Scottish duel... British MX2 Champs Review
By TMX Archives on 2nd Jan 09
THE 2008 Maxxis British MX2 Motocross Championship turned into a two-man battle of attrition as Scotsmen Stephen Sword and Shaun Simpson scrapped it out over the whole eight rounds of the series. In fact, the pair proved to be so dominant that only two other riders would take moto victories wildcard Tommy Searle at round one and UTAG Yamaha's American boy Zach Osborne Round 1
CONDITIONS were cold but bright for round one of the series held at Donington Park on the Derbyshire/ Leicestershire border. The purpose built GP-standard track proved to be a great setting for the opening round of the Maxxis British Championship and the addition of Tommy Searle as a wildcard only helped add even more excitement.
It was Swift Suzuki's flying Frenchman Pascal Leuret who led from the line in the opening race on the factory RM-Z but the main series protagonists were all right there with Martin Barr second, Stephen Sword third, Shaun Simpson fourth and Gareth Swanepoel, Searle and Carl Nunn all trading places on the opening lap. Searle soon pushed into an unassailable lead as Simpson found himself sidelined with a split fuel line. Sword battled through to second as the chequered flag flew and Leuret hung in there for third in a scorching series opener.
After going out of his way to bang bars with Simpson in turn one of race two, Searle let a certain holeshot slip which allowed Molson Kawasaki's Sword to grab an early lead while his team-mate Gareth Swanepoel took a heavy fall in turn two. Behind Swordy the Suzukis of Leuret and Elliot Banks-Browne held an early advantage over defending champ Mike Brown and the KTMs of Searle and Simpson.
It didn't take long for Searle and Simpson to scythe through the pack though with the Scottish KTM star taking the early lead from Sword who took a while to settle into a good race pace. Simpson led until Searle made a move that mirrored his first moto pass and from there he was pretty much gone as he effortlessly took the race win and the overall in the opening round of the series.
The drama wasn't over though as Sword managed to regroup and pass Simpson to take another second for second overall on the day with Leuret finishing third with his two - four scorecard.
Round 2
EARLY morning snow helped make the going deep and slippery for the second round of the championship at Canada Heights in Kent but despite the arctic conditions the on track action was as hot as ever.
The snow stopped in time for moto one and Simpson celebrated by blasting into an early lead ahead of Carlos Campano, Jason Dougan and Sword who ran fourth in the early laps. Canada Heights is one of Simpson's favourite circuits and he proved that point by stretching out a massive lead as the race progressed. Sword ran second throughout while UTAG Yamaha's Martin Barr took his first podium result of the year with a superb third.
Simpson powered into the lead once more in moto two with Welsh privateer Richard-Mike Jones gating second ahead of DB Racing's Neville Bradshaw, Kristian Whatley and Barr while Sword got snarled up in some first corner carnage. While Sword concentrated on battling through the pack, Simpson was able to dominate at the front once more to take his second easy win of the day and overall honours.
Barr and Bradshaw spent most of the second moto fighting tooth and nail over second spot with the Irishman finally getting the nod over the South African while Sword finally pulled through the pack to fourth in the race and third overall on the day - behind Simpson and Barr - but also took the series lead.
FOR FULL STORY SEE T+MX NEW, FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 2009