Raising the Barr!
By TMX Archives on 29th Jul 11
If you like your motocross white-hot then Foxhill was the place for you. Round Six of the Maxxis British Championship rolled into Swindons most famous chalk hills and delivered the most action-packed event the Maxxis has seen in years.
The weather was at its Foxhill best and the sun-soaked crowd had plenty to keep them entertained on the race-track too. In the course of the six main class races we had dust-ups, crashes, bar-to-bar racing and overalls that went to the wire. Frankly the action was breathless.
MX2's Zach Osborne and Kristian Whatley in MX1 (both riding Yamahas and both championship challengers) started the day in tremendous fashion blitzing to pole position in their respective classes.
Their title tilts ended in the cheap seats however as both finished the day injured (both crashing in their second heat) and unable to grab more than a few championship points.
This sequence of events leaves Arnaud Tonus in MX2 and Brad Anderson in MX1 as the clear series leaders but racing is rarely as simple as numbers on a page.
In MX2 heat one Zach Osborne was clearly in no mood for messing about as he shot past early frontmen HM Plant KTM's Jake Nicholls and Pulse DB Honda star Elliott Banks-Browne before the end of lap one. Zach's recent bout of Epstein Barr virus did little to hold him back as he graced the former GP circuit with a succession of whips and scrubs which have the two-for-one value of being crowd pleasing and a sure fire way of getting round in a hurry.
Osborne led throughout the 20-minute moto but was kept honest by the two hard-charging East Anglian's Nicholls and Banks-Browne. Jake held second for the first half of the race but Elliott has been on form of late and motored by to record second at the flag.
Bryan Mackenzie was a revelation in fourth on his LPE Kawasaki while fifth went to Arnaud Tonus who had to fight from nigh-on dead last to pass Mel Pocock on the final tour.
Race two was a corker. The big four of Osborne, Tonus, Banks-Browne and Nicholls hit the front early and put on a right royal showing for a very sizeable Swindon faithful. While challenging for the lead early on lap two, Osborne made an error which dropped him to sixth, allowing a touch of room for the other three guys.
This breathing space was little more than a lap as the front-four swapped positions many a time in the heat of battle up and over Foxhills' big jumps and long climbs and descents. Tonus and Osborne made their way to the front by mid-race and just as the crowd were set for a thrilling finale disaster struck.
Osborne was ready to pull his finishing manoeuvre when the front-end washed atop one of the hills and the bike threw him down hard. Zach was done for the day and probably the championship as well. In the event Tonus was able to cruise the final two-laps for victory while Elliott held off a last-ditch effort by Nicholls to score second.
Neville Bradshaw secured a classy fourth while 'Bry Mac' was again in the thick of the action, carding fifth.
The final MX2 race was less eventful but there was plenty at stake at the race's start. It was a winner takes all affair with the three big guns still standing and all still able to win the overall.
Banks-Browne led early on but was soon moved aside by the ever-confident Swiss superstar, Arnaud Tonus. The Bike-it Cosworth Yamaha star rode fast but comfortably to take his fourth overall of the season, albeit his least convincing.
Nicholls was fighting hard late in the day to pass Elliott at the mid-point. Nicholls' second was his best of the day but not enough to topple Banks who scored a fine second overall. Nicholls was discontented with third but admitted to training in sand with a view to the GP at Lommel in a week's time.
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE T+MX NEWS JULY 29
MAXXIS BRITISH MX2 MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 6 – Foxhill MP, Wanborough, nr Swindon (Foxhill Promotions Ltd)
1 Arnaud Tonus (Bike It Cosworth WW Yam) 16 + 25 + 25 = 66
2 Elliott Banks-Browne (DB Honda) 22 + 22 + 20 = 64
3 Jake Nicholls (HM Plant Red Bull KTM) 20 + 20 + 22 = 62
4 Bryan MacKenzie (Maxxis Henderson Kaw) 18 + 16 + 15 = 49
5 Neville Bradshaw (Route77 MVR-D Hon) 12 + 18 + 18 = 48
6 Mattis Karro (Route77 MVR-D Honda) 14 + 14 + 16 = 44
7 Mel Pocock (TAS Suzuki) 15 + 15 + 12 = 42
8 Stuart Edmonds (Wulfsport TM) 13 + 13 + 14 = 40
9 Jordan Booker (HM Plant Red Bull KTM) 10 + 12 + 10 = 32
10 James Cottrell (DB Honda) 9 + 11 + 11 = 31
11 Adam Chatfield (???) 11+6+9=26, 12 Zach Osborne (Bike It Cosworth WW Yam) 25+0+0=25, 13 Connor Walkley (Maxxis Henderson Kaw) 6+9+7=22, 14 Steven Clarke (Maxxis Apico Suzuki) 8+0+13=21, 15 James Dodd (Mot oxtreme Kawasaki) 7+7+6=20, 16 Lewis Tombs (MVR-D Honda) 3+10+5=18, 17 John Phillips (DirtBike-Gym Suzuki) 0+3+8=11, 18 Tom Kelly (DB Honda) 5+4+0=9, 19 Luke Mellows (Meredith Suzuki) 0+8+0=8, 20 Matt Bayliss (Wooldridge Helyar Honda) 0+5+2=7, 21 Lewis Gregory (Maxxis Apico Suzuki) 0+0+4=4, 22 Kayne Lamont (Maxxis Apico Suzuki) 4+0+0=4, 23 Lewis Trickett (Twisted7 Kawasaki) 0+0+3=3, 24 Sunny Thompson (Bikesport Kawasaki) 0+2+0=2, 25 Lewis Rose (Buff Husqvarna) 2+0+0=2, 26 Ashley Wilde (Sandbach SMB Yamaha) 0+0+1=1, 27 Jackson Evans (Samsung Yamaha) 0+1+0=1, 28 Luke Norris (Phoenix Tools Kawasaki) 1+0+0=1.
RACE ONE: 1 Osborne, 2 Banks-Browne, 3 Nicholls, 4 MacKenzie, 5 Tonus, 6 Pocock, 7 Karro, 8 Edmonds, 9 Bradshaw, 10 Chatfield, 11 Booker, 12 Cottrell, 13 Clarke, 14 Dodd, 15 Walkley, 16 Kelly, 17 Lamont, 18 Tombs, 19 Rose, 20 Norris.
RACE TWO: 1 Tonus, 2 Banks-Browne, 3 Nicholls, 4 Bradshaw, 5 MacKenzie, 6 Pocock, 7 Karro, 8 Edmonds, 9 Booker, 10 Cottrell, 11 Tombs, 12 Walkley, 13 Mellows, 14 Dodd, 15 Chatfield, 16 Bayliss, 17 Kelly, 18 Phillips, 19 Thompson, 20 Evans.
RACE THREE: 1 Tonus, 2 Nicholls, 3 Banks-Browne, 4 Bradshaw, 5 Karro, 6 MacKenzie, 7 Edmonds, 8 Clarke, 9 Pocock, 10 Cottrell, 11 Booker, 12 Chatfield, 13 Phillips, 14 Walkley, 15 Dodd, 16 Tombs, 17 Gregory, 18 Trickett, 19 Bayliss, 20 Wilde.
SERIES STANDINGS after 6 (of 8) rounds: 1 Tonus 395 points, 2 Banks-Browne 331, 3 Osborne 323, 4 Pocock 256, 5 MacKenzie 230, 6 Karro 192, 7 Nicholls 185, 8 Rowson 175, 9 Edmonds 159, 10 Clarke 154, 11 Booker 132, 12 Bradshaw 130, 13 Keet 122, 14 Elderfield 118, 15 Cottrell 95, 16 Reville 89, 17 Tombs 88, 18 Wilde 67, 19 Walkley 65, 20 Bayliss 57,...
MAXXIS BRITISH MX1 MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 6 – Foxhill MP, Wanborough, nr Swindon (Foxhill Promotions Ltd)
1 Martin Barr (Proppa.com KTM) 11 + 25 + 25 = 61
2 Brad Anderson (PAR Honda) 22 + 18 + 15 = 55
3 Tom Church (HMP Red Bull KTM) 18 + 15 + 20 = 53
4 Alex Snow (Lanes Kawasaki) 15 + 20 + 18 = 53
5 Nathan Parker (Proppa.com KTM) 16 + 22 + 14 = 52
6 Gert Krestinov (Maxxis Henderson Kaw) 12 + 16 + 22 = 50
7 Gordon Crockard (TAS Suzuki) 14 + 14 + 16 = 44
8 Jamie Smith (Regent Honda) 10 + 11 + 12 = 33
9 Josh Spinks (Redline KTM) 7 + 12 + 10 = 29
10 John May (Meredith Suzuki) 0 + 13 + 13 = 26
11 Stephen Sword (Buildbase CCM) 25+0+0=25, 12 Kristian Whatley (Samsung Yamaha) 20+0+0=20, 13 Luke Benstead (Colchester Kawasaki) 0+8+11=19, 14 Josh Waterman (Moto1 KTM) 9+10+0=19, 15 Dorren Coutts (Yamaha) 8+0+9=17, 16 Jim Davies (Wulfsport TM) 5+7+5=17, 17 Kieran Scheele (Dirt-Bike Gym Suzuki) 0+9+6=15, 18 Ross Rutherford (JBR Madison Honda) 6+0+8=14, 19 Syd Bales (GH M/cs Yamaha) 0+6+7=13, 20 Alfie Smith (JK Aprilia) 13+0+0=13, 21 Maarten Cremers (Phoenix CCM) 0+5+4=9, 22 Brad Cavill (MD Racing Honda) 2+4+3=9, 23 Brad Tomlin (???) 4+1+0=5, 24 Kelvin Townsend (Wheeldon Suzuki) 0+2+2=4, 25 Luke Blanchard (Blanchard Wells Yamaha) 1+3+0=4, 26 Ross Hill (Danger UK Suzuki) 3+0+0=3, 27 Oliver Sandiford-Smith (???) 0+0+1=1.
RACE ONE: 1 Sword, 2 Anderson, 3 Whatley, 4 Church, 5 Parker, 6 Snow, 7 Crockard, 8 Alfie Smith, 9 Krestinov, 10 Barr, 11 Jamie Smith, 12 Waterman, 13 Coutts, 14 Spinks, 15 Rutherford, 16 Davies, 17 Tomlin, 18 Hill, 19 Cavill, 20 Blanchard.
RACE TWO: 1 Barr, 2 Parker, 3 Snow, 4 Anderson, 5 Krestinov, 6 Church, 7 Crockard, 8 May, 9 Spinks, 10 Jamie Smith, 11 Waterman, 12 Scheele, 13 Benstead, 14 Davies, 15 Bales, 16 Cremers, 17 Cavill, 18 Blanchard, 19 Townsend, 20 Tomlin.
RACE THREE: 1 Barr, 2 Krestinov, 3 Church, 4 Snow, 5 Crockard, 6 Anderson, 7 Parker, 8 May, 9 Jamie Smith, 10 Benstead, 11 Spinks, 12 Coutts, 13 Rutherford, 14 Bales, 15 Scheele, 16 Davies, 17 Cremers, 18 Cavill, 19 Townsend, 20 Sandiford-Smith.
SERIES STANDINGS after 6 (of 8) rounds: 1 Anderson 378 points, 2 Whatley 311, 3 Barr 308, 4 Krestinov 238, 5 Church 236, 6 Snow 230, 7 Sword 222, 8 Parker 220, 9 Dougan 194, 10 Crockard 156, 11 Law 150, 12 Irwin 148, 13 Simpson 138, 14 Garrett 109, 15 Coutts 96, 16 Jamie Smith 87, 17 Rutherford 80, 18 Benstead 54, 19 Cremers 54, 20 Schiffer 46,...
NEXT ROUND: August 14 – Langton Lees Farm, Duns, nr Berwick-on-Tweed (Borders MXC).
BRITISH VETERAN MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 2 – Foxhill MP, Wanborough, nr Swindon (Foxhill Promotions Ltd)
1 Phil Mercer (KTM) 22 + 25 = 47
2 Greg Hanson (Moto Xtreme Kawasaki) 25 + 22 = 47
3 Jason Morris (Dirt Bike-Gym Suzuki) 20 + 20 = 40
4 Garry Jones (???) 16 + 18 = 34
5 Phil Lewis (Dextra Crescent KTM) 18 + 16 = 34
6 Fred Sparkes (???) 15 + 15 = 30
7 Richard Brown (KTM) 14 + 13 = 27
8 Brian Wheeler (Maxxis Henderson Kawasaki) 11 + 14 = 25
9 Colin Thomas (Kawasaki) 12 + 12 = 24
10 Robert Glynn (Suzuki) 10 + 10 = 20
11 Anthony Houseman (Houseman Engines KTM) 9+6=15, 12 Alan Magee (Honda) 5+9=14, 13 Paul Curtis (KTM) 7+7=14, 14 Ricky Hanson (Samsung Yamaha) 13+1=14, 15 Shaun Brooker (???) 4+8=12, 16 Stephen Elford (1st Choice Bedrooms Honda) 0+11=11, 17 Darren Pocock (Pro Decal Yamaha) 6+5=11, 18 Kevin Plumley (Onwards & Upwards KTM) 8+0=8, 19 Colin Brown (Browns KTM) 3+4=7, 20 Ian Barber (???) 2+3=5.21 William Burden (Kawasaki) 0+2=2, 22 Phil Roberts (PAR Honda) 1+0=1.
RACE ONE: 1 Greg Hanson, 2 Mercer, 3 Morris, 4 Lewis, 5 Jones, 6 Sparkes, 7 Richard Brown, 8 Ricky Hanson, 9 Thomas, 10 Wheeler, 11 Glynn, 12 Houseman, 13 Plumley, 14 Curtis, 15 Pocock, 16 Magee, 17 Brooker, 18 Colin Brown, 19 Ian Barber, 20 Roberts.
RACE TWO: 1 Mercer, 2 Greg Hanson, 3 Morris, 4 Jones, 5 Lewis, 6 Sparkes, 7 Wheeler, 8 Richard Brown, 9 Thomas, 10 Elford, 11 Glynn, 12 Magee, 13 Brooker, 14 Curtis, 15 Houseman, 16 Pocock, 17 Colin Brown, 18 Ian Barber, 19 Burden, 20 Ricky Hanson.
SERIES STANDINGS after 2 (of 3) rounds: 1 Greg Hanson 94 points, 2 Morris 78, 3 Wheeler 68, 4 Lewis 62, 5 Richard Brown 52, 6 Mercer 47, 7 Ricky Hanson 46, 8 Thomas 45, 9 Sparkes 44, 10 House 42, 11 Jones 34, 12 Glynn 34, 13 Bradley 27, 14 Elford 26, 15 Dunn 25, 16 Curtis 25, 17 Magee 21, 18 Houseman 20, 19 Pocock 19, 20 Rice 18,...
NEXT ROUND: October 2 – Hawkstone Park, nr Shrewsbury, Shrops (Salop MC).
