Preview: Michelin MX Nationals hits Hawkstone Park
By Team TMX on 17th Apr 19
MX Nationals Harri Kullas Hawkstone Park
Round two of the Michelin MX Nationals takes place at the iconic Hawkstone Park in Shropshire over the Easter weekend.
The Pro MX1 favourite must be Harri Kullas (Cab Screens Deos Group Racing Honda) who romped to two convincing wins at round one and had a come-from-behind third place at last weekends British championship round at Lyng.
Of course, there is no shortage of riders looking to stop Kullas progress and expect riders including Gert Krestinov (Phoenix Tools Apico Kawasaki), Lewis Tombs (Buildbase Honda), Mel Pocock (ASA United KTM) and Jake Shipton (Crescent Yamaha) to be in the mix.
Ryan Houghton (RHR Yamaha) was third at the opening round but is racing with three broken ribs which has to take the edge off his speed and theres a question mark hanging over Elliott Banks-Browne (Geartec Husqvarna) who has a broken bone in his hand.
As this preview was getting crafted, it was revealed that Le Touquet winner Nathan Watson (Red Bull KTM) will also race.
Josh Gilbert (Buildbase Honda) and Martin Barr (Crescent Yamaha) will be the men to beat in the Pro MX2 class but there are plenty of podium contenders looking to capitalise on any mistakes from the pair.
John and Jason Meara shared the Expert MX1 wins at round one and could do the same this weekend but the sand at Hawkstone has a funny way of mixing things up when you least expect it.
In the Expert MX2 class Ben Clark, Joel Rizzi and Rossi Beard will be the ones to watch as they all had race wins at the first round.
The Clubman MX1 overall is always up for grabs but look out for Aiden Christie, Kris Rea and Adam Hayward. Clubman MX2 is more predictable as Harry Fletcher won all four races at round one with Brad Thornhill chasing him home each time.
The youth classes are harder to predict but Ike Carter and Kacey Hird are both at the top in MXY2 while James Smith and Ryan Mawhinney should be up at the front of MXY125.
Sam Atkinson and Bailey Johnston were separated by just two points after round one and will be the ones to watch in the BW85s.
In the SW85s only a DNF in race two stopped Tyla Hooley taking a clean sweep but Finlay Boxall will take the overall wins anyway he can get them.
There will be a Hawkstone Experience the day after racing for a chance to do even more laps of this testing course visit the MX Nationals website for more information.
Please remember, tear-offs are banned at the track along with charcoal barbecues.
It costs 12 for a weekend spectator ticket with no charge for under 12s. Camping is 10.
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