Hawkstone International 2017

Brad too is a lover of the Hawkstone track and the wet conditions never bother this northern rider.  It was also in Brad’s 3^rd lap that he slotted in his quickest time giving him 10^th position and gate pick for the day.  Just like Jake, all the riders before him were full Factory GP riders and the only Brits were Max Anstie, Shaun Simpson and Jake Nicholls.  All the other riders were a good 2 seconds slower than Brad.  Another good start to the day.

Race 1:

MX2:

What a top first race to the day.  A fabulous start, sitting in 5^th position behind Factory Riders; Jonass, Covington, Kjer-Olson and Ben Watson.  He held tight throughout the race, battling continuously with Jeremy Seewer for most of the race.  It was in the last couple of laps that Seewer got the better of Jake and both him and his Suzuki World team mate Hunter Lawrence managed to get past, pushing Jake Millward 303 into 7^th place.  But still an excellent finish and a brilliant ride by the 23 year old, who finished before the likes of Mel Pocock, Conrad Mews and Adam Sterry.

MX1:

A good solid first race for Brad Anderson.  He was 3^rd out the gate and with Shaun Simpson taken out of the race on the start, Brad moved into 2^nd place in this stacked class.  But the class was very stacked and the GP riders and Brad soon moved down to 4^th place behind Anstie, Nagl and Jasikonis.  Brad held off Kevin Strijbos for most of the race but then arm pump kicked in and once Strijbos made his pass, Jake Nicholls found his way through too.  Brad rode hard in 6^th place battling with Gautier Paulin and Nathan Watson until the last lap, when they pushed him down to 8^th place.  A great first race result, although Brad wasn’t totally satisfied and was keen to do better in his second race.

Race 2:

MX2:

Another good start for young Jake Millward, out the gate in 5^th place.  He was up there with the same few GP riders and sat in 6^th place for the first half of the race.  Then Covington made a pass, followed by Vaessen.  Jake held on to 8^th place until Adam Sterry and Van-Berkel found their way through with just a couple of laps to go.  It was in the last lap that Ben Watson pushed through from the back, taking Jake’s 10^th place position and pushed Jake back to 11^th finish for moto 2.  Still an excellent finish with only GP riders before him.

MX1:

Brad got another good jump out the gate and was feeling on form for this second race.  He was up there with the GP riders once again and going strong.  Then things didn’t go quite to plan.  Brad’s bike misfired in the 4^th lap and he had to pull off only to find an electrical fault with the bike.  Both Brad and the team were disappointed.  They tried hard to fix the problem for the Super Final but luck just wasn’t going their way.

Overall:

MX2:

Jake finished 9^th overall in MX2 at Hawkstone International.  A very stacked pack of GP Factory Riders and the only Brits to beat his overall position were Ben Watson (6^th) and Conrad Mews (8^th).  Not a bad first race to the season and a good bench mark to see what else needs to be done in training prep for the Maxxis.

MX1:

Brad only finished 15^th overall due to the incompletion of race 2.  Disappointing but a good pre-season race against some top riders.

Quote from Jake Millward:

Had a good weekend at Hawkstone coming away with 9^th overall with a 7^th and an 11^th.  Was good battling with some of the world’s best.  A big thanks to everyone who helps and the whole Verde Sports Racing Team who do an amazing job.

Quote form Brad Anderson:

First race today I was out the gate second but got arm pump ended up 8^th.  So I felt ready for race 2.  Didn’t get the best of starts but was behind Simpson with Strijbos behind me so felt good.  Then after about 5 laps or so the bike started to splutter so a DNF.  The team tried to solve the problem for the Super Final but in the first lap it stopped, but at least am in one piece and ready for the next race.   Thanks to the team Verde Sports for working hard to get us to Hawkstone.  People don't realise how hard it is to run a team.  Thanks again Adrian Kirk, Matt Hunt, Chris Muir and Steve Clitheroe.  Well done to all the people who helped to get Hawkstone ready.  It was in real good condition for the time of year.