British MX: Summer Weather Spells Midway Point For The Maxxis

It's barely into May and the Maxxis British Motocross Championship has reached its midway point already. Round four of the championship, held at the Cadders Hill sand track just outside the village of Lyng in Norfolk over the Early May Bank Holiday weekend, was a relief to all riders as it heralded the beginning of summer with temperatures in the twenties and sunshine. Considering that Lyng usually gets the cold and dreary round in early March, the date was well-chosen this year, and to good effect too. The spectator turnout was satisfactory, definitely better than other rounds have experienced so far.

This round is without the MXY2 youth class, so there's been some movement of several youth riders into the MX2 and MX1 instead. Danger UK Honda's Gavin Foulston and KRM Honda's Tom Watts for example venture into the MX1 class, while Team Green Kawasaki's Josh Waterman, ARB Tuning Kawasaki's Vytautas Bucas and Swift Suzuki's newest team member, Scott Elderfield, join the MX2.

With dry conditions, the track itself is fast and choppy in places, which makes for some interesting manoeuvres at times, and it is therefore no surprise to see the old rivals Stephen Sword and Billy MacKenzie take pole in their respective classes, Sword putting in a time just a smidgen faster than MacKenzie. The Molson Kawasaki rider is followed by Team KTM UK's Shaun Simpson and Suso MVR-D Suzuki's Jason Dougan, while the Scotsman on the Monster CAS Honda sees Team KTM UK's James Noble and a just returning from injury Brad Anderson for Swift Suzuki as his wingmen.

The first support race, the first race of the day, consists mostly of youth riders who failed to qualify in the two big classes, but there is still a hefty mix of MX1 and MX2 riders in there too. PAR Honda's Edward Allingham is the quickest around the track, although Elderfield is soon behind him to push him all the way. MX1 rider Peter Mitchell is third.

The first MX2 race is once again an episode of the Stephen Sword Show. The Scot is absolutely unbeatable. Initially closely shadowed by fellow countryman Shaun Simpson, he pulls away and increases his lead to twenty seconds by the end of the race. Simpson and Dougan have to duel it out briefly before Dougan develops a puncture and is unable to keep up the fast pace. Instead Simpson is all on his own in second with a fifty second lead on the rest of the pack himself. It gets interesting from third place onwards, where Dougan fends off Monster CAS Honda's Mike Brown, who goes down and has to pull out with a dead shoulder, and who won't show for the second race. Instead it is Swift Suzuki's Elliott Banks-Browne on team mate Leuret's factory Suzuki who makes massive strides to the front. He has the team in knots over his brilliant ride – until the engine implodes three laps from the end that is.

Relentless Suzuki's Lewis Gregory ties up the fourth spot instead, followed by Banks-Browne's team mate Jake Nicholls, who has returned from his early race injury.

The first MX1 race sees a fast-paced procession at the front; MacKenzie checks out early along with Anderson, his own cousin Bryan (racing for Animal Twisted7 Kawasaki) and ARB Tuning Kawasaki's Mark Jones. Although the other MacKenzie struggles to keep up, Anderson and the class champion go at it with gusto. Anderson is still recovering from his injury sustained at the third round three weeks previous, so MacKenzie soon gobbles up the seconds, while Jones is slowly closing in. While MacKenzie ends up with a forty-second lead, Anderson and Jones are across the finish line within seconds of each other, followed fifteen seconds later by Molson Kawasaki's Tom Church.

The second support race is a triumph for Elderfield after Allingham has a start in the back of the pack and is unable to make his way to the front in time to stop Elderfield from claiming the crown. Also, Allingham's place as reserve for the MX2 class, which enabled him to race two races back-to-back after a quick refuel, forces him to ride a little bit more conservatively to preserve his energy for the second race. Instead it is Electraction TM's Stuart Edmonds and Sandiford Pro Action Honda's Ashley Wilde who are second and third. The overall on the day is Elderfield, Wilde, Allingham, with each walking away with a tyre courtesy of Maxxis.

The second MX2 race does not go as smoothly as the first for Sword. Simpson is determined to take a win from the Kawasaki rider and has the lead for three laps but ultimately Sword is just better. He convincingly pulls away and has another sizeable sixteen second lead on Simpson in second. Banks-Browne is determined to make his second race count too, and he also looks to pull it off. He keeps Suso MVR-D Suzuki's Carl Nunn at bay for the majority of the race, but his puff disappears rapidly after Nunn passes him in the closing stages of the race. The leadership of the class is strung out at regular intervals, but from fifth onwards the class gets interesting again. Gregory is in fifth, followed by UTag Yamaha's Martin Barr, who has had his collarbone lasered by the famous therapist Brian Simpson in Ipswich to be ready for today. He barely makes it across the finish line as Suso MVR-D Suzuki's Marcus Norlen is but a fraction of a second behind him.

The podium is clearly a Sword and Simpson party, but the attention behind the podium is on Lewis Gregory. It is his first podium since switching from the schoolboys four years ago. This podium means that his several anni horribili might just be over. He certainly hopes so. The cherry on the cake is the third place trophy being presented by the team's title sponsor – Relentless Energy.

The final race of the day gives MacKenzie eight for eight in the class. He is clearly in his element; he simply hauls. He takes the win with twenty-four seconds to spare over the number two, James Noble. Although Anderson has been right behind MacKenzie for much of the race, Noble has stalked Anderson relentlessly, and capitalised on the fact that Anderson is having just a bit of trouble keeping up. Jones, after beating Pioneer Yamaha's Wayne Smith and Bryan MacKenzie, is in a good solid fourth place, but he has a brief incident with one of the tyres that are used in corners to shore up the track, which sends him over the bars, ripping his jersey and bending his gear lever. This pretty much spells the end of his day, leaving Smith and UTag Yamaha's Carlos Campano to take over his place.

The day overall is MacKenzie, of course, Anderson in second and Noble in third. With the championship at the halfway mark, the MX2 class shapes up to be the more intriguing of the two main classes, while MacKenzie has the MX1 class firmly in his grasp with a sixty-five point lead, which, barring any incidents, should be a comfortable margin for the young Scotsman from Edinburgh to win his second championship in a row. And with this weather, one can but hope that the next round, held at the iconic Desertmartin track in Northern Ireland, will be as nice as Lyng 2008.

Results:

Championship Standings:

www.norwichvikings.co.uk

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