Ardent fans flock to Brampton blast
By TMX Archives on 9th Aug 07
THE Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship enters the home straight this Sunday, August 12, as the north west makes a very welcome return to the calendar when Brampton, Cumbria, plays host to the penultimate round of the 2007 series, one which will go down in the history books as one of the closest and most competitive in memory.
Long starved of British Championship action afterthe demise of the old Brampton circuit in the 90s, north west fans havedropped lucky to have the series return at such a critical time.
And, after such an intense season, they are sureto be treated to some of the hard, most nail-biting action of theseries so far on the rough, rocky sand circuit near Carlisle.
It's sure to be nail-biting in the MX2 class wherejust three points separate CAS Honda's Mike Brown, Molson Kawasaki'sGareth Swanepoel, and KTM's Tommy Searle at the top of the table.
After losing out on the title to Carl Nunn inanother nail-biter last season, Searle looked well on his way to thetitle after Desertmartin's fifth round in June, but a disastrous day atSkelder Bank last month saw Tommy net just 13 points and allow Brownand Swanepoel to leapfrog him in the standings.
With just a point between each, the two BramptonMX2 motos are going to be absolutely pivotal in the title hunt. Allthree have shown that they are in form and utterly determined, Searleparticularly with his moto one win at Namur last Sunday, and onemistake for anyone and it could all be over.
But it's not just the leading trio who are in thehunt for the big points, and the championship will not just be decidedamong them either, as Tom Church still sits within 30 points of thechampionship lead and can not be counted out of the battle for the winon the day by any stretch of the imagination.
Likewise, sand-loving Martin Barr on the Bike-ItYamaha, team-mate Carlos Campano, Swift Suzuki's returning Sean Hamblinand Fork-Rent Suzuki's Jason Dougan.
Sadly, both Stephen Sword and Shaun Simpson areout with injuries, but despite damaging ligaments in his toes at Namur,reigning champion Carl Nunn should be on the gate, and after winningthe second moto last time out at Whitby, Nunny will be determined toget another under his belt before his injury-afflicted season ends andcould be a real threat.
No matter what the outcome on the day, you can be sure that the racing in MX2 will be sensational.
It is not so tight at the top of the MX1 tables,but it is no less tense as the season-long cat-and-mouse game betweenfactory Kawasaki's championship leader Billy MacKenzie and CAS Honda'sreigning champion Ken De Dycker continues.
Sixteen points separate the pair in the title raceafter the contentious wet second moto at Whitby was scrapped and bothwill be going flat-out to grab the maximum number of points.
MacKenzie came out on top in Whitby and wassearingly fast at Namur last weekend, but De Dycker's raw speed can bejaw-dropping and the big Belgian is a demon in the sand. Expect fewpoints to be won or lost by either.
James Noble sits in third place in thechampionship standings aboard the Multitek Honda, just 21 points backon De Dycker and 37 in arrears of MacKenzie. Still very much in thechampionship hunt, the Whitby warrior will be there or thereabouts as always.
The demise of Gordon Crockard with serious injurygives Noble a bit of breathing room in the fight for the finalchampionship podium place, but he'll still need to bag a hatful ofpoints to fend off the advances of Pioneer Yamaha's Brad Anderson, whosits just 13 points behind.
The likes of Jordan Rose, Mark Eastwood, NevilleBradshaw and Wayne Smith will be around the sharp-end of the top tenalso, while after a long lay-off Mark Jones will make a welcome returnto action aboard the Wulfsport Kawasaki at Brampton also.
With the MXY2 Youth class in action with itspenultimate championship round also, as well as the usual tradevillage, great viewing, bar and food outlets, a fantastic day's racingis in store at Brampton.
The action kicks-off at 9.30am with qualifying, while racing gets underway after lunch.
Brampton is situated five miles off junction 43 of the M6, and more details can be found at www.mxgb.co.uk .
