Maxxis ACU British Championship Round 2 - Canada Heights 2016

JAKE GETS 4^TH PLACE FINISH IN THE MAXXIS 

The second round of the ACU MAXXIS British Championship was at Canada Heights, down in Swanley, Kent.  Jake was up for it, whereas Ando was a little cautious as he had been suffering from a back injury for the past few weeks. 

Qualifying:

The track was prepped well and the overnight down pour of rain actually did it some good.

MX 1 – Brad rode a little cautious, testing his back’s response to the track.  He got a good first lap in but only managed to secure a 13^th place on the gate.

MX 2 – Jake also got his best lap in early, whilst the track was clear.  He got a cracking time and ended up qualifying 7^th place, in a stacked class or MX2 riders.

Race 1:

MX 1 – Brad got a good jump out the gate but his clutch slipped and the bike just couldn’t get up the hill, so he rounded the first bend 2^nd from the back of the pack.  Despite the clutch, Brad’s not a quitter, so he managed to push forward into 19^th by the end of the first lap.  It was tough to pull through the pack and the clutch just wasn’t right, but he managed to pick the riders off one by one, finishing a respectable 10^th place in race one.

MX 2 – Jake got the hole shot and held his own up front for the first 3 laps.  Brian McKenzie then managed to make a pass, but didn’t hold on to the front for long, before Steven Clarke came charging through into first, soon followed by Martin Barr who moved into 2^nd.  This left Jake chasing behind these leading 3, in a comfortable 4^th place position.  The pack of 4 then took off and left the rest of the pack behind.  Jake had a clear run in 4^th until 2 laps from the end when James Dunn started to close.  But Jake had ridden a strong race so far and wasn’t going to give up his position to anybody, so he dug in hard and managed to keep a good distance ahead of Dunn.  So Jake Millward 303 came home a comfortable and well deserved 4^th place in the ACU Maxxis British Championship, scoring 18 points.

Race 2:

MX 1 – A good start for Brad this time, 3^rd out the gate and up there with the GP boys, Searle, Simpson and Nicholls.  Lenoir managed to make an early leaving Brad in 5^th and battling with Irwin for a good few laps.  It was only in the last 10 minutes, of this 25 + 2 minute race, that Krestinov caught the Ando up and pushed him back into 7^th place.  Brad remained solid in this position so finished the race in 7^th place, securing 7^th overall for the day.

MX 2 – Another excellent race for Jake Millward.  5^th out the gate and up front with the likes of Steven Clarke, Bryan McKenzie and Martin Barr once again.  Jake struggled in this second race to keep the pace and Mel Pockock, Neville Bradshaw and Adam Sterry made their passes early on.  Jake hung on to the back of Sterry but fatigue settled in and he lost a few more places, finishing 11^th in this 2^nd moto.  However, an excellent overall for Jake and his best over finish in the Maxxis.  6^th place overall just isn’t bad at all.

Overall:

So not a bad days riding for the team.  Brad finishing 7^th overall and Jake finishing 6^th overall in the ACU Maxxis British Championship.  Brad was still carrying a back injury which hindered his performance a little but Jake had a mega first race and a pretty decent second race too.

MX1 – A good overall for the Ando today but not the best days riding with the niggling back injury giving him some jip.  7^th overall was still pretty decent and the points enabled him to move up the championship table into 9^th position.  Just 19 points sitting between Ando 60 and 3^rd place in the ACU Maxxis British Championship.  A tough call but Ando doesn’t give up easily so roll on Round 3 at Hawkstone Park, one of Ando’s favourite tracks.

MX 2 - With Jake having such an excellent first race he managed to secure 6^th overall for the day.  This did his overall position in the championship a massive boost and pushed him up from 11^th place, following Lyng, to 7^th place in the ACU Maxxis British Championship.  Now on joint points with Neville Bradshaw who sits in 6^th.  A tough 23 points to catch up to 3^rd place and 24 points to win.  A lot of work therefore to do before the next round at one of Jakes favourite tracks to, Hawkstone Park.

Quote from Brad Anderson:

Not the results I had hoped for today.  A good solid second race but I just wasn’t fully fit.  Just 19 points to catch that 3^rd place position and get back on top of that podium.  Hawkstone …..

Quote from Jake Millward:

Fantastic first race, two mega starts.  Just got tired in the 2^nd moto and by the time I pushed passed the fatigue it was too late in the race to make up enough positions.

Quote from Team Manager, Adrian Kirk:

Some good starts and an excellent first moto for Jake.  Would have like a little more consistency but I am sure that will come.  7^th and 9^th in the Championship is pretty good and there are 6 more rounds still to go.