Maxxis ACU British Championship Round 1 - Lyng 2016

EXCELLENT FIRST RACE FOR JAKE IN THE MAXXIS

The first round of the ACU MAXXIS British Championship took place this last weekend, at Lyng down in Norfolk.   After a busy week, team Verde, got up before dawn on the Saturday headed down the A1 to set up the awning for a competitive days riding on the Sunday.

Qualifying:

The track looked good, it was dry, fast and very challenging as usual.

MX 1 - Brad got a couple of good laps in early on and sat in 3^rd place by lap 3.  Then his clutch went on his KTM which set him back from achieving his best gate pick.   So 9^th home he came in the qualifying session, with less than ½ a second behind, Nicholls, Lenoir and Banks Browne. 

MX 2 - Well a pretty stacked class and lots of good riders all trying to get a good lap in.  Jakes fastest lap was his first and he enjoyed the ride but could not quite slot in another fast enough lap to achieve a good gate pick.  He came home 16^th in qualifying, but still ahead of Tombs, Husband, Trickett, Bayliss and Eccles.

Race 1

Both riders were up for it.  Both classes were stacked, the weather was excellent and the track dry but now rutted, deep sand in parts but rock hard in places too.

MX 1 - Brad got an excellent jump out of the gate but his gate pick did not do him any favours and he got squashed out on the first bend, pushing him back to 10^th place.  The battle was between Ando, Irwin and Lenoir (who had now dropped off from the leading pack) and the battle continued for the majority of the race.  Then Ando left Lenoir gaining a clear 9^th but Irwin took off in the last few laps passing Nicholls, Banks Brown, Krestinov and Whatley and coming home 4^th.  Ando finished a clear 9^th place in this stacked field of riders.

MX 2 - Jake did not get a good jump out of the gate, but the bike hauled up that hill, getting him into 11^th on the first bend.  He rode well and really consistent, loving the track just as he had done this time last year.  He was soon into 8^th place.  Then Clarke’s bike went and took him out of the race and Cottrell pushed Davidson wide, allowing Jake to make his move and jump 2 places up to 6^th.  He kept on the back wheel of Cottrell for a few laps but he then got away, whilst chasing Dunn.  Jake had no one behind him and knew that he could now not catch Cottrell and Dunn, so he sat tight, eased up and settled for an excellent 6^th place finish.  With the top 2 riders being wild cards (Anstie and Mewes), this was one of Jakes best ever finishes.  The only others before him were Barr, Dunn and Cottrell.  Mackenzie, Husband, Bradshaw and Knight were mid pack with Watson and Clarke having bike issues.

Race 2

MX 1 - Not a very good start for Brad with a bad jump out of the gate.  He is a very consistent rider and stayed in 9^th for most of the race, keeping Irwin at bay.  Then two laps from the end it was all change.   Krestinov binned it, Irwin found a way past Brad and took off and Brad passed Elliot, moving Brad up to 8^th place finish. 

MX 2 - A terrible start to the 2^nd race for Jake Millward, 24^th up the start straight left him with a massive battle ahead and on such a one liney track this was not an easy task.  One by one he picked off the riders but he just could not get past Nathan Dixon which meant Jake lost such a lot of time.  Jake finally made his move just a few laps from the end, moved up to 18^th but it left him no time to chase the next pack of riders before the finish of the race.  Finishing 18^th, he scored 3 points towards the Championship, which was critically important to both his overall for the day and therefore the Championship.

Overall

Not the best days racing for the team.  Just a couple of extra points and both riders could have been sitting way up the Championship pecking order.  Jake had an excellent first race which shows he is capable of keeping pace with all the Championship riders (Wild Cards excluded) and Brad, well we all know what he is capable of, especially since he has moved to the KTM.

MX1 - Brad was disappointed with his overall performance, having finished 10^th and 8^th.  The overall 10^th spot didn’t really reflect his ability.  Finishing with 25 points he was now joint with Steven Lenoir and one point off Grestinov and Banks Brown.  So the next round could very easily be all change, with one point more Brad could have been sitting in 7th.

MX 2 - Jake finished 11^th overall for the day, which scored him 18 points towards the Championships.  Having such a good first race meant he was now on even points with Nev Bradshaw and Ben Watson.  Unfortunately he sits in 11^th place as the last race finish depicts the order.  3 more points and he too could have been sitting in 7^th.

Brads Quote

We will live to fight another day.  Kept getting stuck behind markers.  Very one liney and track was rock hard.

Jakes Quote

You need to get a good start, it’s so one liney, if you don’t get a good start you are #**!”/.

Adrian’s Quote

Very up and down day.  Jakes first race was the highlight of the day.

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