Suso for Hawkstone
By TMX Archives on 25th Jun 08
THE Suso soft drinks-backed ACU British MMX Championships heads for Shropshire this weekend when Salop MC plays host for the fourth rounds of the British Open Motocross, the PAR Homes-backed British Under 21 Motocross and the British QuadX Championships.
This is the first time the series has visited the centre of the country this year, having headed south to Devon and North to West Cumbria.
The top runners in the solo classes will already have visited Hawkstone for the early season International event. A trip to the world famous track will also be welcomed by the quad riders where the tough terrain will no doubt have a bearing on the outcome at the end of the day.
Moving in to the second half of the series, Wayne Smith has a 42-point advantage over his nearest rival in the Open standings. Wayne and the Pioneer Yamaha squad will be coming to the event on a high after the Cumbrian took his maiden overall victory in the MX1 class at Desertmartin last weekend.
Second placed MotoXtreme Kawasaki rider, Mark Hucklebridge, didn't make the trip to Ireland due to a hand injury but made good use of his free weekend coaching the ACU MX Academy squad at the BYMX Championship round at Leuchars in Scotland.
Sitting just behind Hucklebridge are team-mates Bryan MacKenzie and Richard Lawson on their Twisted 7 Kawasakis. Both riders made up ground on Hucklebridge at the previous MMX round and will be pulling out all of the stops to further close that gap. Current Under 21 champ, Jim Murro, is also maintaining the pressure aboard his STR Racing Honda, having moved up to the bigger class at the beginning of the year.
KTM UK's Alex Snow will be looking to get back to winning ways having not won a race since his double victory at the opening round of the Under 21 series. He had a particularly costly outing at round three and has seen his championship lead reduced to just a single point.
The Under 21 class is always extremely competitive and this year is proving to be no exception. Newly signed to CCM, Kristian Whatley's entry is in doubt after he suffered an injury at the British GP at Mallory Park and this could see his charge on the championship lead halted.
After also having switched teams mid-season Ashley Greedy came away from round three with 45 points from a possible 50 and a race win on the Hockey/ Talbot Cars Suzuki. Now just 24-points away from top spot on the table, he will be on a charge to make up some more ground.
Meredith Suzuki-mounted Joe Dark will also be looking to get back on to the podium and has by no means lost touch with the leading trio.
Winrow Racing team principle, Paul Winrow, came out at round one showing that he has still got what it takes by snatching both wins and has gone on to prove that it was no flash in the pan, finishing in the top three in all of the races so far.
Paul will be the first to acknowledge that a championship can always be lost and will be looking to continue his run of good results.
Reigning champion, John Mitchell, has not had the best of seasons aboard the ATV World Yamaha so far and despite a race win finds himself down in eighth in the table, a huge 78-points adrift of Winrow. He is one to watch out for as he is bound to be on a charge.
Ricky Tordoff has put his Mercuria GYTR Yamaha to good use and is currently second in the standings and will be hoping that good consistent rides can help him to fend off any challengers. A welcome returnee to the championship following injury will be popular Dutchman, Joe Maessen, who competed the entire series in 2007, and finished third.
Practice and Qualifying will get underway at 9.15am on Sunday morning, starting with the British Open class. The first race will be at 12.15pm following a lunch break.
With 40 riders qualifying from a possible entry of 60 in the Open and PAR Under 21 classes, the pace during timed training can be blistering and is well worth a watch.
The Hawkstone circuit will be signposted from the A53 road and is situated about 12-miles north of Shrewsbury in Shropshire.