Molson teamsters Stephen Sword and Tom Church battle it out at round five of the British Championship at Desertmartin in Northern Ireland.
For the fifth round of the British motocross championship the Molson Kawasaki team headed across the Irish Sea to the Porter’s Pit circuit that’s located near the village of Desertmartin in the district of Magherafelt. Persistent rain on the day helped dampen spirits at the sandy venue that has hosted the Irish GP in the past.
Scotsman Stephen Sword and his factory KX250F-SR entered the fifth round of the series with a healthy 22-point lead but riding injured after a nasty crash at the previous weekend’s French GP Swordy’s mission would be to tough it out and try and hang on to his points lead rather than battle for the win and extend it.
Despite the pain, Sword qualified a fine fifth but was unable to repeat that outstanding performance in either moto as the track got rougher and the pain proved to be too much. Swordy eventually finished with an 11-12 scorecard – a real credit to the Scotsman’s levels of tenacity and toughness.
Losing 31 points to his closest competitor - Shaun Simpson - on the day, Stephen’s former 22 point lead is now a nine point deficit. With three rounds remaining and 150 points on offer there’s plenty to play for in the upcoming months.
“The main thing for me today was to get as many points as I could,” said Stephen. “I hadn’t ridden all week and I didn’t even sit on a bike until this morning. Practice wasn’t too bad, the track was smooth and I only had to do one fast lap.
“I had it in my head that I wanted to holeshot the races because I knew I would slip back but it’s better to slip back from the front than to try and pull through from the back."
“There were plenty of smooth lines available on the track in moto one but because it was wet and a little boggy the smooth lines quite often were a little too heavy and deep. On the main dry line it was choppy as hell and there were big rocks and boulders on there but it was quicker so I just had to tough it out and ride the bumps. I felt like I hit a mental wall at about 20 minutes and it was just so hard from that point. My shoulder would just give way and my hand bounced off the handlebars a few times on the big down hill."
“In moto two I got a good start – second behind Shaun – and I was riding a little bit better and I just got in a bit of a groove. I wasn’t doing too badly early on but then I crashed and I lost my rhythm – it was hard after that. The pain seemed to be worse but I knew it was gonna be tough and I knew it was gonna be sore. I’m disappointed because I didn’t want to finish 11th and 12th but at the same time I’m happy because I’m still in with a shout of winning the championship."
“I know I can do it, I’ve come back from behind before and I know that when my shoulder is at full strength again I’ll be able to ride how I want to ride. If I ride at my full potential I know I can win every moto that’s left this year and if I do that then it’s job done – I’ll be the champion.”
Molson Kawasaki’s MX1 racer tom Church also had a tough time of it to finish sixth overall on the day on his KX450F after finishing fourth and sixth in the two motos. Unlucky not to do better, TC was hampered by slower riders in moto one and a small mistake second time out.
“In moto one I didn’t get the best start and I got stuck behind Mark Jones and Bryan MacKenzie for a while,” said Tom. “By the time I’d found a way past them the first three had gone and I had to settle for fourth. I felt like I was riding okay so was a little bit disappointed to finish fourth."
“I got a killer holeshot in moto two and I was riding okay but I hit a braking bump wrong going into a corner and I stalled the motor. I lost so many places and so much time restarting. When I got going again I had to get past MacKenzie and Jordan Rose and I finished sixth in the end. If I hadn’t stalled it I know I could have finished at least second in that race.”
Tom will be looking for another strong ride in next week’s German GP – June 29 –while Stephen must decide if he will battle through the pain and possibly prolong his recovery period or sit out the race at the spectacular Teutschental circuit.
