Maxxis ACU British Championship Round 5 - Leuchars 2016

Round 5 of the Maxxis British Championship took us north to Scotland, to a new track to the series, Leuchars, Situated on the East Coast just outside St Andrews.  The weeknd started out pretty wet but the track took the water and soon dried up.  It was a very narrow sand track that was deep and rough in sections.  A good start was going to play a huge part in this weekend’s racing.

QUALIFYING:

MX2:

Qualifying doesn’t seem to be Jakes strong point.  Getting a good clear run and keeping a constant speed for a full lap isn’t always easy to judge.  Today wasn’t too bad and his 5^th lap saw him get a pretty decent time, which secured him 8^th gate pick for the day.  Another ½ second would have seen him get 5^th.

MX1:

Qualifying also doesn’t appear to be Brads strong point this season and today was no exception.  His 5^th lap was his fastest and he really thought he had nailed it but unfortunately he was only 10^th fasted in the qualification.  One more second would have put him into a comfortable 4^th.  It was going to be a close race today.

RACE 1: 

MX2:

Not a good start for Jake in Race 1.  He got a terrible jump out the gate and came down the start straight way at the back of the pack of 35 riders.  He soon found his pace and half way through the first lap he had settled into 15^th place.  But the track was narrow and there was no place for him to go.  The 7 part rhythm section was tough and difficult to master every time but when Jake got it right he managed to pull a lot of time back and he moved up a couple of places to finish 12^th in Moto 1.

MX1:

Brad got a pretty decent start, despite his gate pick and came through in 8^th.  It was pretty rough with no place to go on such a narrow track.  Nicholls was out up front with Searle chasing hard behind.  Simpson and Irwin were soon comfortably in 4^th.  Whatley was in 5^th but tired half way through the race leaving Brad, Grestinov and Lenoir to battle it out between them.  They changed places constantly for 5 laps but when they settled into position it was Brad who sat behind in 7^th place.  It was so rough towards the end that it left no place to go so Brad finished Moto 1 in 7^th.

RACE 2: 

MX2:

Race 2 was no better a start than race 1.  Bad gate jump and stuck at the back of the pack in a now very rough, narrow track.  Jake couldn’t pull through quickly enough and soon was caught up in the pack of slower riders.  It wasn’t a good race and although he fought to make passes he still ended the race in only 14^th place.  It just wasn’t his day at all.

MX1:

Brad wasn’t feeling too good at the start of this second race as a nasty stomach bug had started to kick in.  However, his start wasn’t too bad and he sat in a similar position to race 1.  The same 4 riders were up front and this time a different 4 riders were batting for 5^th place.  There was Leok, Banks-Browne, Brad and Krestinov who swapped places whilst fighting for 5^th.  But passing just wasn’t happening on this brutally rough track and Brad once again had to settle for 7^th place in Moto 2.

OVERALL:

MX2:

Jake’s bad starts cost him dearly today.  Not only did he only finish 11^th overall but he lost 2 places in the championship pushing him down to 7^th place.  Not a bad position to be in but nowhere near where he had sat 2 rounds ago.  Time to take stock and prepare for Blaxhall in 2 weeks time.

MX1:

Brad had a pretty consistant ride today and ended up 7^th overall.  He retained his 6^th place in the championship and closed his gap to only 5 places to 5^th place.  However the 3^rd place he had his sights on was now 37 points ahead.  Three rounds left to go and Brad is determined to secure a place on the championship podium.

QUOTE FROM JAKE MILLWARD:

Very frustrating weekend.  Didn’t go to plan in any shape or form.  Had 2 horrendous starts making the races so hard for myself.  Know what I need to do for the next round.

QUOTE FROM BRAD ANDERSON:

Two 7^th places today was not what I wanted so I will have to work harder for better results for the next British.  It was a brutal rough track, the hardest yet and a stomach bug just didn’t help.

QUOTE FROM TEAM MANAGER ADRIAN KIRK:

Not the best results today but we are still comfortably in the top 10 with both riders.  Two weeks to Blaxhall.  Lets see if better starts get them both into the top 5.