Scott a good day for Elderfield
By TMX Archives on 12th Mar 08
NOW into it's second season, the Maxxis British MXY2 Motocross Championship exploded into life at the opening round of the full championship at Donington Park on Sunday where the returning Scott Elderfield marked his card as one to watch in the Youth ranks this season with overall victory on the day from the impressive Sam Davis and moto two victor Josh Spinks following what was an exciting and closely fought days racing. A noticably stronger entry than last years innaugrual championship season lined-up to tackle the technically demanding Donington circuit, but despite a very close qualifying session that saw the top-six separated by less than two seconds Elderfield looked immensely confident as he set the top time on lap one of the session, and probably the most likely candidate for the win.
And so it proved to be in the opening moto as the KTM mounted rider controlled the pace from the front to rack-up a basically unchallenged win.
Sam Davis grabbed the holeshot aboard his MotoExtreme Kawasaki from Elderfield, Honda duo Tom Watts and Edward Allingha, and Josh Spinks, but by the end of the opening lap Spinks had hit the deck and Elderfield was through past Davis for the lead and immediately began to stretch out his advantage.
Turning in a fastest lap time almost two seconds up on any of his rivals, Elderfield turned in a series of blistering laps in the opening half of the race to open-up a comfortable lead of a round seven-seconds which he maintained without trouble to the flag, but behind him the action was closer with Watts, Davis, Allingham and Josh Waterman all in contention for the podium.
Watts held second for much of the race after disposing Davis on lap two, but a fall on lap seven dropped the KRM Honda teamster back down the order to fifth behind Waterman as Allingham assumed control of the runner-up position, holding it to the flag despite a late fight back from Davis who finished three seconds adrift of the Irishman.
Elderfield was the undoubted favourite to claim the double win but in a day punctuated by crashes and mechanical problems, Elderfields hopes of the double went out of the window on lap one of moto two as he went down with Team Green's Scot James, leaving both near the back of the field and with a lot of work to do.
Out front though it was the time for Josh Spinks and James Hutchinson to shine after their own troubles in the opener. Spinks lead from the off on his Redline KTM and his victory never looked in doubt, despite Hutchinson coming on strong late in the race after Tom Watts again fell from second place back down the order to ninth.
After going out of moto one with mechanical problems Hutchinson was in determined mood, but he couldn't quite get to grips with Spinks and crossed the line three seconds adrift of the winner, who's win would see him sneak onto the podium in third overall.
Sam Davis was again impressive for third and second overall, just in front of Waterman, whilst Elderfield worked his way back to up fifth place in front of Joe Gregory and James to deservedly just snatch the overall from Davis by a point and gain the early advantage in the championship chase.
The championship will continue at the third round of the Maxxis series at Torrington, Devon, on April 13, where Elderfield will be looking to cement that championship lead and the rest to make a challenge.
BRITISH MXY2 MOTOCROSS CHAMPS
Rd 1 – Donington Park, nr Derby (ACU Events Ltd)
1 Scott Elderfield (KTM) 25 + 16 = 41
2 Sam Davis (MotoExtreme Kawasaki) 20 + 20 = 40
3 Josh Spinks (Redline KTM) 12 + 25 = 37
4 Josh Waterman (Team Green Kawasaki) 18 + 18 = 36
5 Edward Allingham (PAR Honda) 22 + 13 = 35
6 Joe Gregory (Danger Honda) 15 + 15 = 30
7 Tom Watts (KRM Honda) 16 + 12 = 28
8 Scot James (Team Green Kawasaki) 11 + 14 = 25
9 Tommy Fenwick (KTM) 13 + 11 = 24
10 James Hutchinson (Bikesport Yamaha) 0 + 22 = 22
11 Ryan King (King Tank KTM) 9 + 6 = 15
12 David Games (Eurotek KTM UK) 14 + 0 = 14
13 Will Worden (JD KTM) 1 + 10 = 11
14 Nathan Rooks (CI Sport KTM) 10 + 0 = 10
15 Kelvin Townsend (Albion KTM) 0 + 9 = 9
16 Lloyd Morgan (???) 0+8=8, 17 Marc Dean (Kawasaki) 6+2=8, 18 Jamie Jackson (One 11 Kawasaki) 8+0=8, 19 Daniel Latham (JDS Yamaha) 0+7=7, 20 Alfie Smith (Hanson Kawasaki) 7+0=7, 21 Jack Rowland (Jet Shed KTM) 0+5=5, 22 Lewis Abbott (FT KTM) 2+3=5, 23 Gavin Corsi (WRP Suzuki) 5+0=5, 24 Steven Smyth (Autotune KTM) 0+4=4, 25 Vytautas Bucas (ARB Kawasaki) 4+0=4, 26 Harry McKenna (???) 3+0=3, 27 Michael Mahon (VMX KTM) 0+1=1.
RACE ONE: 1 Elderfield, 2 Allingham, 3 Davis, 4 Waterman, 5 Watts, 6 Gregory, 7 Games, 8 Fenwick, 9 Spinks, 10 James, 11 Rooks, 12 King, 13 Jackson, 14 Alfie Smith, 15 Dean, 16 Corsi, 17 Bucas, 18 Abbott, 19 Abbott, 20 Worden.
RACE TWO: 1 Spinks, 2 Hutchinson, 3 Davis, 4 Waterman, 5 Elderfield, 6 Gregory, 7 James, 8 Allingham, 9 Watts, 10 0, 11 Worden, 12 Townsend, 13 Fenwick, 14 Latham, 15 King, 16 Rowland, 17 Steven Smyth, 18 Abbott, 19 Dean, 20 Mahon.
SERIES STANDINGS after 1 (of 8) rounds: 1 Elderfield 41 points, 2 Davis 40, 3 Spinks 37, 4 Waterman 36, 5 Allingham 35, 6 Gregory 30, 7 Watts 28, 8 James 25, 9 Fenwick 24, 10 Hutchinson 22, 11 King 15, 12 Games 14, 13 Worden 11, 14 Rooks 10, 15 Townsend 9, 16 Morgan 8, 17 Jackson 8, 18 Dean 8, 19 Latham 7, 20 Alfie Smith 7, 21 Rowland 5, 22 Corsi 5, 23 Abbott 5, 24 Smyth 4, 25 Bucas 4.
NEXT ROUND: Apr 13 – Waggadon Farm, Torrington, Devon (Torridge & DMCC).
For more pictures, see T+MX NEWS, Friday, March 14, 2008