Simpson Cooks up a double
By TMX Archives on 25th Jun 08
AFTER almost two months of warm and sunny weather in Northern Ireland, unfortunately, just as the competitors, teams and spectators arrived at Desertmartin things took a distinct turn for the worse in the weather department. For this fifth round which marked the start of the second half of the Maxxis series the weather was cool and sometimes wet and windy. However all the hard work and preparation the organising Cookstown Club had put in prior to this event made sure that whatever the weather, the circuit and their excellent facilities would cope and help to provide some superb and entertaining racing.With Billy MacKenzie the undefeated MX1 series leader unfortunately on the sidelines for this round due to injury and also the MX2 class top points scorer Stephen Sword on a damage limitation exercise also due to injury this fifth round was always going to produce a few surprises and indeed it did.
AS the competitors splashed their way off the start line for the first MX2 Championship race, much to the delight of the local crowd it was Martin Barr who led, followed by Shaun Simpson, Alan Keet and 16 year-old Graeme Irwin from Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland.
Flying Scot Shaun Simpson took control halfway round the opening lap with Martin Barr now second and the surprise package of Alan Keet and Graeme Irwin still holding third and fourth positions. The series leader Stephen Sword was fifth with Carl Nunn sixth.
There was to be little change in this race order for the next six or seven laps. Shaun Simpson, who rides for the Northern Ireland-based and Roger Magee managed KTM UK team, steadily increased his leading margin to six seconds over Martin Barr.
It was obvious that Stephen Sword was still suffering the effects of his shoulder injury and not helped by the technical, demanding nature of the Desertmartin circuit he started to drop down the leaderboard. At the same time Carl Nunn and Jason Dougan moved into third and fourth positions.
As this MX2 race moved into the last four laps it all seemed to move up a gear as Martin Barr began to cut into Shaun Simpson's six second advantage and Graeme Irwin and Jason Dougan were busy slogging it out for fourth and fifth positions.
At the flag, Shaun Simpson won by just 1.97 seconds from Barr. Carl Nunn was all on his own in third and the race to the line by Graeme Irwin and Jason Dougan saw Dougan claim fourth by just a tenth of a second from young Irwin who recorded his best ever British Championship race result when he finished fifth. Swedish rider Marcus Norlan completed the top six.
The second MX2 class race saw Shaun Simpson lead off the line chased by Martin Barr, Stephen Sword, Neville Bradshaw and Graeme Irwin.
Simpson was in powerful form this time out and gradually built-up a commanding lead over Martin Barr with Neville Bradshaw a little way back in third.
As this race neared the two lap board, Martin Barr was caught by a flying stone from the rear wheel of another competitor he was just about to pass, the stone hit him squarely on the nose and he was very fortunate to finish the race.
At the end of this 17-lap, energy-sapping race, Shaun Simpson won by 39 seconds from Martin Barr. Martin made an immediate trip to the Medical Aid unit with blood streaming from his face where a suspected broken nose was diagnosed before he got cleaned up and made it onto the rostrum to pick-up his second place overall award.
Neville Bradshaw did finish third, but only just in the end from the charging Carl Nunn. Jason Dougan ended a solid day for him in fifth position with Tom Soderstorm completing the top leaderboard positions.
Shaun Simpson picked up the prestigious Red front number plate to announce he leads the Maxxis MX2 championship with three rounds remaining. He also won the Silkolene fastest lap award.
BRITISH MX2 MOTOCROSS CHAMPS
Rd 5 – Desertmartin, nr Cookstown, NI
(Cookstown & DMCC)
1 Shaun Simpson (KTM UK) 25 + 25 = 50
2 Martin Barr (Utag Yamaha) 22 + 22 = 44
3 Carl Nunn (Suso MVRD Suzuki) 20 + 18 = 38
4 Jason Dougan (Suso MVRD Suzuki) 18 + 16 = 34
5 Marcus Norlen (Suso MVRD Suzuki) 15 + 13 = 28
6 Lewis Gregory (Relentless Suzuki) 13 + 14 = 27
7 Graeme Irwin (Moto One Suzuki) 16 + 11 = 27
8 Paulin Gautier (Molson Kawasaki) 9 + 15 = 24
9 Mel Pocock (Utag Yamaha) 11 + 12 = 23
10 Jake Nicholls (Swift Suzuki) 12 + 10 = 22
11 Alan Keet (KTM) 14 + 8 = 22
12 Neville Bradshaw (DB Honda) 0 + 20 = 20
13 Stephen Sword (Molson Kawasaki) 10 + 9 = 19
14 Ashley Greedy (PAR Honda) 8 + 7 = 15
15 Robert Hamilton (Pioneer Yamaha) 5 + 6 = 11
16 Joseph Dark (Meredith Suzuki) 6+4=10, 17 Elliott Banks-Browne (Swift Suzuki) 7+0=7, 18 Alex Snow (KTM UK) 0+5=5, 19 Shane Carless (PAR Honda) 4+0=4, 20 Alex Butler (Corby Kawasaki) 0+3=3, 21 Klemen Gercar (Utag Yamaha) 3+0=3, 22 Matthew Moffat (Scott Leathers KTM) 0+2=2, 23 Stephen O'Conner (???) 2+0=2, 24 Lewis Tombs (Utag Yamaha) 0+1=1, 25 Vytautas Bucas (???) 1+0=1.
RACE ONE: 1 Simpson, 2 Barr, 3 Nunn, 4 Dougan, 5 Irwin, 6 Norlen, 7 Keet, 8 Lewis Gregory, 9 Nicholls, 10 Pocock, 11 Sword, 12 Gautier, 13 Greedy, 14 Banks-Browne, 15 Dark, 16 Hamilton, 17 Carless, 18 Gercar, 19 O'Conner, 20 Bucas.
RACE TWO: 1 Simpson, 2 Barr, 3 Bradshaw, 4 Nunn, 5 Dougan, 6 Gautier, 7 Lewis Gregory, 8 Norlen, 9 Pocock, 10 Irwin, 11 Nicholls, 12 Sword, 13 Keet, 14 Greedy, 15 Hamilton, 16 Snow, 17 Dark, 18 Butler, 19 Moffat, 20 Tombs.
SERIES STANDINGS after 5 (of 8) rounds: 1 Simpson 207 points, 2 Sword 198, 3 Barr 181, 4 Nunn 127, 5 Dougan 124, 6 Bradshaw 120, 7 Banks-Browne 112, 8 Norlen 102, 9 Pocock 82, 10 Lewis Gregory 81, 11 Whatley 74, 12 Snow 73, 13 Leuret 67, 14 Dark 60, 15 Campano 55,...
NEXT ROUND: Jul 27 – Foxhill MP, nr Swindon (Foxhill Promotions Ltd).
BRITISH MX1 MOTOCROSS CHAMPS
Rd 5 – Desertmartin, nr Cookstown, NI
(Cookstown & DMCC)
1 Wayne Smith (Pioneer Yamaha) 22 + 25 = 47
2 James Noble (KTM UK) 20 + 22 = 42
3 Ray Rowson (PAR Honda) 25 + 16 = 41
4 Stuart Anderson (Swift Suzuki) 15 + 20 = 35
5 Mark Jones (Kawasaki) 16 + 18 = 34
6 Tom Church (Molson Kawasaki) 18 + 15 = 33
7 Bryan MacKenzie (Twisted7 Kawasaki) 14 + 13 = 27
8 Jamie Law (Relentless Suzuki) 13 + 12 = 25
9 Jamie Lewis (Kawasaki) 10 + 11 = 21
10 Jim Murro (STR Honda) 12 + 8 = 20
11 Wayne Garrett (Moto One Suzuki) 8 + 9 = 17
12 Mark Eastwood (Wiseco Honda) 11 + 5 = 16
13 Jamie Smith (LPE Kawasaki) 5 + 10 = 15
14 Jody Smyth (Wiseco Honda) 9 + 6 = 15
15 Jordan Rose (PAR Honda) 0 + 14 = 14
16 Luke Mellows (Dirtbikestore KTM) 6+2=8, 17 Aston Bird (SMX Honda) 7+1=8, 18 Richard Lawson (Twisted7 Kawasaki) 0+7=7, 19 Graham Riley (???) 4+3=7, 20 Gary Gibson (???) 0+4=4, 21 Tony Craig (Moto One KTM) 3+0=3, 22 Darren Leonard (???) 2+0=2, 23 Stephen Kelly (???) 1+0=1.
RACE ONE: 1 Rowson, 2 Wayne Smith, 3 Noble, 4 Church, 5 Jones, 6 Anderson, 7 Bryan MacKenzie, 8 Law, 9 Murro, 10 Eastwood, 11 Lewis, 12 Jody Smyth, 13 Garrett, 14 Bird, 15 Mellows, 16 Jamie Smith, 17 Riley, 18 Craig, 19 Leonard, 20 Kelly.
RACE TWO: 1 Wayne Smith, 2 Noble, 3 Anderson, 4 Jones, 5 Rowson, 6 Church, 7 Rose, 8 Bryan MacKenzie, 9 Law, 10 Lewis, 11 Jamie Smith, 12 Garrett, 13 Murro, 14 Lawson, 15 Jody Smyth, 16 Eastwood, 17 Gibson, 18 Riley, 19 Mellows, 20 Bird.
SERIES STANDINGS after 5 (of 8) rounds: 1 Billy MacKenzie 200 points, 2 Noble 177, 3 Anderson 166, 4 Jones 160, 5 Church 157, 6 Wayne Smith 157, 7 Eastwood 108, 8 Hucklebridge 98, 9 Bryan MacKenzie 88, 10 Gundersen 78, 11 Murro 72, 12 Michael Phillips 71, 13 Danny Smyth 68, 14 Rose 64, 15 Lewis 62,...
NEXT ROUND: Jul 27 – Foxhill MP, nr Swindon (Foxhill Promotions Ltd).
For full report and pictures see T+MX NEWS, Friday, June 27, 2008