Tommy Searle recorded a superb second place for Kawasaki Team CLS in the British round of the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship to further strengthen his third place in the series.
Played out in front of a large, enthusiastic gallery at the Matterley Basin track in Hampshire which was last used for a GP in 2006, the British GP was a showcase event for the sport in the home of motocross and Searle put on a great show for the home fans. After an unfortunate start in the first moto he scythed his way through the field from outside the top ten to snatch second place four laps from the end to the deafening cheers of his home fans and confidently expected to be able to snatch the overall victory on the day with a win in race two after getting a much better start. However it soon became clear that the exertions of race one had been too great and the dream of a home win faded. Nevertheless Searle kept fighting to the end and grabbed another second place on the very last lap of racing. He is now more than 50 points clear of his closest rival for third in the series and can confidently expect to clinch his medal at the next round.
Searle's teenage teammate Max Anstie faced a difficult GP after a collision at the start of the qualification race damaged his bike and forced him to start from the extreme outside gate. However the young Brit never stopped charging and had battled through the pack to tenth and eighth places as the chequered flag fell at the end of the two 40 minute races. He too has cemented his sixth place in the standings and can anticipate great battles during the final two GPs in his quest for a top five world ranking.
New MX2 British Champion Arnaud Tonus took his Cosworth-powered Yamaha YZ250F to fifth position overall at a busy Matterley Basin circuit for the Bike it Cosworth Wild Wolf Yamaha’s home event. The British Grand Prix – round thirteen of fifteen in the FIM Motocross World Championship – was played out in front of a raucous 26, 500 attendance in Winchester and across the best track seen so far on the 2011 calendar.
MX1 - Christophe Pourcel equal first on podium.
The 23 year old Frenchman had showed great speed and skill as he topped qualification on Saturday and in the first moto of the GP he pressurised early leader Steven Frossard until his compatriot made a mistake to make the way clear for a deserved win by the Kawasaki rider, his first victory this year. After another excellent start in race two Pourcel looked set to repeat his first win, but a simple mistake on a jump saw him throw away his chances and forced him to pull out of the race because his bike was bent in the incident. But for once Lady Luck was on his side and after a collision between two other riders the race was red-flagged and rerun over the full distance. Having already changed into his regular clothing before the red flag came out, Pourcel faced a hectic dash to get ready for the rerun and the stress restricted him to third place, but this was enough to see him end the day as equal top points-scorer.
8th for Davide Guarneri and 12th for Gregory Aranda meant that the Kawasaki Raptor Titanium sponsored riders had a very successful weekend indeed.
Shaun Simpson's season of dismal luck continued when he managed to get the hole-shot on the first corner of race 2 that catapulted him into the lead and he was hanging in there valiantly in 2nd place when a collision between Scot and fellow Raptor Titanium rider Billy Mckenzie and Tanal Leok meant the race had to be restarted. This bad luck favoured the top riders in the championship, but Shaun could not repeat his great start and was relegated down to 10th position in race 2.
British fans weren't left completely disappointed this weekend though after MX1 British Champion Brad Anderson managed a fantastic 5th overall at the weekend, showing the grit and determination that signifies why he's the new British champion.
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