MX Nationals - Round 2 - Lyng 2017

Jake’s start wasn’t as easy with all the MX1 riders lined up on the same gate.  He came round the first lap in fifth behind Brad Todd, Josh Gilbert, Jay Hague and Mel Pocock.  Jay crashed and Jake moved into forth, closing on Mel.  Then Jake made a mistake and slipped back to fifth.  Todd, Pocock and Gilbert were pushing each other hard at the front and Jake couldn’t close the gap quite enough on Hague.  So Jake finished Moto 1 in 5^th.

MX1

Brad got a cracking start coming up the straight with the top few MX1s.  Irwin, Elliot and Shipton were positioned better on the approach to the bend and cut in front of Brad pushing him into fourth.  Half way through the race Krestinov got through and charged forward and Shipton crashed out of the race.  Brad still in forth started to get arm pump as he chased hard behind Elliot.  He closed a couple of times but couldn’t quite get close enough to make a difference.  So Brad finished fourth in Moto 1.

Race 2:

MX2

Jakes start wasn’t too bad but he was still mid pack because of all the MX1 bikes.  He was sitting in 5^th for the first half of the race behind Todd, Pocock, Tombs and Gilbert.  He was close on the tail of Gilbert, then finally found a gap through to take him into 4^th place.  He was riding well and was making headway towards Tombs when he hit the lip of an uphill jump which spun the back end round and shot Jake off hard.  He landed on his head.  He got up very shakily but was determined on finishing the last few laps of the race for points.  He rode round extremely cautious to finish in 14^th for 7 points.

MX1

Brads gate didn’t drop and he was left sat on the line whilst everybody else took off up the start straight.  He was totally at the back behind 30 MX1 and MX2 riders.  Irwin and Krestinov had got a clean break so it was going to be extremely hard for Brad to gain any ground to catch them.  One by one angry Brad picked off the riders and got into 9^th place overall and 7^th MX1.  Not enough time to get past Law, Shipton and Elliot and no way he was able to catch Irwin, Krestinov and Barr. So unhappy Brad had to settle for a 7^th place finish in Moto 2.

Overall:

MX2

With a 5 – 14 this gave Jake a 10^th overall.  Not ideal.  He had rode a good race in Moto 2 but the unfortunate crash cost him his championship standings and he has slid down to 4^th place behind Pocock, Todd and Gilbert.

MX1

With a 4 – 7 this gave Brad a 5^th overall.  If he hadn’t got stuck on the gate he would probably have finished either 4^th or 5^th.   Brad now sits 5^th in the championship, without the gate issue he would have been sitting in 4^th ahead of Krestinov.  This Championship is like the British; 5 top contenders all fighting for the 3 top spots.

Quote from Jake Millward:

I got a good time in quali and thought I was going to have a good days racing.  I made a couple of mistakes in the first race so only finished fifth.  In race 2 I got my act together and thought I was riding well but then I had a big off over a jump and banged my head.  I didn’t want to lose points as I was in 2^nd in the Championship so I carried on and finished the race at a cautious pace.  I am now in 4^th place in the Championship so I will need to have a good one at the next round to get back to where I belong.

Quote from Brad Anderson:

Not the best weekends I've had. 4th in first race. Not too bad considering arm pump.  In race 2 I changed my setup on my bike.  Felt fired up and the gate didn't drop and I went straight in to it.  So I was last one away.  Came back to 7^th witch I am not happy with but at least I am in one piece ready for next weekend at Hawkstone British.