Valkenswaard Report - Kawasaki Team CLS
Wednesday 27 April: Tommy Searle of Kawasaki Team CLS again mounted the podium at Round 2 of the FIM MX2 Motocross World Championship.
Both
Tommy Searle and teammate
Max Anstie had
qualified well on Sunday, but neither had the best of luck in the long
sweeping first turn during the points-scoring races, run on Easter
Monday to attract a massive Bank Holiday crowd.
From 7th place on
the opening lap of race one Searle moved relentlessly forward to third
place on the 6th of 20 laps, but the gap to the riders in first and
second places was too great and, on the hottest day of the year so far,
Tommy sensibly concentrated on consolidating his third placed finish
whilst conserving energy for the second tough moto still to come. A
better start gave promise of a challenge for victory, but the luckless
Brit was delayed at the second corner when a rider ahead of him
dislodged a haybale and Tommy again had to battle up the leaderboard to
third whilst his main rivals opened up an advantage. Third by the 7th of
20 laps, he again concentrated on making this place secure and his good
judgment was proven as he again finished third.
Anstie was
quickly through to 5th place in the opening moto, but a slight error
cost him several places as he slid to the ground before remounting a
challenge which brought him all the way back to 7th before a badly
rutted take-off caused him to mistime a jump into a corner and his bike
flew into the crowd, fortunately without serious injury to anyone.
Rejoining the race a lap down, he battled on to finish 10th. After a
much better start in race two the teenager, 18 on the day of the GP, had
the leaders in his sights through the second combination of jumps until
a collision with another rider left him on the ground and forced to
reenter the race in last position. Refusing to give up hope, Max tore
through the pack and had no difficulty to follow leader Jeffrey Herlings
as they scorched past one rider after another until Max was back into
the top ten; in the final laps Anstie proved his strength to re-pass
Herlings, unlap himself and narrowly fail to catch the 8th placed rider.
#99 Max Anstie at the extreme left and #100 Tommy Searle nearest camera. Photos courtesy of the Kawasaki Racing Team.
Tommy Searle: "My starts were not so good and that cost me. You
need a very different technique on a sandy surface and they just don't
have tracks like this in America where I have raced for the last two
years. The second start was better than the first but then another rider
dislodged a haybale right into my path at turn 2. By the time I got to
third place, the first two were already long gone, so I knew that was
the best I could hope for. The track was really rough by the end of the
day and you had to ride smart. Tonus was pushing really hard in race
two, so I let him pass me; I would have passed him back anyway before
the end, but he saved me the trouble when he made a mistake. Now I head
back to California for a couple of weeks before the US GP; I have a
house there, so I can chill out at home and relax for a week before
preparing for the race. I'm only 10 points from the championship pace
and, with 13 GPs to go, there's still plenty to play for."
Max
Anstie: "I'm a little bit frustrated because there was a lot more in
this race for me; I proved that already yesterday when I finished third
in the qualification race. I crashed twice in the first race. The first
time I just slipped off, but the second time my bike went into the crowd
and hit my practice mechanic after I went over a berm in a corner I was
jumping into and that cost me a lot of time. I got a great start in the
second race and was right on the leaders until I got tangled up on the
second straightaway and that meant I was in last place. I never gave up
trying and when Herlings lapped me, I was easily able to run his pace.
He was getting tired at the end, but I was still strong, so I unlapped
myself and nearly caught Osborne for 8th. My fitness is good, my speed
is coming and I head back to our home in California to get ready for the
Glen Helen GP; I aim to be on the podium there !"