Report: Maxxis British MX1/MX2 Championship - Rd1 Lyng
By Dick Law on 23rd Mar 16
The 2016 Maxxis British Motocross Championship supported by Pro Clean kicked off on Sunday at a chilly Cadders Hill circuit at Lyng in the heart of Norfolk.
Tommy Searle (Monster Energy DTR Kawasaki) took two convincing wins over detuned current champion Shaun Simpson (Wilvo Virus KTM) in the MX1 class – inflicting the Scot's first Maxxis defeat in over a year.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna locked out the top two steps of the podium in MX2 with Max Anstie and rising star Conrad Mewse.
This year the ACU has changed the format of the series with two 25-minute plus two-lap races instead of three shorter motos.
Norwich Viking MCC had worked hard on the hilly, sandy, old-school track and it was in great condition for the opening MX1 race that was holeshot by 2015 MX2 champion Steven Lenoir (Dyer & Butler KTM).
A crash saw the Frenchman complete the opening lap in eighth and Searle also had problems, missing the turn at the end of the straight and almost taking out a trackside photographer.
This left Tanel Leok (MVR-D Husqvarna) in the lead from Simpson and a fast-recovering Searle.
Kristian Whatley (Buildbase Honda) was in fourth as Gert Krestinov (Phoenix Tools Honda) and Elliott Banks-Browne (Geartec Yamaha) filled the next two places, with local hero Jake Nicholls (Hitachi Revo Husqvarna) seventh ahead of Lenoir.
Both Simpson and Searle found a way past Leok on lap two, with Searle taking the lead two laps later.
By the halfway mark the race had settled down with Searle maintaining a comfortable lead over Simpson and Leok all on his own in third place, while Whatley, Krestinov, Banks-Browne and Nicholls fought over fourth.
Behind them it was going off as after an average start Graeme Irwin (Buildbase Honda) was on a mission.
He'd finished the opening lap in ninth place behind Lenoir but in front of Jake Shipton (Crescent KTM) and Brad Anderson (Verde Sport KTM) but a crash on lap three put him back behind Ando.
It took Irwin a couple of laps to settle down again before he upped his pace and started to carve his way through the pack on a track that had become a bit one-lined.
First Anderson and then Lenoir, Nicholls, Banks-Browne and Krestinov were swallowed up by his charge.
And then on the last lap he passed Whatley for an incredible fourth place behind Searle, Simpson and
Race two was all abut Searle as he got the holeshot, opened up a good lead and maintained it until the end of the race to win by just under nine seconds from Simpson who, after passing Krestinov on lap two, spent the rest of his race in second.
Krestinov held third until half-distance when Nicholls made a pass stick and the next lap he crashed down to 10th place, the position he finished in.
Leok crossed the line behind Nicholls in fourth with Whatley, who seemed back on the pace, fifth.
Irwin was sixth after another tough race involving a crash, a whole heap of passes and a massive moment when his hand came off the bars on a hard landing.
"I'm very happy with the way I rode today and for the two race wins,” said Searle.
"I am enjoying my racing more this year as there is no pressure on me and I am just going out there and doing my own thing.
"If anyone wants to run at my pace we will have a good race.
"The first race I had a reasonable start but messed up a bit at the turn at the end of the first straight and went off the track.
"I was back in eighth for a while but soon made my way back to the front and into the lead.
"I made race two a bit easier for myself by getting the holeshot, put in three or four fast laps and then controlled the race for the second of my two wins.”
Simpson revealed that he'd picked up a stomach bug after the Thai GP and wasn't feeling 100 per cent. I spent a week on the couch after getting home,” he said.
"But last week I had a solid week of training and thought I was over it and felt all right.
"Today I just seemed to not be focused and couldn't really push as fast as I wanted.
"For a while I thought the bike wasn't handling right and we didn't have the right set-up but the more I think about it, if you're not riding your usual pace the bike wont be working properly because it's not getting ridden properly.
"We just have to go back home and think about what's gone wrong.
"I will be right for the next round and Tommy will not have it so easy – and two second places means I am only six points behind him and, like I always say, it's a long season.”
In MX2 Anstie set fastest qualifying time – less than half-a-second second faster than Steven Clarke (Apico Husqvarna) – but led every lap of both races.
He holeshot race one with team-mate Mewse and Clarke in his wheel tracks, as James Dunn (Hitachi Revo Husqvarna) and the on-form Martin Barr (Buildbase Honda) dogged the leading trio's every move.
With three laps gone and with the leading pair pulling further and further away from the rest of the pack Clarke's bike gave up and had to be pushed back to the paddock, handing third to Barr, who had passed Dunn on lap two.
By the next lap the finishing order of the top four had been decided as Anstie led Mewse from Barr and Dunn.
But behind them things were changing as James Cottrell (Monster DRT Kawasaki) and Jake Millward (Verde KTM) followed each other from seventh and eighth on lap one to finish fifth and sixth.
Neville Bradshaw (Heads & All Threads Suzuki) had an up and down race and after starting ninth was up to seventh before a couple of crashes dumped him back to 15th.
And it was worse for the luckless Ben Watson (Hitachi Revo Husqvarna) who, after a gearbox fail in qualifying, was making up for a bad start only to have his bike quit.
Once again Anstie and Mewse led at the end of the opening lap of race two and were not seen again by the rest of the riders.
Cottrell, after a great start, was passed by Clarke on his way to third place with Watson showing his true potential as he charged from 10th at the start through to fourth.
Lewis Tombs (Geartec Yamaha) and Brad Todd (Planet Husqvarna) spent all race together and finished fifth and sixth with Dunn, who came from 13th at the start to seventh, doing enough for third overall.
Lewis Trickett (Buildbase Honda), who had a better second race after a stone jammed his rear wheel in the opener, was eighth just ahead of Bradshaw.
"We have made a lot of progress here today working on our bike set-up,” said wildcard rider Anstie.
"We've been doing lots of testing over recent weeks as we've had limited bike time but there's no better way to test a bike's set-up then actual racing and that was the main idea of coming here today.
"I think that it will also help us out at the GP next weekend in Holland.”
His team-mate's impressive performance was even more amazing given his limited experience in the class.
"I rode an MX2 race at the end of last year but this is my first proper MX2 race and I got a podium so I couldn't ask for anything more really,” said Mewse.
"In the past I have struggling with my starts but today I had two good ones and after that I showed I could run the same pace as the leader.
"I did my best to stay with Max and even pushed him for a while.”
After the opening MXY2 race was stopped following a massive pile-up at the bottom of a blind jump, Alexander Brown (Apico Husqvarna) dominated and led every lap of the restart.
He was followed over the finish line by James Carpenter (Phoenix Tools Honda) and Callum Green (SJP Moto Husqvarna).
While Brown did the same in race two, Carpenter and Henry Williams (RFX KTM) fought over second place with their positions changing every couple of laps until Williams led Carpenter over the finish line when it mattered.
Overall it was Brown from Carpenter with George Grigg-Pettitt (Carl Nunn KTM) third after two strong races.
