the thick of the action for the leading positions, Gabrielle reeled off a 5-5-7 scorecard and now sits eighth in the standings.
Georgia Ithell led the rest of the Brits in 15th, with Lauren Swalwell 16th, Vicky Marriott 22nd and Alexe Brace 23rd.
All of the Team GB Ladies performed in style but a special mention should go to Brace who crashed in moto one and required medical attention before bravely contesting the remaining two motos.
During three hard-fought clashes, Belgian Jesica Van de Velde was the only rider to head the immaculate Laier when she grabbed the moto-three holeshot.
Throughout the day, Van de Velde also proved to be one of Hamlet's main adversaries along with Swiss rider Sandra Keller.
In the last moto of the day, one of the most entertaining battles was to be a private GB battle for 15th spot featuring Ithell, Swalwell and Marriott.
Sunday's Sidecar IMBA action was was a bruising affair for the British crews.
In moto one, Tony Grahame/ Jamie Greensill crashed out on the first attempt, joined by David Keane/ Paul Horton in the rerun.
But with Horton injured, Keane still played a major role in proceedings.
In moto one, top British crew Jack Etheridge/ Scott Grahame looked set for the win until they were passed on the final lap by Dutch pairing Julian Veldman/ Jorrit van der Putten.
Crucially, IMBA series leaders Christian Corthouts/ Dagwin Sabbe were forced out after a stone dislodged their drive chain, so that meant Etheridge topped the points table.
In this tough Sidecar opener, Dan Foden/ Joshua Haynes in eighth and Michael Hodges/ Bradley Conner (ninth) also had great rides.
Decked out in the yellow IMBA leaders race-shirts for moto two, Etheridge looked determined to increase his points advantage as he blasted past fast-starting Marco Boller/ Marius Strauss on the opening lap – only for disaster to strike.
On one of the fastest, roughest sections of the track, the British crew suffered a massive ‘off' resulting in a red-fla'g.
After medical attention Etheridge and Grahame were able to ride back to the paddock and despite being battered and bruised still took their place in the rerun.
With an incredibly brave effort they gated fourth and moved up to second but in pain they had to finally settle for third behind Boller and Nick Janssens/ Glen Janssens.
Kinge had a great ride this time round to bag sixth, with Hodges next best Brit in ninth.
With Scott Grahame unable to take his place in the final moto, Etheridge was desperate to maintain his IMBA series lead and looking for a stand-in passenger and Keane stepped up to the plate.
Showing the amazing camaraderie that exists in the Sidecar sport, Keane helped Etheridge home in fourth behind Boller, Janssens and Veldman, as Kinge took eighth, Foden 11th, Hodges 13th and Osbaldiston 14th.
That result means Etheridge carries a 26-point advantage into round four in Germany this weekend.
