Whatley sinks a treble

MBO Sport Yamaha rider Kristian Whatley clinched the MX1 title after the second of three races – to add to the Red Bull Pro National and British Masters titles he had already secured this season.

 

But he left the best race of his year – or perhaps his whole career to date – to the final moto of the day.

 

HM Plant KTM's Elliott Banks-Browne successfully defended his MX2 title in style and with a race in hand while some bad luck influenced his closest rivals.

 

The iconic Farleigh ‘old school' track was in excellent condition considering the amount of heavy rain that fell in the area on Thursday, which left the paddock almost under water. 

 

The evidence of this was still apparent when the riders started arriving on Saturday, but on race day the sun shone and it was almost like summer again.

 

Luke Hawkins was lightning 

fast out of the start gate all weekend and led the first of the MX1 races round the oak tree at the start of the 20-minute plus two-lap race.

 

But by the end of the lap the on-form Whatley had found his way ahead of the young rider and was on his way to his first moto win of the day.

 

Nicolas Aubin – having his last ride on a Buildbase Honda – gated third but was passed on the opening lap by team-mate Brad Anderson and STR KTM teamster Matiss Karro.

 

Whatley's only real challenger for the title, Jonathan Barragan was down in ninth and struggling with the slippery track. On lap four Barragan fell and slipped further back into 14th place – where he finished – his hopes of becoming champion all but gone.

 

With two laps to go Hawkins started to fade, allowing Anderson through into second, as Aubin put on a late charge for third, Hawkins held fourth and Karro sixth. 

 

Hawkins again got the holeshot in moto two, and again Whatley ousted him on the opening lap for the lead. This time Anderson went down, dropping from fifth to 16th place.

 

Meanwhile, Karro – from seventh off the start – passed Hawkins by the end of the second lap but could do nothing to close in on race leader Whatley. Aubin overhauled a flying Hawkins on lap four and finished third behind Karro, while Krestinov, who was still suffering from average starts, battled through from 14th to fourth ahead of Alex Snow.

 

After starting third Barragan had an up-and-down race, dropping back to eighth and ending the race sixth, just one place in front of the re-mounted Anderson.

 

But Whatley won the race and with it was crowned 2013 Maxxis British Motocross champion. 

 

The new champ said: "What a relief to do it with a race in hand. It's unbelievable as I have been fighting for this all year. I have been dreaming about this moment all my life and it's finally here.

 

"The start made it a whole lot easier and I knew Luke couldn't keep up the same pace as me, so I just pulled away. 

 

"When Matiss moved into second, I just maintained the gap and even pulled away towards the end. After last season I would have been happy with just one championship, but winning all three of the major national series is unbelievable.”

 

However, if you thought the excitement in the MX1 class was over for the day you would have been mistaken. 

 

The best race was saved till last as Whatley was taken out in a first-turn pile-up that resulted in Karro dashing into the work area for some repairs and Aubin returning to his race truck.

 

Whatley's front brake calliper had been ripped off its mounting and was just hanging beside the forks. and most riders would have called it a day – but not Whatley. 

 

He stormed into the work area where his mechanics cut the calliper off, sending him back out on the hilly circuit with just a rear brake.

 

While Anderson and Krestinov fought over the lead, Whatley carved his way through the pack taking rider after rider in his bid for the ninth place which would give him the overall he so wanted. 

 

However, as the flag fell for the end of the race, Anderson was the winner ahead of Krestinov, Snow, Barragan and Nathan Parker.

 

FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE TMX OCTOBER 11

 

MAXXIS BRITISH MX1 CHAMPIONSHIP

Rd 7 – Farleigh Castle, Farleigh Hungerford, Wilts (West Devon MCC)

 1 Kristian Whatley (MBO Sport Yamaha) 25 + 25 + 14 = 64

 2 Brad Anderson (Buildbase Honda) 22 + 14 + 25 = 61

 3 Gert Krestinov (Apico Ansa Kawasaki) 15 + 18 + 22 = 55

 4 Alex Snow (Oakleaf Kawasaki) 14 + 16 + 20 = 50

 5 Nathan Parker (Revo Talon Kawasaki) 13 + 13 + 16 = 42

 6 Jonathan Barragan (STR KTM)  7 + 15 + 18 = 40

 7 Nicolas Aubin (Buildbase Honda Racing) 20 + 20 +  0 = 40

 8 Scott Elderfield (CMP Racewear Kaw) 12 + 12 + 15 = 39

 9 Matiss Karro (STR KTM) 16 + 22 +  0 = 38

10 Jamie Law (Dyer & Butler KTM)  9 + 11 + 13 = 33

11 Luke Hawkins (Phoenix Tools Honda) 18+10+4=32, 12 Matthew Moffat (Armitage Transport KTM) 11+4+12=27, 13 Ross Rutherford (Pendrich Kawasaki) 8+8+11=27, 14 Jason Clermont (Buildbase Honda) 10+0+8=18, 15 Alfie Smith (iFly Lanes Kawasaki) 4+6+6=16, 16 Josh Spinks (Revo Talon Kawasaki) 0+5+10=15, 17 Ashley Wilde (Sandbach SM Kawasaki) 6+7+2=15, 18 James Dodd (St Blazey Honda) 0+9+5=14, 19 Jack Brunell (Maxxis LPE Kawasaki) 0+3+9=12, 20 Luke Burton (Heads & All Threads Suzuki) 3+0+7=10, 21 Erki Kahro (Yamaha) 0+2+3=5, 22 Luke Mellows (Meredith Suzuki) 5+0+0=5, 23 Jim Davies (TM UK) 2+0+0=2, 24 Jake Shipton (Phoenix Tools Honda) 0+0+1=1, 25 George Baldwin (MBO Sport Yamaha) 0+1+0=1, 26 Brad Cavill (Honda) 1+0+0=1.

RACE ONE: 1 Whatley, 2 Anderson, 3 Aubin, 4 Hawkins, 5 Karro, 6 Krestinov, 7 Snow, 8 Parker, 9 Elderfield, 10 Moffat, 11 Clermont, 12 Law, 13 Rutherford, 14 Barragan, 15 Wilde, 16 Mellows, 17 Alfie Smith, 18 Burton, 19 Davies, 20 Cavill.

RACE TWO: 1 Whatley, 2 Karro, 3 Aubin, 4 Krestinov, 5 Snow, 6 Barragan, 7 Anderson, 8 Parker, 9 Elderfield, 10 Law, 11 Hawkins, 12 Dodd, 13 Rutherford, 14 Wilde, 15 Alfie Smith, 16 Spinks, 17 Moffat, 18 Brunell, 19 Kahro, 20 Baldwin.

RACE THREE: 1 Anderson, 2 Krestinov, 3 Snow, 4 Barragan, 5 Parker, 6 Elderfield, 7 Whatley, 8 Law, 9 Moffat, 10 Rutherford, 11 Spinks, 12 Brunell, 13 Clermont, 14 Burton, 15 Alfie Smith, 16 Dodd, 17 Hawkins, 18 Kahro, 19 Wilde, 20 Shipton.

FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 7 rounds: 1 Kristian Whatley 400 points (CHAMPION), 2 Jonathan Barragan 354, 3 Matiss Karro 312, 4 Anderson 311, 5 Aubin 252, 6 Leok 236, 7 Krestinov 229, 8 Elderfield 223, 9 Law 183, 10 Carless 179, 11 Searle 146, 12 Parker 146, 13 Moffat 144, 14 Rutherford 135, 15 Hawkins 126, 16 Wilde 103, 17 Coutts 101, 18 Snow 97, 19 Craig 92, 20 Ramon 82,...

 

MAXXIS BRITISH MX2 CHAMPIONSHIP

Rd 7 – Farleigh Castle, Farleigh Hungerford, Wilts (West Devon MCC)

 1 Elliott Banks-Browne (HM Plant KTM UK) 25 + 22 + 22 = 69

 2 Bryan Mackenzie (Pendrich Kawasaki) 18 + 25 + 25 = 68

 3 Steven Lenoir (Evotech Stevens KTM) 22 + 18 + 18 = 58

 4 Neville Bradshaw (Putoline Honda) 14 + 20 + 20 = 54

 5 Adam Sterry (Team STR KTM) 20 + 13 + 14 = 47

 6 Martin Barr (VMX Moto KTM) 13 + 15 + 15 = 43

 7 Arminas Jasikonis (Route77 Energy Hon) 15 + 14 + 11 = 40

 8 Graeme Irwin (Heads & All Threads Suz) 11 +  9 + 16 = 36

 9 Jordan Booker (Kawasaki) 12 + 16 +  7 = 35

10 Lewis Trickett (iFly Lanes Kawasaki) 10 + 11 + 13 = 34

11 Lewis Tombs (JAR IFS Honda) 6+10+12=28, 12 Nathan Watson (HM Plant KTM UK) 9+5+10=24, 13 Mathew Bayliss (Why Not Compare Honda) 7+12+5=24, 14 Luke Norris (OctX MNE Kawasaki) 4+8+4=16, 15 Steven Clarke (HM Plant KTM UK) 16+0+0=16, 16 Dan Thornhill (Revo Talon Kawasaki) 0+7+8=15, 17 Luke Remmer (MJW Kawasaki) 8+6+0=14, 18 Christopher Bayliss (Why Not Compare Honda) 0+0+9=9, 19 Jordan Divall (VG Builders Honda) 5+0+2=7, 20 Jamie Skuse (MX Zone Suzuki) 2+4+1=7, 21 Matt Burrows (SBW Honda) 0+0+6=6, 22 Jake Millward (Oakleaf Kawasaki) 3+3+0=6, 23 Adam Darbyshire (Underdog Honda) 0+0+3=3, 24 Edward Allingham (MBO Sport Yamaha) 1+2+0=3, 25 Carlton Husband (JLP Bikesport KTM) 0+1+0=1.

RACE ONE: 1 Banks-Browne, 2 Lenoir, 3 Sterry, 4 Mackenzie, 5 Clarke, 6 Jasikonis, 7 Bradshaw, 8 Barr, 9 Booker, 10 Irwin, 11 Trickett, 12 Watson, 13 Remmer, 14 Mathew Bayliss, 15 Tombs, 16 Divall, 17 Norris, 18 Millward, 19 Skuse, 20 Allingham.

RACE TWO: 1 Mackenzie, 2 Banks-Browne, 3 Bradshaw, 4 Lenoir, 5 Booker, 6 Barr, 7 Jasikonis, 8 Sterry, 9 Mathew Bayliss, 10 Trickett, 11 Tombs, 12 Irwin, 13 Norris, 14 Thornhill, 15 Remmer, 16 Watson, 17 Skuse, 18 Millward, 19 Allingham, 20 Husband.

RACE THREE: 1 Mackenzie, 2 Banks-Browne, 3 Bradshaw, 4 Lenoir, 5 Irwin, 6 Barr, 7 Sterry, 8 Trickett, 9 Tombs, 10 Jasikonis, 11 Watson, 12 Christopher Bayliss, 13 Thornhill, 14 Booker, 15 Burrows, 16 Mathew Bayliss, 17 Norris, 18 Darbyshire, 19 Divall, 20 Skuse.

FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 7 rounds: 1 Elliott Banks-Browne 414 points (CHAMPION, 2 Steven Lenoir 373, 3 Neville Bradshaw 368, 4 Mackenzie 329, 5 Irwin 299, 6 Watson 294, 7 Sterry 229, 8 Barr 214, 9 Tombs 206, 10 Clarke 184, 11 Booker 143, 12 Jasikonis 141, 13 Trickett 128, 14 Houghton 96, 15 Watson 91, 16 Cottrell 84, 17 Nicholls 75, 18 Norris 75, 19 Remmer 70, 20 Millward 68,...

 

BRITISH VETERAN MX CHAMPIONSHIP

Rd 3 – Farleigh Castle, Farleigh Hungerford, Wilts (West Devon MCC)

 1 Terry House (Poole Yamaha) 25 + 20 = 45

 2 Greg Hanson (CMP Racewear KTM) 18 + 25 = 43

 3 Phil Mercer (IDS Transport KTM) 20 + 22 = 42

 4 Gary Hoptrough (MX Coaching KTM) 22 + 18 = 40

 5 Shaun Sabin (Sabin Martial Arts Honda) 15 + 16 = 31

 6 Phil Lewis (Dextra Crescent Suzuki) 14 + 15 = 29

 7 Paul Coward (Kawasaki) 13 + 14 = 27

 8 Stephen Elford (Danger UK Suzuki) 12 + 13 = 25

 9 Tony Tunnell (Williams Wulfsport Kawasaki) 11 + 12 = 23

10 Andrew Little (Kawasaki) 10 + 11 = 21

11 Robert Glynn (Suzuki) 9+10=19, 12 Paul Curtis (KTM) 8+9=17, 13 Brian Wheeler (GL12 Kawasaki) 16+0=16, 14 Steven Bottoms (???) 6+7=13, 15 David Hopkins (KTM) 7+6=13, 16 Alan Magee (AMR Honda) 0+8=8, 17 Christopher Stemp (???) 4+4=8, 18 Simon Smart (Poole Yamaha) 0+5=5, 19 Richard Brown (Stalker KTM) 5+0=5, 20 Anthony Worwood (Hydraflow Honda) 1+3=4, 21 Dave Clayborn (Kawasaki) 2+1=3, 22 Rob Keyworth (???) 3+0=3, 23 Phil Roberts (Honda) 0+2=2.

RACE ONE: 1 House, 2 Hoptrough, 3 Mercer, 4 Hanson, 5 Wheeler, 6 Sabin, 7 Lewis, 8 Coward, 9 Elford, 10 Tunnell, 11 Little, 12 Glynn, 13 Curtis, 14 Hopkins, 15 Bottoms, 16 Brown, 17 Stemp, 18 Keyworth, 19 Clayborn, 20 Worwood.

RACE TWO: 1 Hanson, 2 Mercer, 3 House, 4 Hoptrough, 5 Sabin, 6 Lewis, 7 Coward, 8 Elford, 9 Tunnell, 10 Little, 11 Glynn, 12 Curtis, 13 Magee, 14 Bottoms, 15 Hopkins, 16 Smart, 17 Stemp, 18 Worwood, 19 Roberts, 20 Clayborn.

FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 3 rounds: 1 Phil Mercer 142 points (CHAMPION), 2 Gary Hoptrough 124, 3 Greg Hanson 121, 4 House 109, 5 Sabin 82, 6 Wheeler 71, 7 Coward 70, 8 Tunnell 58, 9 Scott 52, 10 Thomson 45, 11 Lewis 43, 12 Elford 42, 13 Bradley 40, 14 Herring 38, 15 Brown 35, 16 Hopkins 31, 17 Glynn 29, 18 Little 28, 19 Curtis 19, 20 Wilde 18,...