Report: Michelin MX Nationals
By Dick Law on 11th May 16
The battle for the lead in the Michelin MX Nationals Pro MX1 class intensified at last weekends rescheduled second round with Brad Anderson (Verde KTM) and Graeme Irwin (Buildbase Honda) finishing first and second overall and are now tied on points.
In MX2 Martin Barr (Buildbase Honda) maintained his stranglehold on the series by notching up two come-from-behind wins and remains unbeaten in the series this year.
It was an interesting weekend weather wise with a hard but well-watered track that became dusty by the end of the day on Saturday. As soon as racing was over on day one the heavens opened and the rain came down for over an hour leaving the track looking good for Sunday. In the early hours it started to rain again and it went on until it was time for qualifying.
Elliott Banks-Browne (Geartec Yamaha) led the pack of combined MX1 and MX2 riders into the very slippery first turn from Kristian Whatley (Buildbase Honda) and Anderson but it was in turn two where the fun started as the track funnelled into a 180-degree turn with just one big rut.
There was loads of bar banging and even some penalties handed out for course cutting but, miraculously, everyone got around without going down.
By the end of the first lap Banks-Browne was looking good and had opened up a slight advantage over Whatley who had Anderson on his tail as Irwin passed Stuart Edmonds (Metcom CCR TM) for fourth.
Carlton Husband (Phoenix Honda) was the first of the MX2 riders in seventh with Jordon Booker ninth and Barr way back in 14th place.
Whatley stalled the Honda back to sixth on lap three as Barr upped his pace and started to work his way up the field to the sharp end of the action. Two laps later Irwin put a pass on Anderson for second, only to give it back when he got cross-rutted at the bottom of one of the hills.
It all went wrong for Banks-Browne at the halfway point when he stalled the Yamaha and it wouldn't fire up again. This left Anderson in front but he was passed again by Irwin.
Husband was still leading the MX2 field from Booker and Barr with all three together on the same piece of track.
By the time Irwin crossed the finish line he was just over seven seconds clear of Anderson with Whatley 11 seconds further back followed by Jake Shipton (Crescent KTM), Edmonds and James Harrison (Cab Screens Husqvarna).
Barr crossed the line in eighth place and first MX2 rider from Brad Todd (Planet Husqvarna) and Lewis Tombs (Geartec Yamaha) as Husband was deemed to have cut the course and was given a two-minute penalty.
Josh Spinks (Heads and all Threads Suzuki) led the pack at the start of the second race from Anderson, Shipton and Whatley with Irwin in sixth and Banks-Browne eighth, one in front of Gert Krestinov. Husband was the first of the MX2 riders from Tombs and Lewis Trickett (Buildbase Honda) as Barr once again was playing catch-up.
On lap three Anderson finally found a way past Spinks as Irwin and Banks-Browne closed in on the leading pair.
By the halfway stage both Irwin and Banks-Browne had relegated Spinks to fourth and a lap latter Whatley and Krestinov pushed the youngster down another two places.
Banks-Browne passed Irwin for second on lap nine and held the advantage to the flag.
Despite coming under pressure from Krestinov in the closing stages, Whatley was fourth as Spinks held on for sixth place.
Barr had made steady progress past the rest of the MX2 riders, passing Trickett for the win on lap 11 as his team-mate hung on to second from Tombs and Neville Bradshaw (Heads & All Threads Suzuki).
Husband bent his shifter and completed the race stuck in one gear.
"I'm happy with my results today with a win and a second place but I need to transfer the pace I seem to have in the MX Nationals to the other championships as well,” said MX1 winner Anderson.
"It was all about the starts and line choice today as on some of the turns there were three or four lines and deep grooves. I'm still getting arm-pump - especially in the first race of the day - and I think that's why I get beat sometimes but once that's sorted it will be a different story.”
After two rounds Barr has taken control of the MX2 class.
"I was struggling with my starts today, especially the first one and made it hard work for myself. But I didn't panic as I knew it was a long race and I could pick the other riders off one at a time.
"I had a better start in race two but was on the wrong side of the track going into turn two and got pushed wide which lost me loads of places. But once again I didn't panic as I know my fitness would kick in and I just kept on going for my second win of the day and four from four in the series.”
With two wins and a second place in the very different conditions of both days Brad Cavill won the Bell Experts MX1 Cup by five points from race two winner James Dodd. Ashley Smith didn't finish out of the top three all weekend and was third overall with Jacob Joyce the best of the rest in fourth.
The Fly Racing MX2 Experts Cup was all over the place with no-one putting three good results together apart from Adam Wells who took the overall win with two seconds and a third.
Henry Williams had a mixed weekend with a fifth in race one, a win and an eighth in Sunday's slippery third race but he did enough for second overall with Jordan Keogh third. A DNF in race two spoilt Janson Day's weekend as he had a second and a win in his other two outings.
Michael Ellis was the rider to beat in MXY2 class and stormed to two convincing wins, the first from Alexander Brown - who crashed out of race two, breaking some ribs and his shoulder - and the second from Jamie Carpenter.
On Sunday he followed Dexter Douglas for four laps until Dylan Woodcock powered past the pair for his first win of the championship and second overall.
Joel Rizzi didn't finish out of the top three over the weekend on his way to the Big-wheel 85cc overall but that may have been a different story if Lewis Hall hadn't crashed at the start of the third race.
Hall had already won the first race by over 11 seconds from Rizzi and Dominic Lancett and he won race two by almost 13 seconds from Sam Price with Rizzi third. His crash in the last race put him back in 28th at the end of the first lap but he came through to 17th for fourth overall. Lancett was second and Price was third.
Ike Carter dominated the Small-wheel 85cc class with three wins from three starts. His first came from Louie Kessell by almost six seconds and Kessell was second again in race two but this time almost 15 seconds adrift.
In the third and final race of the weekend he crossed the finish line just over eight seconds clear of Bobby Bruce with Kessell third. Overall it was Carter from Kessell and Bruce.
The RFX Junior Clubman event was all about Josh Canton who took all three wins and the overall from Jake Thompson and Ollie Kirby.
