As teams descended on Donington Park, the location of the 2007 British Motocross Grand Prix, for the Maxxis British Motocross Championship opener this past weekend, their fears of a wet race were not realised.
Although the weather was cold and windy, the track itself was in good condition. ARB Tuning Kawasaki's three riders, Vytautas Bucas in the MXY2 class, and Mark Jones and Jamie Lewis in the MX1 class, were all ready for action.
All three riders qualified well, and all three posted solid performances throughout the day. Although Vytautas crashed multiple times in his races, he posted a strong result in the first, scoring his first points of the season, and missed out on points by only a few places in the second. Mark and Jamie put in solid rides in the MX1 class, Mark hovering in the top five throughout the day, Jamie returning to the top fifteen after two mid-pack starts. The day's overall results placed Mark in sixth and Jamie in eleventh, eliciting a very satisfied smile from the team owner Mark Bishop.
Says Mark: "I'm very pleased with today. A sixth overall for Mark and an eleventh for Jamie; two boys in the top eleven, so I'm very happy. Vytautas had a bit of bad luck in the youth, but he's still young and will learn quickly. There's next week to look forward to."
Mark Jones adds: "Considering that on Friday I wasn't sure if I was going to ride, considering that I've been in bed ill all week, it wasn't a bad weekend. I qualified in fourth and was in fifth all through the first race until I stalled it in a corner. It was a bit of a disappointment that Brad Anderson got by me. I lost a bit of my rhythm in the second race when it started to rain, but it was a good weekend."
"I think it was a pretty good day," says Jamie Lewis, "my starts let me down today or I could have been in the top ten, but I came through strong."
The team will next decamp to Culham in Oxfordshire for the season opener of the British Motocross Masters series this weekend, where the team's riders will be competing in multiple classes.
The next round of the Maxxis British Motocross Championship will be held at Canada Heights in Kent on Easter Sunday.
