British Motocross Champs - Part II

Monday 07 March: A host of race winners at Little Silver's Round 1. Three Kiwis were there and their results are at the bottom of the page.

The MX1 and MX2 races produced no less than five different winners in the opening round of the 2011 Series held today at a superbly prepared Little Silver circuit near Exeter.

Early in the day it looked as though the Cosworth Bike It Wild Wolf Yamaha team were likely to dominate the proceedings with Zach Osborne winning the opening two MX2 races, whilst Jason Dougan took a comfortable win in the MX1 class.

However, Osborne suffered a mechanical failure in the third moto which kept

him off the podium at the end of the day and allowed his Swiss team mate Arnaud Tonus to claim overall victory ahead of Matiss Karro (Route 77 MVR-D Honda) and Jake Nicholls (HM Plant Red Bull KTM). Tonus score of 2-2-1 was enough to give him an early 13 point cushion over Karro who actually scored the same points as Nicholls, but a strong final moto gave the Latvian second spot on the podium. Osborne lays fourth, 19 points adrift of his team partner.

In the MX1 class, more drama as one of the pre-event favourites, Stephen Sword (Buildbase CCM) suffered two back to back DNF's in the opening motos as his rear mousse failed to stay inside the tyre. However, he made amends and a possible damage limitation exercise by just holding off eventual podium topper, Shaun Simpson (Honda), to win the final moto.

Photo: Jason Dougan

Swords disappointment could have been worse, but his main rivals were squabbling over the top points in each race, but he leaves round one 41 points off the lead and the red plate which belongs to Simpson. Simpson, aka 'Braveheart', took the top step on the podium thanks to three second place finishes, behind Dougan, Tom Church on the second Buildbase CCM and Sword.

With doubt over whether Simpson will compete in the whole championship series due to his teams need for him to contest the Belgian championship, Church effectively leads the standings three points behind the LS Motors Honda rider.

In the supporting Veterans class, it was the usual three who stood on the podium at the end of their two motos, Greg Hanson (MotoXtreme Kawasaki) scoring a 2-1 to head fellow Kawasaki rider Brian Wheeler ( Maxxis Henderson LPE Team) who could only back up his first race win with a fourth in the second moto. Reigning champion, Terry House took the lower step on the podium with a 3-2 finish.

The next round of the championship takes place in three weeks time at the fantastic Canada Heights circuit in Kent where the MXY2 (Youth) will join the MX1 and MX2 classes.

Kiwis at the Brits:

In MX1 Kieran Scheele Qualified 21st in his group and went 26th, 27 and 17th for 20th overall.
In MX2 Bjarne Fredriksen Qualified 37th in his group and went 30th, 26th and 32 but does not show in the overall

In MX2 Kayne Lamont does not feature at all.
In MX2 John Phillips debuts with a 32nd in Qualifying then a DNS, a DNF after 1 lap and another DNS.