Perfect Tan
By TMX Archives on 3rd Jun 15
Tanel Leok (LPE Kawasaki) mastered the Weston-super-Mare sand at the combined MX Nationals and 2015 Pro Nationals Festival, winning all four of his races in the tough, power-sapping beach-based event.
The organisers laid out two tracks using the same startline consisting of mainly straights and 180 degree turns, with some jumps beside the promenade wall.
Luke Hawkins (Dave Thorpe Honda) got the holeshot in the first MX Nationals pro race on Saturday from Graeme Irwin (Heads & All-Threads Suzuki), Scott Elderfield and Martin Barr (BRT KTM) with Leok down in sixth place and MX2 leader Steven Lenoir (Dyer & Butler KTM) almost last after a first-turn crash.
Irwin took the lead by the end of the second lap, with Barr moving into second place and Leok on his tail while the first of the MX2 riders, Lewis Trickett (MBO Power Yamaha), was down in 12th place such was the power advantage of the MX1 machines.
By lap four Leok was in the lead and reeling off fast lap after fast lap, leaving the rest to fight over the lower places.
Harri Kullas (Heads & All Threads Suzuki) from seventh at the start passed Barr at the halfway stage for second with Barr following him over the finish line.
Brad Anderson (MBO Power Yamaha) had to charge his way to fourth place from 13th, with Ryan Houghton (Yamaha) hanging onto fifth as Irwin slipped down to sixth.
As for the MX2 riders, Lenoir was flying after his first-turn get-off and had caught leading 250F rider Jake Millward (Verde KTM) by lap seven, only to slide off again three laps later.
But with three laps to go Lenoir was in the lead and took another win, although he was lapped by Leok.
Michael Eccles (Phoenix Husqvarna) had latched onto Lenoir when he passed him at the halfway stage and found a way past Millward to snatch second.
Leok was not messing about in race two as he passed the holeshoting Anderson going down the first straight and checked out for his second win of the weekend.
Anderson held off Kullas for the first couple of laps as the pair finished second and third, while Barr made things hard for himself by completing the opening lap in 29th place after a crash – although he ended the race in fourth place as Irwin went out with a locked-up engine.
Houghton backed up his first race with another strong fifth with Matiss Karro (Route 77 Honda) sixth and the first of the MX2 riders.
Lenoir had another eventful race with a couple of crashes but still chased Karro over the finish line in seventh, as Jamie Law (LPE Kawasaki) finished eighth and the last rider on the lead lap.
With Kristian Whatley (Buildbase Honda) sidelined with a broken collarbone it's all very tight at the top of MX1 but Lenoir extended his lead in MX2.
FOR FULL REPORT & PICTURES SEE TMX NEWS, THURSDAY, JUNE 4 (ISSUE 1974)
