Sword was the best Barr none
By TMX Archives on 18th Jun 09
This seasons Maxxis British Motocross Championships reached its half-way point on Sunday, and the MX1 and MX2 class positions are starting to become clearer after round four took place at Salop MCs fabulously prepared circuit at Hawkstone Park, in Shropshire.
Factory Kawasaki pilot, Gareth Swanepoel, finally found his feet on the green meanie with two dominant wins at the sandy circuit just north of Shrewsbury. PAR Honda's Brad Anderson increased his lead at the head of the standings though to 31-points in MX1 over MVR-D Suzuki's James Noble by virtue of gaining runner-up. Billy MacKenzie took his CAS Honda to its first podium appearance this season after battling a painful hand injury to come home in third overall. Over in the MX2 class, current series leader, KTM UK's Stephen Sword also stretched the gap at the top over new second-placed man, Neville Bradshaw, to 37-points.Sword's second race win helped him take top spot on Sunday over runner-up Bradshaw and first race winner, Ulsterman Martin Barr. Josh Waterman sits with one hand on the MXY2 title after taking victory at what was the penultimate round for that class when his nemesis Luke Hawkins suffered TWO no scores. Report and Pictures: GRAHAM MILNE
THE weather was tremendous. Blistering sunshine, a track that still had remnants of the World MX3 round staged there last month and continuous grading provided a circuit that continues to be one of the best around.
Swordy took pole position just over half a second ahead of the 16-year-old pairing of Scott Elderfield and Mel Pocock, who continue to open eyes and surprise more than a few with their consistent speed and raw talent. Bradshaw and Barr were the only ther two within a second of polesitter Sword.
Latvian Mattis Karro blasted out of the gates and through the ‘Tunnel' section ahead of the pack in race one, as Elliott Banks-Brown hit the deck hard and had the pack ride over the top of him!
Karro led through the first lap ahead of young whipper-snapper Elderfield in second place followed by the hungry Jake Nicholls, Barr, ‘Swordy' and Mel Pocock.
For four-laps Karro looked in control in the sand, holding off the attempts to pass by Elderfield as Barr slipped through ahead of Nichols for third place early on.
It all changed on lap four as Karro suddenly went missing and was out leaving teenager Elderfield to lead his first adult British championship race.
"I didn't panic,” explained Elderfield afterwards, "I just tried to keep calm and think of my lines, I actually felt as though I belonged there...”
It was great experience for the youngster who then unfortunately broke his gear lever in a rut, which left him stuck in fourth gear and using the clutch to help keep going.
By half distance, Swordy had crept up to second spot, disposing of Nicholls and Barr in the process.
However, he bobbled, which allowed Barr to charge back through to have a battle royale with Elderfield in the closing stages. The crowd was on its toes watching blocked passing manoeuvres and back-markers getting in the way.
The pair fought it out and due to Elderfield's broken gear shift, and Barr's tenacity, the Ulsterman went through for the lead with three-laps to go and eventually took his first MX2 moto win.
Sword secured third place as Nicholls and Bradshaw completed the top five.
This season's British championship series has thrown up all the new kids on the block and it really augurs well for the sport's future in this country.
Jake Nicholls ripped out of the gates and through the ‘Tunnel' in the lead of the second race followed by Karro, Wayne Smith, Sword and Welshman Shane Carless.
Unfortunately, teenager Elderfield's second race didn't start off as superbly as his first with an early fall putting him way back in the pack with fellow crasher Martin Barr.
It was age and experience versus youthful exuberance at the front though as Nicholls held off team-mate Sword for over half of the race.
"I knew Swordy was there and I couldn't shake him, so I used my head a little and eased back to concentrate and he went passed me, so I went straight back past him, which must have played with his head a little,” explained Nicholls later.
However a couple of laps later, it was all over for the youngster as his rear wheel disintegrated after landing from a big-jump before the rhythm section.
"The sprocket got mangled and then the hub went to pieces, so I couldn't continue, I'm gutted as I was in second place in the championship following the first race and if I could have held on in the last race I would have been a safe second. There is time however!”
Neville Bradshaw was the lucky recipient of Nicholls' misfortune and slipped into second spot to finish behind winner Sword and ahead of Pocock and Wayne Smith.
Pocock is gradually coming back to form after months out of racing after a bad arm break!
Elderfield eventually got back to sixth spot with Barr in eighth after their first lap spills.
Elderfield just missed out on his first podium by one-point and Barr's ride to third spot on the podium was a fitting tribute to his determined ride from all but last place.
IT took just three laps for Billy MacKenzie to take pole position on Sunday, just pipping current series leader Anderson and Swanepoel by a fraction of a second.
The MacKenzie gauntlet was thrown down after a torrid start to the defence of his crown so far this season.
Just like a week previously in France, at the GP at Ernee, Buildbase CCM's Tom Church hit the front of a race as the opening MX1 moto got underway.
The Wiltshire ace swept through the ‘Tunnel' ahead of Swanny, Anderson and the two MacKenzies – Billy AND his cousin Bryan – and Kristian Whatley.
Half-a-lap in, Swanny took control at the front as MacKenzie (Billy) also came out from behind Church to chase the South African.
The top three held station all race long as eventual winner Swanepoel went over the line 12-seconds ahead of second man ‘Billy Mac' and Anderson.
James Noble kept his championship hopes alive after battling through from a mid-pack start to fourth at the flag as Church continued to preach the gospel according to CCM in fifth.
Brad Anderson continued to show that this season could well be ‘his' season to shine with a blistering holeshot in race two.
He is defying the doubters by staying consistent, not crashing so often and his PAR Honda his been staying fresh, taking him to places he hasn't been – the front – for long periods of time.
However, we also had Swanepoel back to his best and it was the Springbok who eventually swept through to the lead before the opening lap was complete after which he had to battle to keep Anderson at bay for the 30-minute plus two-lap duration.
The pair kept up an incredible speed all around the demanding circuit with no quarter asked or given.
Further back Nunn was on his own after swooping through and block passing MacKenzie (Billy) mid-race and then being left in the middle between the front pair's battle and a raging scrap going on behind between Noble and MacKenzie (Bryan).
Noble held off MacKenzie once he'd passed the Scotsman, but this race captured the imagination of the spectators.
It was noted in some quarters that Bryan MacKenzie was circulating faster than his older cousin later in the race, youngsters these days, eh? No respect for their elders!
Swanepoel's win takes him up to fourth in the standings behind new boy in third Billy MacKenzie demoting Carl Nunn to fifth from a pre-event third spot.
"I've been working hard in training over the last couple of weeks and I am reaping the benefits now,” added the Springbok later.
FOR FULL STORY AND PICTURES, SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 2009
MAXXIS BRITISH MX2 MOTOCROSS
CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 4 – Hawkstone Park, near Shrewsbury, Shropshire (Salop MC)
1 Stephen Sword (KTM UK) 20 + 25 = 45
2 Neville Bradshaw (DB Honda) 16 + 22 = 38
3 Martin Barr (Relentless Suzuki) 25 + 13 = 38
4 Scott Elderfield (PAR Honda) 22 + 15 = 37
5 Mel Pocock (Utag Yamaha) 15 + 20 = 35
6 Shane Carless (Moto1 KTM) 14 + 16 = 30
7 Wayne Smith (Samsung Yamaha) 11 + 18 = 29
8 Graeme Irwin (KTM UK) 13 + 14 = 27
9 Rickard Sandberg (Twisted 7 Honda) 9 + 11 = 20
10 Jake Nicholls (KTM UK) 18 + 0 = 18
11 Tommy Fenwick (JAR Honda) 10+5=15, 12 Alex Rockwell (Road & Track Yamaha) 0+12=12, 13 David Goosen (Dyer & Butler Suzuki) 2+10=12, 14 Alan Keet (ProSeal KTM UK) 12+0=12, 15 Lewis Tombs (Yamaha) 3+8=11, 16 Will Worden (Wheeldon Suzuki) 4+6=10, 17 Matiss Karro (MVR-D Suzuki) 0+9=9, 18 Wayne Garrett (TSR KTM) 8+0=8, 19 Tony Craig (TWMA Kawasaki) 0+7=7, 20 Lewis King (Nigel Arnold KTM) 7+0=7, 21 Daniel Arnold (LPE Kawasaki) 6+0=6, 22 James Dodd (MotoXtreme Kawasaki) 5+0=5, 23 Gregory Fisher (Twisted 7 Honda) 0+4=4, 24 Ricky Mair (G Force Honda) 1+3=4, 25 Chad Yarranton (Kawasaki) 0+2=2, 26 Luke Burton (D&B Suzuki) 0+1=1.
RACE ONE: 1 Barr, 2 Elderfield, 3 Sword, 4 Nicholls, 5 Bradshaw, 6 Pocock, 7 Carless, 8 Irwin, 9 Keet, 10 Smith, 11 Fenwick, 12 Sandberg, 13 Garrett, 14 King, 15 Arnold, 16 Dodd, 17 Worden, 18 Tombs, 19 Goosen, 20 Mair.
RACE TWO: 1 Sword, 2 Bradshaw, 3 Pocock, 4 Smith, 5 Carless, 6 Elderfield, 7 Irwin, 8 Barr, 9 Rockwell, 10 Sandberg, 11 Goosen, 12 Karro, 13 Tombs, 14 Craig, 15 Worden, 16 Fenwick, 17 Fisher, 18 Mair, 19 Yarranton, 20 Burton.
SERIES STANDINGS after 4 (of 8) rounds: 1 Sword 175 points, 2 Bradshaw 138, 3 Karro 123, 4 Nicholls 117, 5 Elderfield 110, 6 Barr 103, 7 Irwin 102, 8 Smith 97, 9 Simpson 90, 10 Carless 83, 11 Leuret 69, 12 Pocock 60, 13 Phillips 59, 14 Sandberg 54, 15 Keet 49, 16 Rockwell 33, 17 Goosen 31, 18 Fenwick 29, 19 Banks-Browne 24, 20 Dark 24,...
NEXT ROUND: July 12 – Cadders Hill, Lyng, Norfolk (Norwich Viking MCC).
MAXXIS BRITISH MX1 MOTOCROSS
CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 4 – Hawkstone Park, near Shrewsbury,
Shropshire (Salop MC)
1 Gareth Swanepoel (KRTE Kawasaki) 25 + 25 = 50
2 Brad Anderson (PAR Honda) 20 + 22 = 42
3 Billy MacKenzie (CAS Honda) 22 + 16 = 38
4 James Noble (MVR-D Suzuki) 18 + 18 = 36
5 Carl Nunn (MVR-D Suzuki) 14 + 20 = 34
6 Bryan MacKenzie (CAS Honda) 13 + 15 = 28
7 Jason Dougan (Phoenix Tools CCM) 15 + 13 = 28
8 Alex Snow (KTM UK) 12 + 10 = 22
9 Mark Jones (Samsung Yamaha) 11 + 9 = 20
10 Kristian Whatley (LPE Kawasaki) 4 + 14 = 18
11 Scott Columb (Relentless Suzuki) 5+12=17, 12 Tom Church (Buildbase CCM) 16+0=16, 13 Jamie Lewis (Nigel Arnold KTM) 3+11=14, 14 Jamie Law (Relentless Suzuki) 6+8=14, 15 Mark Eastwood (Wiseco Honda) 8+5=13, 16 Stuart Edmonds (Electraction TM UK) 9+4=13, 17 Nathan Parker (Proppa STR Honda) 10+3=13, 18 Jamie Smith (LPE Kawasaki) 7+2=9, 19 Jordan Rose (Proppa STR Honda) 0+7=7, 20 David Willet (Bladez Yamaha) 0+6=6, 21 Alex Butler (Corby Kawasaki) 2+0=2, 22 Dorren Coutts (Yamaha) 0+1=1, 23 Luke Mellows (Meredith Suzuki) 1+0=1.
RACE ONE: 1 Swanepoel, 2 Billy MacKenzie, 3 Brad Anderson, 4 Noble, 5 Church, 6 Dougan, 7 Nunn, 8 Bryan MacKenzie, 9 Snow, 10 Jones, 11 Parker, 12 Edmonds, 13 Eastwood, 14 Smith, 15 Law, 16 Columb, 17 Whatley, 18 Lewis, 19 Butler, 20 Mellows.
RACE TWO: 1 Swanepoel, 2 Brad Anderson, 3 Nunn, 4 Noble, 5 Billy MacKenzie, 6 Bryan MacKenzie, 7 Whatley, 8 Dougan, 9 Columb, 10 Lewis, 11 Snow, 12 Jones, 13 Law, 14 Jordan Rose, 15 Willet, 16 Eastwood, 17 Edmonds, 18 Parker, 19 Smith, 20 Coutts.
SERIES STANDINGS after 4 (of 8) rounds: 1 Brad Anderson 173 points, 2 Noble 142, 3 Billy MacKenzie 127, 4 Swanepoel 125, 5 Nunn 125, 6 Columb 91, 7 Church 90, 8 Dougan 86, 9 Whatley 77, 10 Osborne 66, 11 Snow 58, 12 Jordan Rose 56, 13 Bryan MacKenzie 52, 14 Melotte 51, 15 Nagl 50, 16 Coutts 48, 17 Jones 46, 18 Willet 39, 19 Lewis 33, 20 Smyth 33,...
NEXT ROUND: July 12 – Cadders Hill, Lyng, Norfolk (Norwich Viking MCC).
BRITISH MXY2 MOTOCROSS
CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 3 – Hawkstone Park, near Shrewsbury, Shropshire (Salop MC)
1 Josh Waterman (Danger UK KTM) 25 + 25 = 50
2 Michael McCammond (TSR KTM) 20 + 20 = 40
3 Ewan McLaren (Moto1 KTM) 16 + 22 = 38
4 Steven Smyth (G Force Honda) 18 + 18 = 36
5 Alfie Smith (SPH Honda) 15 + 16 = 31
6 Joe Bamfield (Hanson Honda) 11 + 13 = 24
7 Damon Wells (KTM) 14 + 10 = 24
8 Matt Burrows (Relentless Suzuki) 22 + 1 = 23
9 Kelvin Townsend (Albion KTM) 9 + 12 = 21
10 Jordan Scott (KTM) 13 + 8 = 21
11 Connor Butler (MAR Suzuki) 12+7=19, 12 Jake Gowan (D3 KTM) 10+6=16, 13 Connor Walkley (Team Green Kawasaki) 0+15=15, 14 Lewis Abbott (KTM) 0+14=14, 15 Harry McKenna (KRM Yamaha) 0+11=11, 16 Christy Harnett (KTM) 6+5=11, 17 Josh Williams (MJ Refrigeration KTM) 8+2=10, 18 George Purchase (Seal Moto KTM) 0+9=9, 19 Glenn Fletcher (???) 7+0=7, 20 George Gough (KTM) 5+0=5, 21 Matt Bayliss (???) 0+4=4, 22 Peter Wainwright (???) 4+0=4, 23 Darryl Maxwell (Motoward Yamaha) 0+3=3, 24 Bradley Banks (MAR Honda) 3+0=3, 25 Zac Stealey (LKS Carpentry Kawasaki) 2+0=2, 26 Adam Houseman (KTM) 1+0=1.
RACE ONE: 1 Waterman, 2 Burrows, 3 McCammond, 4 Smyth, 5 McLaren, 6 Smith, 7 Wells, 8 Scott, 9 Butler, 10 Bamfield, 11 Gowan, 12 Townsend, 13 Josh Williams, 14 Fletcher, 15 Harnett, 16 Gough, 17 Wainwright, 18 Banks, 19 Stealey, 20 Houseman.
RACE TWO: 1 Waterman, 2 McLaren, 3 McCammond, 4 Smyth, 5 Smith, 6 Walkley, 7 Abbott, 8 Bamfield, 9 Townsend, 10 McKenna, 11 Wells, 12 Purchase, 13 Scott, 14 Butler, 15 Gowan, 16 Harnett, 17 Bayliss, 18 Maxwell, 19 Josh Williams, 20 Burrows.
SERIES STANDINGS after 3 (of 8) rounds: 1 Waterman 144 points, 2 Hawkins 94, 3 McLaren 94, 4 Smyth 93, 5 McCammond 83, 6 Walkley 80, 7 Abbott 64, 8 Smith 62, 9 Burrows 56, 10 Purchase 50, 11 Wells 46, 12 Sharp 40, 13 Butler 38, 14 McKenna 37, 15 Scott 34,...
FINAL ROUND: July 26 – Foxhill MP, Wanborough, nr Swindon (Foxhill Promotions Ltd).
