2013 Maxxis British MX Championship - Round1, FatCat, Doncaster

Damp start to the Maxxis British Motocross Championship at FatCat

Sunday 17th March saw the opening round of the Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship take place at a wet and damp FatCat Moto Parc near Doncaster. With the heavy rain leading up to the event and overnight, the schedule was changed to a ‘Wet Weather Schedule’

Following a delayed start the event got underway with qualifying sessions for all three classes. In the MX2 class it was Mel Pocock (Monster Energy Yamaha) who headed the timing sheets by 1.6 seconds over Steven Lenoir, Graeme Irwin and Elliott Banks Browne. In the MX1 class wildcard Tommy Searle (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) headed championship newcomer, Jonathan Barragan (Team STR KTM) by just one tenth of a second, Tanel Leok (Route 77 Energy Honda) was third. Robert Davidson (MJW Kawasaki) took the first MXY2 pole of the season ahead of Joe Bamfield (Evotech Stevens KTM) with Liam Knight (KTM) less than half a second behind in third.

After a short lunch break, racing began as light rain started falling before the first MX2 race started at FatCat, but that didn't deter current Champion, Elliot Banks Browne (HM Plant KTM UK) from taking a start to finish win from hard charging Steven Lenoir (Evotech Stevens KTM) and Martin Barr in the twenty minute plus two lap encounter. A surprise for many was the strong performance of Adam Sterry (STR KTM) who slotted into fourth ahead of Neville Bradshaw (Putoline Honda).

The opening MX1 race saw Tommy Searle dominated a wet race in slightly worsening conditions with overhead rain, but the circuit itself held up well. Searle produced a stunning performance winning by a large distance after stopping for fresh goggles mid race. Probably disliking the British weather was Jonathan Barragan who rode a strong race for second with Kristian Whatley (MBO Sport Yamaha) posting his best result for a couple of years in third.

For the all-important MXY2 class, obviously the overall was decided on the single moto results which fell to Adamson whilst the morning pole sitter Robert Davidson (MJW Kawasaki) trailed by fourteen seconds with Oliver Osmaston (MXW Racing Honda) claiming third.

Before the second races of the MX1 and MX2 classes the weather took a turn for the worse as the heavens opened and released a heavy downpour of rain and then snow. In the MX2 race it was Mel Pocock that put the DNF in the opening race behind him to take the race win from Elliott Banks Browne. Third place in the race went to Graeme Irwin, with Steven Lenoir and Nathan Watson rounding out the top 5. After two hard fought motos Banks Browne recorded 1-2 results to lead the championship which he won last year. Steven Lenoir returned 2-4 positions for second overall whilst Graeme Irwin gave the new Heads and All Threads Suzuki Team the lower spot on the podium in their first competitive event.

The second MX1 race of the day saw Tommy Searle once again dominate the field to take a double win on the day. Second place went to Tanel Leok on the Route77 Energy Honda ahead of Jonathan Barragan in third place. Rounding out the top 5 was Kristian Whatley and Nicolas Aubin. The overall on the day saw Searle take the victory over Barragan and Whatley.

With a busy schedule of three events within a four week period, round two takes place next weekend at the famous Canada Heights ,Kent circuit before the deep sand of Lyng just two weeks later.