British MX : More Mud For The Maxxis Championship At Torrington

Mud, mud, mud and more mud. That's exactly what awaited all at Waggadon Farm just outside Great Torrington in Devon this past weekend when the Maxxis British Motocross Championship made its third stop of the season. Rains earlier in the week prompted persons close to ACU Events to request teams to delay their arrival until late Saturday afternoon to allow the field used as a paddock to dry out.

A goat track, that's how a team manager once described Torrington in the height of summer, but there is little of that to see on Sunday morning. Instead, the club hosting the round has to request a one hour delay on the programme to allow the track to regain some of its solidity, only for another heavy shower to undo everything during the MXY2 practice session. This round also includes the MXY2 class again, and it is this class that is sent out first to plough a way through treacherous dirt and mud and over slippery jumps and downhill sections.

Danger UK Honda's Joe Gregory is the fastest youth rider around the track with a time of 3:07.765, although Elderfield KTM's Scott Elderfield is not far behind. In the MX2 class it is Swift Suzuki's Pascal Leuret who is fastest, just over five seconds quicker than Gregory in the MXY2 class, followed by Suso MVR-D Suzuki's Jason Dougan. Surprisingly, pole in the MX1 class is a second slower than the MX2 class, but then again, Monster CAS Honda's Billy MacKenzie is not in a hurry, just trying to stay ahead of the next fastest rider, Swift Suzuki's Brad Anderson, eight seconds slower.

At quarter past twelve the thirty-five MXY2 riders line up behind the uphill start. JD Racing's Will Worden is the first to the top of the start and into the off-camber switchback, hotly pursued by Elderfield and Gregory. After Worden goes down, Elderfield assumes the lead and six hard laps later takes the win. He has it easier than the rest though; he laps to thirteenth while runner-up Gregory is seventy-five seconds behind him.

In the MX2 class Molson Kawasaki's Stephen Sword takes decisive command from the start. This is a distinct case of déjà vu because this is like the clock was turned back four years when Sword dominated the then 125cc class in the same fashion. Leuret is out of action after dislocating his shoulder in the first lap; although the arm returns to the shoulder socket immediately, Leuret returns to France post haste to be checked over. Team KTM UK's Shaun Simpson and NA Robinsons KTM's Kristian Whatley are in second and third, but both soon fall back. Whatley drops out completely, while Simpson returns from the back of the pack to hang on to fourth behind UTag Yamaha's Martin Barr in second and Swift Suzuki's Elliott Banks-Browne in third. Dougan closes out the top five after starting mid-pack.

The MX1 race is red-flagged after several gates fail to drop. After the gates are checked again, the race restarts, and MacKenzie repeats what he did in the false start – Lead. This is not a surprise. The track is starting to dry up, certain sections have had mud scraped off, but all that aside, MacKenzie is on a roll. ARB Kawasaki's Mark Jones is hot on his heels, but a glitch at the bottom end of the track costs Jones dearly and he has to restart in seventh. Anderson takes his place instead for the majority of the race until a low-side into a squared-off berm costs Anderson more than just second place. The third player is Molson Kawasaki's Tom Church. Church shadows the front-runners from a distance, all alone with no-one near him. Team KTM UK's James Noble, freshly recovered from a severe bout of pneumonia, is fourth with MotoXtreme Kawasaki's Mark Hucklebridge in fifth.

The second MXY2 race is a disaster for Elderfield. Although he leads throughout after taking over from Sam Davis, his KTM blows up, literally, with a lap to go. In the wrong place at the wrong time, his lead of over forty seconds turns into a twenty-fifth place, a lap behind everyone else. Instead it is runner-up Lloyd Morgan who takes the win with Jet Shed KTM's Jack Rowland in second and PAR Honda's Edward Allingham in third. The day overall podium looks somewhat different for the class. Morgan takes the top step while Team Kawasaki's Josh Waterman is second and KRM Racing Honda's Tom Watts is third. Waterman also takes the lead in the class by three points over Elderfield.

The second MX2 race turns into a farce. Again several gates, six to be precise, fail to drop, leaving the riders stuck with the remainder racing away. By rights the starter should be red-flagging the race immediately, but for some reason this does not occur. Paddock official Chris Sprawson is exasperated because the red flag is not shown and he is itching to do it himself. It is TM UK's Jonathan Pettitt who takes matters into his own hands. While Banks-Browne, Meredith Suzuki's Joe Dark and three other riders extract themselves from the gates, Pettitt crosses the track and lays down his bike in the middle. While this is a clear breach of safety rules and it costs him his second race, it has the intended effect. Clerk of the Course Brian Higgins has to red-flag the race, and everyone returns to the parc fermé. There is an argument between Sprawson, Pettitt and his team, and Higgins, which leads to the inevitable – disqualification.

The restart, led by Monster CAS Honda's Mike Brown, leads to a completely different race altogether. The battle for first between Brown and Sword gets to the point where they take each other out. Both restart in the back of the pack while Simpson takes over the lead, clear to build up an advantage. Dougan is also on the case this time, battling with Banks-Browne to take his place in second. Barr is in close third shortly after. Sword returns to third with only two laps to go, an astonishing feat. Dougan's Swedish team-mate Marcus Norlen finishes in fourth, killing Banks-Browne's chance for his first podium in the championship. The day overall is Sword in first, Simpson in second and Dougan in third. Sword extends his lead in the championship by a paltry two points over Simpson in second. Barr slips to third.

Again MacKenzie hole shots in the MX1 race, leading the pack into the sunset. PAR Honda's Jordan Rose looks to do well this time round after several rounds of bad luck, but he is passed by Church and Hucklebridge soon after. Church ends in third behind Hucklebridge, with Pioneer Yamaha's Wayne Smith hot on his heels. Anderson is out completely thanks to his concussion collected from Jones in the first race. The day overall podium sees MacKenzie at the top again, while Church's first race position gives him sufficient points to pip Hucklebridge to second. Jones has to watch from the sides, his ending position not being enough to beat Hucklebridge for the final place on the podium. While MacKenzie consolidates his position as champion, Jones and Church are now bar-to-bar, tied for second.

The last trucks leave the muddy paddock, chained to a tractor, at half past eleven in the evening. At least the next round at Lyng in Norfolk on Early May Bank Holiday should be somewhat easier. The paddock there is mostly sand, which absorbs water like a sponge, and it is not as strenuous a drive the next time round.

Results:

Championship Standings:

www.britishmxchampionship.com

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British MX, Torrington

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