Dunham brilliant Lee!
By TMX Archives on 18th Jun 09
FOLLOWING their memorable podium 1-2-3 in the opening clash of the IMBA MX2 European Championship at Krasny Dvur, in the Czech Republic, the AMCA lads on duty made the long trip to southern France on Sunday, looking for a repeat performance during round two, staged at Milac d'AuberocheHowever, while a catalogue of misfortune was to dictate on this occasion that there was to be no podium domination, Lee Dunham brilliantly still kept the British flag flying high by recording a glorious overall win.Whilst Dunham topped the pile, Phil Mercer was fourth despite falls in both of the opening two motos, Sean Frayne battled bravely for eighth, Matt Porter took 11th after a first race DNF and the luckless Simon Lane was 25th following an horrific moto two crash.The superb efforts of the AMCA lads in the opening two rounds of the IMBA series means that the championship table at present makes extremely pleasant reading as Dunham leads the way from Mercer in second, Porter third and Frayne fifth.Report and Pictures: MIKE WOOD
The aforementioned misfortune which was to prevent another possible British blitz struck as early as the opening turn of moto one on the Supercross style Milac d'Auberoche track as Mercer was brought down following a collision with Danish rider Rene Egesgaard whilst holeshot king Matt Porter's Honda engine expired, spewing out oil even before the completion of the first circuit.
Despite the British heartache, Dunham provided the perfect tonic, quickly moving into top slot and forging an early advantage at the front ahead of German's Andre Adrian and Sebastian Potraz, whilst Lane and Frayne had both produced strong starts to hold fifth and seventh places respectively, locked in serious combat with Czech Josef Mnuk and Dutchman Kenny Beekmans.
During the first half of the race, Adrian stuck with Dunham in the battle for top slot before having to admit defeat as the determined young English Lion gradually fabricated what was to be an eventual, comfortable winning advantage.
Meanwhile downfield, Mercer was charging hard, slicing his way through the pack and getting back to a richly deserved seventh spot. At the flag, Adrian had maintained his second spot behind a delighted winner Dunham, with Potraz third, Beekmans fourth, Frayne a great fifth and young Dutch lad Rene Albers sixth whilst Lane slipped back to ninth just behind top home rider Alexandre Coudert.
Following his moto one problems, Mercer was again an opening lap faller in the second IMBA clash of the day after being collected in the carnage from a massive crash suffered by fellow Brit Simon Lane who had suffered a frightening excursion over his Kawasaki's handlebars. Whilst Lane received medical attention and Mercer began another crusade to recover from a distant last place, it was German Adrian who grabbed the holeshot although he was already under severe pressure from a hungry Dunham.
In a titanic tussle for third, Swiss rider Randy Morand, Potraz, Porter on his spare 2008 Honda and Beekmans locked horns, whilst a typically determined Frayne was again mixing it with his European rivals down in tenth.
Upfront though, the temperatures were rapidly rising as Adrian and Dunham were staging a terrific no-holds barred contest to delight the enthralled French crowd, with Dunham eventually making a solid block pass stick on his German rival.
Once again, from here onwards, Dunham marched relentlessly onto victory as quiet man Porter stylishly slotted into third spot behind runner-up Adrian. With Potraz in fourth and Beekmans fifth, Frayne was just pipped by Morand in a frantic dash to the flag for sixth, losing by the very narrowest of margins.
After his lap one crash, Mercer worked overtime to get back to ninth and earn himself another vital 39 championship points.
After the drama of the opening two motos, surely the final clash of the day would pass without incident!? Oh no it wouldn't, as Dunham bit the dirt after colliding with Mercer in the mad dash to a very tight turn one, thus being then relegated back to last spot. With that man Porter grabbing the holeshot to lead home favourite Frederic Birh, Adrian, Mercer and Mnuk, Dunham now knew that only an effort of heroic proportions would salvage his dream of going back to Britain with the overall win.
Whilst Lee began that long climb back up the leaderboard, making rapid progress as he entered the top ten, upfront Mercer had blasted past Birh, Adrian and compatriot Porter to take control of proceedings.
Of the other Brits, Frayne was pushing hard in sixth whilst the battered, bruised and extremely brave Lane was forced out following an early coming together with Dunham.
With just two laps remaining, Adrian, who had moved up into second, then attempted a desperate, forceful pass to snatch the win away from Mercer, instead very nearly causing both riders to fall. However, Mercer was able to maintain forward momentum and snatch the win from Adrian, Porter and Potraz.
In the closing stages, Frayne was cruelly robbed of 45 possible big championship points when he stalled his motor after Dutchman Beekmans had stopped mid-corner in a deep rut right in front of him and just as he was about to make a vital pass. Unable to restart his Honda motor, the race was over for the distraught Englishman.
However, taking full advantage of this misfortune was Dunham. By passing the stranded Beekmans, Frayne and Morand in one big swoop on that fateful turn, Dunham had remarkably got back to fifth spot, enough to earn that overall win by just three points ahead of Adrian.
With the next round of the Championship in Italy having been already cancelled, our MX2 pilots are next in IMBA action at their home round at Branston on August 2. This represents a fantastic opportunity for the lads to further consolidate their positions in the race for the IMBA crown. Get yourself along, give them your support and see just why the AMCA riders are currently setting the European MX2 scene onfire!
IMBA MX2 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 2 – Milac D'Auberoche, France
MOTO ONE (TOP 20): 1 Lee Dunham (GB), 2 Andre Adrian (Germany), 3 Sebastian Potraz (Germany), 4 Kenny Beekmans (Holland), 5 Sean Frayne (GB), 6 Rene Albers (Holland), 7 Phil Mercer (GB), 8 Alexandre Coudert (France), 9 Simon Lane (GB), 10 Christian Scholer (Denmark), 11 Randy Morand (Switzerland), 12 Josef Mnuk (Czech Republic), 13 Bjorn De Cort (Holland), 14 Dennis Van Rooji (Holland), 15 Menno Verleng (Holland), 16 Jonathan Lesage (France), 17 Frederic Birh (France), 18 Tony Morand (Switzerland), 19 Thomas Rasken (Denmark), 20 Dimitri Guinet (France).
MOTO TWO: 1 Dunham, 2 Adrian, 3 Matt Porter (GB), 4 Potraz, 5 Beekmans, 6 R Morand, 7 Frayne, 8 Mercer, 9 Albers, 10 Mnuk, 11 Verleng, 12 Coudert, 13 De Cort, 14 Scholer, 15 Van Rooji, 16 Birh, 17 Lesage, 18 Robin Hendricks (Holland), 19 Guinet, 20 T Morand.
MOTO THREE: 1 Mercer, 2 Adrian, 3 Porter, 4 Potraz, 5 Dunham, 6 R Morand, 7 Scholer, 8 Birh, 9 Hendricks, 10 Mnuk, 11 Van Rooji, 12 Albers, 13 Rasken, 14 De Cort, 15 Lesage, 16 T Morand, 17 Beekmans, 18 Guinet, 19 Verleng, 20 Jan Chabera (Czech Republic)... 22 Frayne.
OVERALL: 1 Dunham 165 points, 2 Adrian 162, 3 Potraz 144, 4 Mercer 140, 5 R Morand 119, 6 Beekmans 116...Other British positions: 8 Frayne 105, 11 Porter 100, 25 Lane 52.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (TOP 20): 1 Dunham 326 points, 2 Mercer 305, 3 Porter 254, 4 Beekmans 253, 5 Frayne 222, 6 Potraz 218, 7 Albers 211, 8 Scholer 204, 9 R Morand 197, 10 De Cort 188, 11 Mnuk 185, 12 D Van Rooji 170, 13 Birh 169, 14 Adrian 162, 15 R Van Rooji 149, 16 Lane 146, 17 T Morand 140, 18 Lesage 134, 19 Verleng 126, 20 Guinet 113.
NEXT ROUND: August 2 – Branston, Burton-on-Trent , BRITAIN (Burntwood Barracudas MXC).
Spectators lined up in force to see another strong British performance which saw Lee Dunham dominate. The Brit continued to impress in a thrilling third race chase for fifth spot.