Kiwis at the Junior World MX Champs.RACE BRIEF ... FROM KAYNE LAMONT We left Belgium Thursday morning for France, going through Luxembourg then back through France. Thursday night we got to the track and found a pit area and parked up and camped there for the weekend. It wasn't too far from the McGoldrick's camp. The set-up was similar to the GP's so we were familiar with most things. Friday was technical control and sign-on. Saturday was an extremely hot day, temp peaked around 34C. The track: It was tight, steep and was quite narrow. The soil was hard pack underneath but quite sandy on top when it was wet. It got rough fast on Saturday as there were a lot of riders on the track that day. They groomed most of the track and watered it heavily Saturday evening and it held up pretty well on Sunday. Free Practice: The track was quite rough as we were the last practice and the sand had already been pushed off, so it was real hard pack. I had the 20th fastest time in practice, although it is only practice but everyone goes hard for at least a couple of good laps. Qualifying: Your fastest lap time gives you your gate pick for the races on Sunday. The track was real hard pack; I got out really early and was feeling good. I tried to put in some good laps but was struggling a bit with bike set up and was finding it a little difficult to complete a real quick lap, finally qualifying in 20th which I felt I could have done a bit better. Sunday: Woke up after a reasonable nights sleep (although it was still very hot) and the track was not looking too bad; they had groomed a lot of it and watered it well. Dad was speaking with Jeremy Long in Brazil during the early hours of the morning and we made some changes to the suspension. I was looking forward to the warm up practice; we were last up and I had good practice. There was plenty of traction and ruts were starting to form; I was 3rd fastest and the bike was handling a lot better taking off four seconds from my qualifying time and I was looking forward to my first race. Moto 1: I got a great start, 2nd around the holeshot corner and stayed there for three laps before getting overtaken by two riders. I then made a small error in a corner and went down, I lost two places by the time I got back going again so continued on in 6th place. Over the next few laps two more overtook me which put me in 8th place with over half the race gone. I had one rider close behind and then a reasonable gap back to 10th place. As we dropped down the hill towards a tight 90 degree right hander I was battling with him for position and I left the gate open slightly, he managed to get inside me and his bike hit my front wheel and I went down heavily with three laps to go. I landed hard on my shoulder and head as I had no time to put my hands out to reduce the impact. I got up and struggled to pick my bike up as it was lying on the side of a berm; I had an instant big headache and sore shoulder. I slowly finished that lap and pulled off as I was out of the points and was too sore to carry on. Moto 2: It started to rain just before our race so this made the track a bit slippery in some places but nice and tacky in other spots. I got an okay start, about 12th around the first corner. I was in about 9th after the first lap and was going good but crashed a few laps later putting me back into 17th position. I slowly made my way back to 10th position and was pushing hard to get into 9th but couldn't make the pass. I then got passed with about 3 laps to go. I was in 11th and on the last lap about halfway around the track I missed 2 gears on an uphill and nearly crashed as I was wobbling all over the place trying to get it in gear. I still managed to hang onto 11th position and continue on to cross the finish line. This was a much better race as it was later in the afternoon and the temperature had dropped with a fierce storm closing in. I was disappointed because I had the pace to stay inside the top ten but at this level any mistake is punished. I finished 17th overall with a DNF and an 11th so I was pretty happy to finish that high up after only completing one race. We now head back to Belgium and then leave Wednesday morning for England to do the British Champs on Sunday and then race in the Ken Hall Trophy race on the Monday as it is a public holiday. We have Tuesday and Wednesday to clean up and return everything before catching the plane Wednesday evening to fly back to NZ. Finally I would like to say a big thanks to Suzuki GB Youth TEAM Manager Paul Butler, Mark from FOX Europe for his huge support, Gary and Sharon Finch from England for all there help and Josh Coppins and Jeremy Long (our Kiwi connection) for their assistance, it has been hugely appreciated.
Race 1 and Kayne Lamont (#49) is 2nd at the holeshot. Photo courtesy of Youthstream.
RACE BRIEF ... FROM ISAIAH AND MICAH McGOLDRICK. Micah The last two weeks have been full on, been learning heaps about racing and the level that people races at is something different. France was very hot and there was over a 100 riders in my class. I had my starts down all weekend, being top 3 round the first corner in Moto 1 and 2. Good starts helped alot for having a good races but my good starts and racers would end wrong. Siting in the top 5 in moto 1 and 2 and feeling strong and good on the bike but making to many miskates witch cost me a good finishes. Thats racing for you, thinking your going to do well an it all goes bad and your just gutted it did. But gonna more on and come back stronger and faster. Overall I had a awesome time, meeting alot of cool people, seeing and doing alot of cool staff, dont wana go.THANKS so much for your support in this trip, couldnt of do it with out your heip, cheers. Isaiah My goal at this event was to Qualify into the top 40, I qualified 23rd. So I was happy with that. On race day things went backwards though!. In Moto 1, I had a very hard crash around the high speed sweeping first corner. Luckily I could still ride the bike. I made some positions up, until I then landed on a crashed riders bike that was on top of a blind rise (with no yellow flags). In this Crash my front trye went flat!. I went into the pits and put on a new front wheel, then went back onto the track. I got black flagged for re entering the track after being back in the pits. DNF. Moto 2 on the half way point sitting 26th I had another massive crash going over the bars on a table top. I got back up but pulled out of the race. As I was really shaken up from the crashes. It was a super painful and sour weekend. Enough of the negative I am still alive and going strong!. For sure the last two weeks has been up and down!, But Overall I had a awesome experience. I wish I could stay, Because this is where the best riders and biggest races are. I will be back asap. Thanks to all the people that supported us and our fundraising, I'm super lucky to have gotten here. P.S: Special thanks to the Machine, Antony Sproull. He has sacrificed and done alot to get us over here. He never doubts us. Thanks for everything coach.
RACE BRIEF ... FROM ANTONY SPROULL Where does one begin, 3 days of mayhem over in blink of an eye. I'll keep this report to a brief overview as it's off my phone, will leave the boys to do justice to it on their sponsors reports. Firstly the track. In a nutshell and surprisingly so, think Taupo, but in a gully, very steep uphills and drop offs, half the circuit is tight and technical with a variety of two-way sections. It's got that grainy, skatey soil but very hardpack underneath, its quite unlike anything in NZ. Likewise is the weather, temp gauge read 110F on Sat in the sun which is like 40 deg celcius. Qualifying was tough for our guys, Micah broke a silcencer on lap 1 so a quick replacement and scrambled his best time on the chequers - 12th in group 24th combined. At least he's through - 1st goal ticked. Isaiah & Kayne next and they're not without their troubles, both had carburation issues with the hot humid air. In practice. Kayne 20th Isaiah 23rd. Isaiahs also got a stomach bug so is struggling in the heat with fluid retention. Sunday, thankfully cooler weather forecast with thunderstorms late arvo. Free practice and Micahs up on yesterday - 21st and only 2 seconds off lthe eader - shows how intense it is here. Kayne has a blinder and goes 3rd quickest, Isaiah on other hand having suspension issues now - bike not hooking up - steps out on upramp of big tabletop and has a huge stack. He's got a good bruise to the knee but otherwise okay. Moto 1 - 85cc: Micah awesome jump 3rd around Turn 1. Sets fastest laptime early working the leaders. Then some mistakes cost time and eventually setting him 5th. All going well until about 15 minute mark, poor line choice steps rear out and into bunting. Race over 23rd position. Moto 1 - 125cc: Kayne follows Micahs lead off the gate, 2nd around the first turn. Isaiah gets a poor jump and collides with an Aussie in Turn 1. Remounts and jumps into a fallen rider, no yellow flag! The hit punctures his tyre, DNF. Kayne is slipping positions, a fall drops him out of top 10, then he gets taken out, hurt shoulder and head hit - DNF. Moto 2 - 85cc: Micah repeats his start, nothing to loose, he's into 3rd and settling in well. At about the halfway mark he has s huge lowside crash on fastest part of track, the nature of the back wheel just stepping out randomly may have somthing to do with mousse tubes he's running. Micah crashs a second time on same lap, game over but he circulates to finish. Moto 2 125cc: It's now starting to rain. Boys sluggish off the gate and Kayne moving forward from midpack, Isaiah 27th. Kayne runs a solid race into top 10 at one time, but fades to finish 12th. Sadly this is team NZs only points. The boys were capable of improving on last years results, they had the speed against what was far superior competition to Taupo 09 but just couldn't stick it when it counted mid moto. I'll be straight up it's demoralising as a Coach when you put your heart and soul into it, only to be shown it's not enough. We've definitely learnt alot, it's about translating it into a stronger performance next year. By the way Isaiah DNFd the last moto too, huge endo as a result of a mis-shift. No serious injuries, mainly dented pride with a few cuts 'n' bruises. |
