2013 Maxxis British MX Championship - Round 4, Milton Park

Monday 13 May: Milton MX Park circuit was in prime condition for the fourth round. Hundreds of tons of wood chip has been worked into the circuit to hold moisture even with a little rain which had fallen in the Northamptonshire area.

MX1:

In the opening Moto, Nico Aubin (Buildbase Honda) could not repeat his qualifying dominance and although he made a mid race challenge for the lead, it was Tanel Leok (Route 77 Honda) who eventually took the win by five seconds. Jonathan Barragan (Team STR KTM) rode a lonely race in third, whilst Kristian Whatley (MBO Sport Yamaha) had a race long battle with ex world champion Steve Ramon ((Buildbase Honda). In a dramatic last lap, Shane Carless (Oakleaf Kawasaki edged for Champion, Brad Anderson (Maxxis Kawasaki by LPE) out of sixth position.

In the second MX1 moto, Tanel Leok (Route 77 Energy Honda) set a pace in light rain to take another win, but battles behind him raged as Jonathan Barragon (Team STR KTM) slipped off twice but still recovered to fend off a late challenge from Kristian Whatley (MBO Sport Yamaha), whilst Shane Carless (Oakleaf Kawasaki) put in his best performance of the season to finish fourth - the first of a trio of Kawasaki's of Brad Anderson (Maxxis Kawasaki by LPE) and Gert Krestinov (Apico ANSA Racing Kawasaki). Barragan took advantage of a technical failure on Tanel Leok's Honda in the closing stages of the final moto to take his first MX1 win at Milton Park. The Spanish rider went 3-2-2 after Leok appeared to be heading for a straight three wins until the misfortune happened with just two laps remaining.

MX2:

Elliott Banks Browne (HM Plant KTM) had a start to finish win in the opening Moto at Milton MX Park. For half of the twenty minute moto it was Neville Bradshaw (Putoline Honda) who held second but he faded in the closing stages which allowed Steven Clarke on the second HM Plant KTM into second whilst Graeme Irwin ( Heads and All Threads Suzuki) finished strong to demote Steven Lenoir (Evotech Stevens KTM) to fourth with Bradshaw eventually regaining his composure to finish fifth.

Elliott Banks-Browne (HM Plant KTM) also dominated the second Moto, finishing five seconds clear of Steven Lenoir (Evotech Stevens KTM) as slight drizzle started to fall. Bryan MacKenzie (Pendrich Kawasaki) made a better start this time to just finish ahead of Neville Bradshaw (Putoline Honda) who cannot seem to find his early morning qualifying pace. Adam Sterry (STR KTM) took fifth ahead of Steven Clarke (HM Plant KTM).

The next round is on Sunday 02 June at Foxhill in Swindon.

Steve Sword retires from Motocross

2013 brought new challenges for British motocross star Steve Sword. A deal with Honda UK, linked to a position as head coach at the newly formed Dave Thorpe Honda Off Road Centre saw Steve revert back to racing in the UK in his favourite MX2 class while juggling his motocross coaching and trials and enduro days in Wales.

SS - "This deal all tied in nicely. I would be able to train and race and work, riding bikes pretty much all the time. Dave (Thorpe) made me a great offer to be part of his new team and I jumped at the opportunity”.

At the Dirt Bike Show last year everything was sorted out and Steve, together with D.T put together the finishing touches to what was to be a "starter year” for Dave`s new company in association with Honda`s new off road venture.

SS - "Honda wanted to create their own, exclusive, off road centre to be a conveniently positioned venue where this mighty Japanese company could promote their off road range and brand it in their own professional way. I was pleased to be involved. Truthfully, no-one really knew how it would all pan out but here we are in April and we are all so busy I really have to make a decision right now about how we are going to keep up with the demand?

In an ideal world, I would have liked to finish this season but right now something has to give and I think now is the right time to switch focus and devote 100% of my time and effort to this new project and wind down my racing career.

This is not a particularly difficult decision for me or my family, it is a slight change to my weekly routine which has been pretty much the same for the past fifteen years, but it will be a relief not to have to try to cram everything in and try to compete at the weekends.

There are so many good, young up-and-coming riders right now in the UK, I also want to do some more work with those guys through individual motocross coaching at the off road centre and as the enduro, motocross and off road "taster days” become increasingly busy I just don`t have time to race and prepare as I need to.

In due course I`m sure I will grab the opportunity to review my motocross career and of course there are so many people and companies I would like to thank for their help and support over the years, but for now I will be focussing on this new chapter in my life off the race track”.