Shining Ray
By TMX Archives on 2nd Jan 08
ONCE again, the British Under 21 Motocross Championship, this year sponsored by PAR Homes, has brought to the fore a young rider destined for great things in motocross.
The 2007 championship was completely dominated by Molson Kawasaki rider Ray Rowson, no one else really got a look in.
From the 14 races, he won 11 of them and in the other three he was second. Only second place man in the championship, Relentless Suzuki's Jamie Law, and Elliott Banks-Browne on a Swift Suzuki, taking a break from the GPs, beat him.
BACK in April for round one at a dry and challenging Matchams Park, it was clear from the start that Rowson was going to be hard to beat, not that stopped anyone
trying.
Rowson got the holeshot at the start of the first race with Alan Keet in his wheel tracks, but it was Kristian Whatley on a Ruddock Race Homes KTM who was in second by the end of the lap.
Law was in third, while reigning champ Jim Murro was pushing him hard on his Moggstar KTM until he fell and relegated himself to the back of the pack.
The order stayed the same to the end of the race and the only real mover was Ashley Greedy as he came up from 14th on the first lap to claim sixth at the flag.
Law got into turn one first at the start of the second race with Whatley and Rowson snapping at his heels, with Rowson moving into second on lap two,
stealing the lead from Law on lap four.
From then on, the front runners stayed the same, with Rowson leading from Law and Whatley, while Pritt Ratsep moved into fourth from eighth on the opening lap.
But all eyes where on Murro as he went from dead last on lap one to finish 11th, all be it a lap down, and
netted himself some valuable points.
Two weeks later, it was down to a very mild Whiteway Barton in Devon where the club had been watering the track for the day prior to the event.
Pioneer Yamaha's Luke Remmer got the holeshot at the start of the first race with Kristian Whatley, Joe Dark and Jamie Law in hot pursuit, with fastest man in practice, Rowson down in sixth.
By the time two laps had passed, Law was up to second and Rowson third as Dark crashed down to12th.
At about the halfway stage, Rowson dived up the inside of Remmer to take the lead, and the win, by just under 16 seconds.
Tom McEntee grabbed the holeshot at the start of the second race with Whatley chasing him as Law and Lewis King filled the next two places, with Rowson way back in 13th.
Law took the lead at the end of the lap with Daniel Preston in second as McEntee slipped back to eighth, and Whatley crashed back to 13th.
For the rest of the race, all eyes where on the gap between Law and Rowson and the question was, could he close the gap? And if he did, could he pass?
Law kept his cool as the gap closed though and inflicted Rowson's first defeat of the year as the pair crossed the finish line just over a second apart.
Murro had slowed and took a comfortable third place, while Preston was a distant fourth from a recovering Whatley and Pritt Ratsep.
The sandy Blaxhall circuit in Suffolk was the venue for round three of the championship chase and Rowson just kept on winning.
Elliott Banks-Browne led the first race into turn one with Rowson on his case, watching his every move, as current champion Murro was at the back after a bad start.
Rowson took the lead on lap three as Banks-Browne crashed down the field, and Law took over second with Chris Bastick moving into third place.
Rowson cruised to a 19-second win over Law, with Alan Keet coming-up from 11th on lap one to take a quiet third.
Once again, Banks-Browne got the holeshot at the start of the second moto from Keet, Rowson, Alex Snow and Murro, with Law at the back of the pack after having trouble.
Banks-Browne crashed again on lap eight and went back to the paddock which handed the lead to Rowson, but while all that was going on, Law had made remarkable progress through the pack. He was 12th at the end on lap one, seventh a lap later, and third on lap five, only to throw it all away when he crashed big-time on lap seven.
Rowson crossed the finish the winner again, just over five seconds clear of Murro, as the hard working Law got back up to third.
Asham Wood was the venue for round four, run by the Frome club, where once again Rowson did the
double.
Ashley Greedy got the holeshot at the start of the first race as Alex Snow slid off his Relentless Suzuki, losing two places, while Rowson was down in sixth.
for full report and pictures see T+MX News, Friday, January 4, 2008
PICTURE:tmx_023_002_04-01-08
CAPTION: Jamie Law (pictured) had a great season but couldn't match the pace of Ray Rowson.