Kev’s Desert stormer

Not only did the super fast Belgian blitz qualifying, he won superpole, and went on to win all three of the MX1 races. 

 

In fact the only other time he saw any of his fellow competitors was when he came up to lap them as he led every lap while he was on the track.

 

In MX2 Mel Pocock climbed on to the top step of the podium to take the class overall, but he was helped there after series leader Elliott Banks-Browne had a big crash while in the lead with just two laps to go in their last race for the day, and looks like he my have re-injured his wrist.

 

The Cookstown and District Motocross Club did a fantastic job preparing the famous Desertmartin circuit, considering the amount of rain in the area the week before.

 

And they were still working on the track and levelling out the hard-standing paddock late on Saturday, to make this one of the best events of the racing calendar.

 

But luck was also on their side as come Sunday morning the weather man had got it right for a change and the rain clouds were blown away, leaving light broken clouds with some nice sunny spaces, which brought with it a large partisan crowd all lining the chestnut fencing around the hilly, sandy track, to cheer on the local riders.

 

Strijbos got his first holeshot of the day at the start of the first MX1 race, but beside him as the pack came over the first big jump, local rider Gary Gibson over-jumped and had such a heavy landing it forced his hand off the handlebars.

 

He went down hard, right in front of the whole field of Europe's best riders, who 

luckily all managed to go round him.

 

Local hero Martin Barr was in Strijbos' wheel-tracks as they came round to complete the first lap, with the fast-starting Dorron Coutts third and series leader Matiss Karro fourth, with a resurgent Gert Krestinov in tow.

 

By the halfway stage Karro was up to third and closing down Barr, with Shaun Simpson fourth and Krestinov pushed back to fifth, with Coutts sixth.

 

With Strijbos long gone the excitement came from the duel between Barr and Karro as for the second half of the race the pair where bar to bar, with Karro passing Barr, but with Barr coming back at him with one lap to go, snatching second place at the flag.

 

Simpson was a close fourth with Krestinov a distant fifth, from Coutts and Ray Rowson.

 

Stephen Sword didn't have a good start to his day.

 

After being just behind Strijbos at the start, he crashed and had to come back from 27th on lap one, eventually finishing 11th.

 

It was Strijbos all the way in race two as Barr, Karro and Kristian Whatley chased him round the opening lap, while Sword's day went from bad to worse.

 

Sword explained: "Just after the start, going over one of the big jumps two of us got very close and when I landed my front wheel washed out and I went down.

 

"I got hit in the back three times and it hurt so I had to pull out of the last race.”

 

With six laps gone and with Barr doing all he could to stay with Strijbos, it was Simpson's time to battle it out for third with Karro.

 

Simpson had gated eleventh and fought his way past Gibson, Alex Snow, Tony Craig, Rowson, Whatley, Krestinov and finally Karro, but by the time he had got there both Strijbos and Barr were out of reach.

 

So Strijbos took his second win of the day almost 16 seconds clear of Barr, who in turn was 14 seconds clear of the battling Simpson, with Karro, Krestinov and Whatley filling the next three places.

 

FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE TMX NEWS JUNE 29

 

BRITISH MXY2 CHAMPIONSHIP

Rd 4 – Porters Pit, Desertmartin, NI (Cookstown & DMCC)

 1 Dan Thornhill (Grittenham Meredith Suzuki) 25 + 20 = 45

 2 Fraser Wakeford (Dixon Academy Yamaha) 22 + 18 = 40

 3 Matthew Callaghan (Honda) 16 + 22 = 38

 4 Arminuas Jasikonis (Route77 KTM) 18 + 15 = 33

 5 Brad Todd (Rev Racing Honda) 20 + 13 = 33

 6 Ben Watson (PAR Honda)  7 + 25 = 32

 7 Robert Davidson (Honda) 13 + 14 = 27

 8 Rob Muscat (Honda)  9 + 16 = 25

 9 James Harrison (Lanes Kawasaki) 15 +  9 = 24

10 Adam Darbyshire (Honda) 12 + 11 = 23

11 Glen McCormick (Watt Kawasaki) 10+12+0=22, 12 Jason Meara (???) 8+7+0=15, 13 Christopher Bayliss (Wooldridge Helyar Honda) 11+4+0=15, 14 Conor Campbell (Yamaha) 6+8+0=14, 15 Joe Bamfield (Evotech Stevens Honda) 14+0+0=14, 16 Jamie Ellis (Rocket Centre Kawasaki) 0+10+0=10, 17 Jordan McClelland (JRM Pallet Suzuki) 5+5+0=10, 18 Dima Fricks (Motoward Yamaha) 4+3+0=7, 19 Jacob Joyce (Bubblitex KTM) 0+6+0=6, 20 Mark Carvill (Carvill Developments Kawasaki) 2+2+0=4, 21 Luke Newman (Kawasaki) 3+0+0=3, 22 Simon Booth (Hammond Suzuki) 1+1+0=2.

RACE ONE: 1 Thornhill, 2 Wakeford, 3 Todd, 4 Jasikonis, 5 Callaghan, 6 James Harrison, 7 Bamfield, 8 Davidson, 9 Darbyshire, 10 Bayliss, 11 McCormick, 12 Muscat, 13 Meara, 14 Watson, 15 Campbell, 16 McClelland, 17 Fricks, 18 Newman, 19 Carvill, 20 Booth.

RACE TWO: 1 Watson, 2 Callaghan, 3 Thornhill, 4 Wakeford, 5 Muscat, 6 Jasikonis, 7 Davidson, 8 Todd, 9 McCormick, 10 Darbyshire, 11 Ellis, 12 James Harrison, 13 Campbell, 14 Meara, 15 Joyce, 16 McClelland, 17 Bayliss, 18 Fricks, 19 Carvill, 20 Booth.

SERIES STANDINGS after 4 (of 5) rounds: 1 Thornhill 170 points, 2 Muscat 141, 3 Davidson 132, 4 Watson 116, 5 James Harrison 98, 6 Alba 93, 7 Bayliss 92, 8 Wakeford 88, 9 Jasikonis 80, 10 Eccles 68, 11 Darbyshire 68, 12 McCormick 62, 13 Winterburn 55, 14 Callaghan 54, 15 Howell 52, 16 Bamfield 42, 17 Osmaston 37, 18 Kelly 34, 19 Todd 33, 20 Gardner 28,...

FINAL ROUND: August 14 – Langton Lees Farm, Duns, nr Berwick-on-Tweed (Borders MXC).

 

MAXXIS BRITISH MX1 CHAMPIONSHIP

Rd 5 – Porters Pit, Desertmartin, NI

(Cookstown & DMCC)

 1 Kevin Strijbos (HM Plant KTM UK) 25 + 25 + 25 = 75

 2 Martin Barr (Maxxis Henderson Kaw) 22 + 22 + 20 = 64

 3 Matiss Karro (STR KTM) 20 + 18 + 22 = 60

 4 Gert Krestinov (Route 77 MVRD Honda) 16 + 16 + 18 = 50

 5 Dorren Coutts (PAR Honda) 15 + 12 + 16 = 43

 6 Kristian Whatley (PAR Honda) 11 + 15 + 15 = 41

 7 Alex Snow (Oakleaf Kawasaki) 13 + 13 + 14 = 40

 8 Ray Rowson (Maxxis Henderson Kaw) 14 + 14 + 12 = 40

 9 Shaun Simpson (Monster BikeIt Yamaha) 18 + 20 +  0 = 38

10 Tony Craig (Mickey Oates Honda)  9 + 10 +  9 = 28

11 Jamie Law (D3 Racing KTM) 12+0+13=25, 12 Matthew Moffat (Dean Moff Star KTM) 5+8+11=24, 13 Alfie Smith (JK Rinaldi Yamaha) 8+11+0=19, 14 Ross Rutherford (Bikesport Honda) 7+9+2=18, 15 Ashley Wilde (Sandbach SM Kawasaki) 4+6+7=17, 16 Aston Bird (Gateway Kawasaki) 0+4+10=14, 17 Stephen Sword (Tyco TAS Suzuki) 10+0+0=10, 18 Peter Mitchell (Rockstar KTM) 0+3+6=9, 19 Daniel Hutchinson (Bikesport KTM) 0+0+8=8, 20 Michael Mahon (VMX KTM) 3+5+0=8, 21 Sam Simmons (Motoward Yamaha) 0+2+5=7, 22 Gary Gibson (???) 0+7+0=7, 23 Josh Waterman (Dyer & Butler Suzuki) 2+0+4=6, 24 Marc De Reuver (Lanes Kawasaki) 6+0+0=6, 25 Jamie Skuse (Apico Suzuki) 0+1+3=4, 26 Christy Harnett (TMC Honda) 0+0+1=1, 27 Carlton Husband (???) 1+0+0=1.

RACE ONE: 1 Strijbos, 2 Barr, 3 Karro, 4 Simpson, 5 Krestinov, 6 Coutts, 7 Rowson, 8 Snow, 9 Law, 10 Whatley, 11 Sword, 12 Craig, 13 Alfie Smith, 14 Rutherford, 15 De Reuver, 16 Moffat, 17 Wilde, 18 Michael Mahon, 19 Waterman, 20 Husband.

RACE TWO: 1 Strijbos, 2 Barr, 3 Simpson, 4 Karro, 5 Krestinov, 6 Whatley, 7 Rowson, 8 Snow, 9 Coutts, 10 Alfie Smith, 11 Craig, 12 Rutherford, 13 Moffat, 14 Gibson, 15 Wilde, 16 Michael Mahon, 17 Bird, 18 Mitchell, 19 Simmons, 20 Skuse.

RACE THREE: 1 Strijbos, 2 Karro, 3 Barr, 4 Krestinov, 5 Coutts, 6 Whatley, 7 Snow, 8 Law, 9 Rowson, 10 Moffat, 11 Bird, 12 Craig, 13 Hutchinson, 14 Wilde, 15 Mitchell, 16 Simmons, 17 Waterman, 18 Skuse, 19 Rutherford, 20 Harnett.

SERIES STANDINGS after 5 (of 8) rounds: 1 Strijbos 313 points, 2 Karro 308, 3 Simpson 277, 4 Krestinov 226, 5 Sword 198, 6 Barr 189, 7 Whatley 186, 8 Snow 159, 9 Law 156, 10 Coutts 137, 11 De Reuver 136, 12 Alfie Smith 105, 13 Parker 102, 14 Dougan 91, 15 Moffat 81, 16 Bird 59, 17 Wilde 58, 18 Coppins 52, 19 Rowson 40, 20 Waterman 39,... 39 Baldwin 4,... 

NEXT ROUND: July 29 – Hawkstone Park, nr Shrewsbury, Shrops (Salop MC).

 

MAXXIS BRITISH MX2 CHAMPIONSHIP

Rd 5 – Porters Pit, Desertmartin, NI (Cookstown & DMCC)

 1 Mel Pocock (Monster BikeIt Yamaha) 20 + 25 + 25 = 70

 2 Elliott Banks-Browne (HM Plant KTM) 25 + 22 + 12 = 59

 3 Steven Lenoir (Samsung Yamaha) 18 + 20 + 20 = 58

 4 Graeme Irwin (Samsung Yamaha) 22 + 16 + 16 = 54

 5 Stuart Edmonds (Tyco TAS Suzuki) 16 + 18 + 15 = 49

 6 Bryan MacKenzie (Rockstar KTM) 10 + 15 + 22 = 47

 7 Neville Bradshaw (Evotech Stevens Hon) 13 + 13 + 18 = 44

 8 Nicolas Aubin (Buildbase Honda) 15 + 14 + 14 = 43

 9 James Cottrell (Pulse DB Honda) 14 + 12 + 11 = 37

10 Nathan Watson (PAR Honda) 12 +  9 + 13 = 34

11 Lewis Tombs (John Banks Honda) 8+10+9=27, 12 Jordan Booker (Buildbase Honda) 6+11+7=24, 13 Shane Carless (Rockstar KTM) 0+8+10=18, 14 Luke Remmer (MX Protech Yamaha) 7+6+3=16, 15 Adam Sterry (PAR Honda) 11+3+0=14, 16 Connor Walkley (Maxxis Henderson Kawasaki) 4+7+2=13, 17 Matt Burrows (SBW Honda) 0+5+4=9, 18 Sunny Thompson (Lanes Kawasaki) 5+4+0=9, 19 Tom Kelly (Rev Racing Honda) 9+0+0=9, 20 Alan Keet (Dyer & Butler Suzuki) 0+0+8=8, 21 Liam Garland (RFX Kawasaki) 0+2+6=8, 22 Hamish Harwood (DBG Eastwood Honda) 0+0+5=5, 23 Luke Hawkins (Apico Suzuki) 2+0+1=3, 24 Jake Millward (Oakleaf Kawasaki) 3+0+0=3, 25 Michael McCammond (JAR Honda) 0+1+0=1, 26 John Meara (TMC Honda) 1+0+0=1.

RACE ONE: 1 Banks-Browne, 2 Irwin, 3 Mel Pocock, 4 Lenoir, 5 Stuart Edmonds, 6 Aubin, 7 Cottrell, 8 Bradshaw, 9 Watson, 10 Sterry, 11 MacKenzie, 12 Kelly, 13 Tombs, 14 Remmer, 15 Booker, 16 Thompson, 17 Walkley, 18 Millward, 19 Hawkins, 20 Meara.

RACE TWO: 1 Mel Pocock, 2 Banks-Browne, 3 Lenoir, 4 Stuart Edmonds, 5 Irwin, 6 MacKenzie, 7 Aubin, 8 Bradshaw, 9 Cottrell, 10 Booker, 11 Tombs, 12 Watson, 13 Carless, 14 Walkley, 15 Remmer, 16 Burrows, 17 Thompson, 18 Sterry, 19 Garland, 20 McCammond.

RACE THREE: 1 Mel Pocock, 2 MacKenzie, 3 Lenoir, 4 Bradshaw, 5 Irwin, 6 Stuart Edmonds, 7 Aubin, 8 Watson, 9 Banks-Browne, 10 Cottrell, 11 Carless, 12 Tombs, 13 Keet, 14 Booker, 15 Garland, 16 Harwood, 17 Burrows, 18 Remmer, 19 Walkley, 20 Hawkins.

SERIES STANDINGS after 5 (of 8) rounds: 1 Banks-Browne 294 points, 2 Mel Pocock 286, 3 Lenoir 233, 4 Bradshaw 227, 5 MacKenzie 220, 6 Irwin 200, 7 Aubin 194, 8 Stuart Edmonds 145, 9 Booker 133, 10 Cottrell 127, 11 Tombs 114, 12 Watson 109, 13 Walkley 80, 14 Keet 74, 15 Osborne 69, 16 Remmer 67, 17 Carless 67, 18 Sterry 58, 19 Tonus 50, 20 Thompson 45,... 

NEXT ROUND: July 29 – Hawkstone Park, nr Shrewsbury, Shrops (Salop MC).