Maxxis ACU British Championship Round 3 - Blaxhall 2018

The third round of the ACU Maxxis British Championship took us down to Blaxhall in Suffolk for a glorious sunny Bank Holiday weekend.  The team had a full turn out with MX1, MX2 and MXY2 running together for the first time this season.

It was Dominic Lancetts debut in the MXY2 class on his KTM SX125.  Todd Kellett was out in MX2 and Brad Anderson was running his KTM SXF-450 in the MX1 class.

The track was prepped well although a little dry and hard.  New sections had been added and the viewing was great as always.

QUALIFICATION:

MXY2:

Dominic was out first with a gate of 33 mixed 250 and 125 bikes.  His first time in this class didn’t seem to faze him.  He got a good quick lap in early on which put him into 6^th place.  He struggled to improve on this but it was an excellent gate pick for the day.

MX2:

Todd went out in qualification looking at the new track layout.  His fitness has started to return but there is still a long way to go.  His fastest time was in lap 4 and he got 16^th gate pick.  Not ideal but out of 40 riders in a stacked class it could have been worse.

MX1:

Brad had a tyre issue in qualification but quickly managed to sort this before the timing started.  All the times were very close today and Brad’s quickest time was in lap 6.  Although he only got 10^th gate pick he was less than a second slower than 5^th place, and championship leader, Jake Nichols. 

RACE 1:

MXY2:

Dominic appeared to get a reasonable start in the first race but on the first bend he got rammed into the fencing in a collision.  He quickly got back up but had to fight from way back.  Within the first few laps he was up to 13^th.  Five riders right in front of him, with Dominic clearly the faster rider.  But a narrow track that was hard to pass on made it difficult and he could not find a way through.  So Moto 1, 13^th place.

MX2:

Not a great start for Todd in the first race coming round in 8^th.  He started out steady, trying to get his rhythm until Steven Clarke passed him pushing him back to 9^th.  This gave Todd the nod to start to push and he soon sound his pace passing both Clarke and Brad Todd back to finish 7^th position.  A couple of other riders were penalised on technical issues which pushed Todd up to 5^th.  So not bad for moto 1, 5^th place finish.

MX1:

Not too bad a start for Brad.  A good jump out the gate and round the first bend in 6^th place.  It was hot, dry and Brad was still feeling unwell since his trip to Russia earlier in the week.  He soon became dehydrated and lost his speed, letting Bobryshev and then Houghton past.  Then on the final turn Edmunds managed to pass too, pushing Brad back to 9^th.  Not a happy Brad.

RACE 2:

MXY2:

Dominic got a cracking start in race 1 and was soon sat in 4^th place.  He was riding well.  It was hot, dusty and dry and in the 2^nd half of the race he found it a little harder to breath.  He struggled towards the end and finished Moto 2 in a fabulous 6^th place.

MX2:

Todd’s second race didn’t go quite to plan.  He got a bad start and only came round the bend in 13^th.  He was just getting into his rhythm when he came off round the new back section and dropped back to 18^th.  He was hot and tired but still managed to pull back through to 16^th in Moto 2.

MX1:

Not a bad start again for Brad.  6^th out the gate in Moto 2.  He was riding well and soon took Dan Thornhill for 5^th place.  But Brad’s energy soon dwindled and by the end of the race 4 riders had managed to pass him back, leaving Brad to finish Moto 2 in 9^th place again.

RACE 3:

MXY2:

Race three was an ok start for Dominic and he was just pulling through when another rider got cross rutted and took Dominic with him.  He got up quickly but had dropped back to 12^th place.  Dominic managed to pull one place back and finished Moto 3 in 11^th place.

OVERALL:

MXY2:

So 13 – 6 – 11, gave Dominic 9^th overall for 33 points in his first ever MXY2 and on a 125 bike.  Although Dominic was frustrated it wasn’t a bad start to the season.

MX2:

5 – 16, to give Todd a 10^th overall for the day.  Steps in the right direction.  So Todd now sits 12^th in the championship after 3 rounds and out of 6 races he DNF’d 2 with crashes.  So with 41 points going into round 4 at Desert Martin, he could soon pull himself in to the top 10.

MX1:

9 – 9, for 9^th overall.  Not a good day for the Ando.  However, on a plus he still sits 5^th in the Championship, 25 points behind 3^rd place Irwin.  Roll on Dessert Martin next month.

QUOTE FROM DOMINIC LANCETT:

Good weekend at the first round of the Maxxis.  Was in 5^th when I crashed in the 3^rd Moto.  The overall results weren’t the best but my speed is there.  Just need to cut out the silly mistakes.  Onwards and upwards.

QOUTE FROM TODD KELLETT:

Moving forward.  Steady progress again this weekend with a 5^th in Race 1.  A small mistake cost me a few places in Race 2 but 10^th overall for the day.  Onto Latvia for the EMX250 next week.

QUOTE FROM BRAD ANDERSON:

Not the best of weekends.  Thanks to all the people who are in my corner.  Hopefully I will be strong and fit for the next round.