Long Shaun Silver!
By TMX Archives on 14th Mar 11
Fearsome and highly competitive in recent years the Maxxis British Motocross Championship has built up an envious reputation for quality and entertainment. Once again in 2011 with a sprinkling of world class names on the start grid the series is quite rightly acclaimed as one of the very best on the planet.
Pictures: Mike Gurney
Last Sunday at Little Silver for the opening round there were a couple of big questions on most people's lips – would experience triumph over the exuberance of youth in MX1? And could the Brits hold their own against the mighty foreign force in MX2?
The partial answers at least began to unfold as the timed session began...
Arnaud Tonus, the Swiss 19-year-old, opened his Maxxis account with a class leading time in MX2 qualification. He was, however, ousted by his Bike-it Dixon Yamaha team-mate – American and reigning MX2 champ Zach Osborne – in Superpole as the Cosworth Yamaha flyers set out their stall very early.
Osborne's Superpole time of 1 min 57secs was nearly 2.5secs ahead of MVR-D Honda star, Lativian Mattis Karro who completed an all-foreign top three.
The surprise man at the top of MX1 qualification sheet was Jason Dougan aboard a YZ450F Cosworth Yamaha. Dougan's 1min 57secs was good enough to fend off a whole gaggle of quality riders in a top ten which was separated by just 1.6-seconds. Superpole was just as tight with Dougan again fast posting 1m 56secs.
Martin Barr, racing a 350cc KTM for Proppa.com was having none of it though and blasted in a stunning 1min 56secs lap time to secure his maiden MX1 pole position. The young pair out front were closely followed by a wealth of experienced front-runners in the form of Stephen Sword, Kristian Whatley, Brad Anderson and Shaun Simpson.
So, to the action and race one of the 2011 MX2 season hit the line bang on noon. The big guns all put themselves to the inside gate hoping to make the most of the tight 180 degree left hand first corner. However, Samsung Yamaha's Ray Rowson took the season's first holeshot having not figured highly in qualification. Rowson is back in MX2 after a few years in MX1 and did not look out of place in the opening laps.
The race soon began to take shape as first Osborne then Nicholls disposed of Rowson and set about re-igniting their 2010 duel for the championship. Osborne was in no mood for argy-bargy and quickly surged ahead into a lead he never relinquished.
Nicholls looked good for second and held a good pace for the 20min plus two-lap duration but the new man about town Arnaud Tonus had other ideas.
The teenager had not gated well but he moved up steadily from sixth at the end of lap one and was past Nicholls by three-quarters distance to claim second behind his team-mate. Rowson rode hard for fourth ahead of Mattis Karro and Mel Pocock – both had been outside the top 20 on lap one after a couple of tumbles.
Race two followed a very similar pattern for the MX2 boys as the Dixon Yamaha outfit dominated proceedings right from the off. Tonus led early but Osborne flew past without too much hassle and picked off his second race win of the year.
Tonus looked happy to ride shotgun as the pair beat the field by a clear 35 second margin. The race action was quelled somewhat in this heat by the one-line nature of the circuit and it was line-astern throughout the top ten. At the flag Nicholls had secured third while Matiss Karro was again well up in points in fourth.
Moto three was supposed to be a Dixon Yamaha benefit race for Osborne and Tonus to show their wares but racing is a funny old game. Once again the all-white Yams blasted to the front and with Nicholls reeling mid-pack the die seemed to have been cast.
Tonus led with Osborne in tow but on lap six disaster struck and Zach's bike mysteriously packed up on the up-hill at the back of the start-line. This left Arnaud Tonus as the race and indeed overall winner in what was a fantastic day's racing for the well-mannered Swiss.
The overall seemed to heat up after Osborne's departure with Nicholls tearing through the pack in a vain attempt to nail second overall. He made it back to fifth in the race but was shoved down to third on the podium by Matiss Karro's hard-fought second place in the final showdown, giving him the silver medal on a tie break.
Osborne accumulated enough points for fourth while the top six was completed by the highly impressive Honda duo Elliot Banks-Browne and Luke Hawkins.
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE T+MX MARCH 11
MAXXIS BRITISH MX2 MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 1 – Little Silver MP, nr Exminster, Devon (Little Silver Off Road Promotions)
1 Arnaud Tonus (Bike It Cosworth WW Yam) 22 + 22 + 25 = 69
2 Mattis Karro (Route77 MVR-D Honda) 16 + 18 + 22 = 56
3 Jake Nicholls (HM Plant Red Bull KTM) 20 + 20 + 16 = 56
4 Zach Osborne (Bike It Cosworth WW Yam) 25 + 25 + 0 = 50
5 Elliott Banks-Browne (DB Honda) 12 + 16 + 20 = 48
6 Luke Hawkins (PAR Honda) 14 + 15 + 10 = 39
7 Mel Pocock (TAS Suzuki) 15 + 7 + 15 = 37
8 Bryan MacKenzie (Maxxis Henderson Kaw) 0 + 14 + 18 = 32
9 Ray Rowson (Samsung Yamaha) 18 + 13 + 0 = 31
10 Scott Elderfield (Lanes Kawasaki) 13 + 5 + 11 = 29
11 Alan Keet (Dyer & Butler Suzuki) 0+12+14=26, 12 Scott Probert (Kopparbergs Honda) 11+10+5=26, 13 Stuart Edmonds (Wulfsport TM) 0+11+13=24, 14 Anthony Reville (PAR Honda) 0+8+12=20, 15 Matthew Moffat (Danger UK KTM) 9+3+6=18, 16 David Goosen (Moto1 KTM) 10+2+0=12, 17 James Dodd (Motoxtreme Kawasaki) 2+0+9=11, 18 Will Worden (Gibbs Wheeldon Suzuki) 3+1+7=11, 19 Lewis Tombs (MVR-D Honda) 6+0+4=10, 20 James Cottrell (DB Honda) 0+6+3=9.21 Jackson Evans (Samsung Yamaha) 0+9+0=9, 22 Ashley Wilde (Sandbach SMB Yamaha) 5+4+0=9, 23 Luke Mellows (Meredith Suzuki) 0+0+8=8, 24 Sunny Thompson (Bikesport Kawasaki) 7+0+1=8, 25 Steven Clarke (Maxxis Apico Suzuki) 8+0+0=8, 26 Matt Burrows (KTM) 4+0+0=4, 27 Erki Kahro (MVR-D Honda) 0+0+2=2, 28 Jordan Booker (HM Plant Red Bull KTM) 1+0+0=1.
RACE ONE: 1 Osborne, 2 Tonus, 3 Nicholls, 4 Rowson, 5 Karro, 6 Pocock, 7 Hawkins, 8 Elderfield, 9 Banks-Browne, 10 Probert, 11 Goosen, 12 Moffat, 13 Clarke, 14 Thompson, 15 Tombs, 16 Wilde, 17 Burrows, 18 Worden, 19 Dodd, 20 Booker.
RACE TWO: 1 Osborne, 2 Tonus, 3 Nicholls, 4 Karro, 5 Banks-Browne, 6 Hawkins, 7 MacKenzie, 8 Rowson, 9 Keet, 10 Edmonds, 11 Probert, 12 Evans, 13 Reville, 14 Pocock, 15 Cottrell, 16 Elderfield, 17 Wilde, 18 Moffat, 19 Goosen, 20 Worden.
RACE THREE: 1 Tonus, 2 Karro, 3 Banks-Browne, 4 MacKenzie, 5 Nicholls, 6 Pocock, 7 Keet, 8 Edmonds, 9 Reville, 10 Elderfield, 11 Hawkins, 12 Dodd, 13 Mellows, 14 Worden, 15 Moffat, 16 Probert, 17 Tombs, 18 Cottrell, 19 Kahro, 20 Thompson.
SERIES STANDINGS after 1 (of 8) rounds: 1 Tonus 69 points, 2 Karro 56, 3 Nicholls 56, 4 Osborne 50, 5 Banks-Browne 48, 6 Hawkins 39, 7 Pocock 37, 8 MacKenzie 32, 9 Rowson 31, 10 Elderfield 29, 11 Keet 26, 12 Probert 26, 13 Edmonds 24, 14 Reville 20, 15 Moffat 18, 16 Goosen 12, 17 Dodd 11, 18 Worden 11, 19 Tombs 10, 20 Evans 9,...
NEXT ROUND: March 27 – Canada Heights, Swanley, Kent (Sidcup & DMCC Ltd).
BRITISH VETERAN MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 1 – Little Silver MP, nr Exminster, Devon (Little Silver Off Road Promotions)
1 Greg Hanson (Moto Xtreme Kawasaki) 22 + 25 = 47
2 Brian Wheeler (Maxxis Henderson Kawasaki) 25 + 18 = 43
3 Terry House (Yamaha) 20 + 22 = 42
4 Jason Morris (Dirt Bike-Gym Suzuki) 18 + 20 = 38
5 Ricky Hanson (Samsung Yamaha) 16 + 16 = 32
6 Phil Lewis (Dextra Crescent KTM) 13 + 15 = 28
7 Adrian Bradley (???) 15 + 12 = 27
8 David Dunn (Dunn Bros KTM) 11 + 14 = 25
9 Richard Brown (KTM) 12 + 13 = 25
10 Colin Thomas (Kawasaki) 10 + 11 = 21
11 Keith Rice (JK Racing Honda) 9+9=18, 12 Stephen Elford (1st Choice Bedrooms Honda) 5+10=15, 13 Robert Glynn (Suzuki) 8+6=14, 14 Fred Sparkes (???) 14+0=14, 15 Colin Brown (Browns KTM) 4+7=11, 16 Paul Curtis (KTM) 6+5=11, 17 Darren Pocock (Pro Decal Yamaha) 0+8=8, 18 Alan Magee (Honda) 7+0=7, 19 Shaun Copeman (???) 2+4=6, 20 Anthony Houseman (Houseman Engines KTM) 3+2=5.21 Stephen Rowlands (Yamaha) 0+3=3, 22 Neil Graham (Yamaha) 0+1=1, 23 Darren Payne (Suzuki) 1+0=1.
RACE ONE: 1 Wheeler, 2 Greg Hanson, 3 House, 4 Morris, 5 Ricky Hanson, 6 Bradley, 7 Sparkes, 8 Lewis, 9 Richard Brown, 10 Dunn, 11 Thomas, 12 Rice, 13 Glynn, 14 Magee, 15 Curtis, 16 Elford, 17 Colin Brown, 18 Houseman, 19 Copeman, 20 Payne.
RACE TWO: 1 Greg Hanson, 2 House, 3 Morris, 4 Wheeler, 5 Ricky Hanson, 6 Lewis, 7 Dunn, 8 Richard Brown, 9 Bradley, 10 Thomas, 11 Elford, 12 Rice, 13 Pocock, 14 Colin Brown, 15 Glynn, 16 Curtis, 17 Copeman, 18 Rowlands, 19 Houseman, 20 Graham.
SERIES STANDINGS after 1 (of 3) rounds: 1 Greg Hanson 47 points, 2 Wheeler 43, 3 House 42, 4 Morris 38, 5 Ricky Hanson 32, 6 Lewis 28, 7 Bradley 27, 8 Dunn 25, 9 Richard Brown 25, 10 Thomas 21, 11 Rice 18, 12 Elford 15, 13 Sparkes 14, 14 Glynn 14, 15 Colin Brown 11, 16 Curtis 11, 17 Pocock 8, 18 Magee 7, 19 Copeman 6, 20 Houseman 5,...
NEXT ROUND: July 24 – Foxhill MP, Wanborough, nr Swindon (Foxhill Promotions Ltd).
MAXXIS BRITISH MX1 MOTOCROSS
CAMPIONSHIP
Rd 1 – Little Silver MP, nr Exminster, Devon (Little Silver Off Road Promotions)
1 Shaun Simpson (LS Honda) 22 + 22 + 22 = 66
2 Tom Church (Buildbase CCM) 18 + 25 + 20 = 63
3 Jason Dougan (Bike It Cosworth WW Yam) 25 + 16 + 16 = 57
4 Brad Anderson (PAR Honda) 20 + 18 + 14 = 52
5 Kristian Whatley (Samsung Yamaha) 11 + 20 + 15 = 46
6 Graeme Irwin (HMP Red Bull KTM) 15 + 15 + 11 = 41
7 Gordon Crockard (TAS Suzuki) 16 + 12 + 12 = 40
8 Gert Krestinov (Maxxis Henderson Kaw) 12 + 14 + 13 = 39
9 Martin Barr (Proppa.com KTM) 8 + 10 + 18 = 36
10 Alex Snow (Lanes Kawasaki) 14 + 11 + 8 = 33
11 Nathan Parker (Proppa.com KTM) 10+13+9=32, 12 Dorren Coutts (Yamaha) 9+9+10=28, 13 Jamie Law (D3 KTM) 13+7+7=27, 14 Stephen Sword (Buildbase CCM) 0+0+25=25, 15 Wayne Garrett (Moto1 KTM) 7+8+6=21, 16 Jamie Smith (Regent Honda) 0+6+5=11, 17 Maarten Cremers (Phoenix CCM) 5+2+3=10, 18 Alfie Smith (JK Aprilia) 6+4+0=10, 19 Jamie Lewis (PAR Honda) 4+5+0=9, 20 Kieran Scheele (Dirt-Bike Gym Suzuki) 0+0+4=4.21 Sam Simmons (Motoward Yamaha) 0+3+1=4, 22 John May (Meredith Suzuki) 0+1+2=3, 23 Ross Flashman (Colin Flashman Honda) 3+0+0=3, 24 Josh Spinks (Redline KTM) 2+0+0=2, 25 Darren Shears (St Blazey Husqvarna) 1+0+0=1.
RACE ONE: 1 Dougan, 2 Simpson, 3 Anderson, 4 Church, 5 Crockard, 6 Irwin, 7 Snow, 8 Law, 9 Krestinov, 10 Whatley, 11 Parker, 12 Coutts, 13 Barr, 14 Garrett, 15 Alfie Smith, 16 Cremers, 17 Lewis, 18 Flashman, 19 Spinks, 20 Shears.
RACE TWO: 1 Church, 2 Simpson, 3 Whatley, 4 Anderson, 5 Dougan, 6 Irwin, 7 Krestinov, 8 Parker, 9 Crockard, 10 Snow, 11 Barr, 12 Coutts, 13 Garrett, 14 Law, 15 Jamie Smith, 16 Lewis, 17 Alfie Smith, 18 Simmons, 19 Cremers, 20 May.
RACE THREE: 1 Sword, 2 Simpson, 3 Church, 4 Barr, 5 Dougan, 6 Whatley, 7 Anderson, 8 Krestinov, 9 Crockard, 10 Irwin, 11 Coutts, 12 Parker, 13 Snow, 14 Law, 15 Garrett, 16 Jamie Smith, 17 Scheele, 18 Cremers, 19 May, 20 Simmons.
SERIES STANDINGS after 1 (of 8) rounds: 1 Simpson 66 points, 2 Church 63, 3 Dougan 57, 4 Anderson 52, 5 Whatley 46, 6 Irwin 41, 7 Crockard 40, 8 Krestinov 39, 9 Barr 36, 10 Snow 33, 11 Parker 32, 12 Coutts 28, 13 Law 27, 14 Sword 25, 15 Garrett 21, 16 Jamie Smith 11, 17 Alfie Smith 10, 18 Cremers 10, 19 Lewis 9, 20 Scheele 4,...
NEXT ROUND: March 27 – Canada Heights, Swanley, Kent (Sidcup & DMCC Ltd).