Another great event in the 2012 British MX Championship at Canada Heights

Riders on Raptor Titanium footpegs once again blitzed the field as the majority of the riders in the MX1 and MX2 classes were on Raptor Titanium footpegs, and they came in very handy indeed in the dicey conditions on the course sand track at Canada Heights, Kent at the weekend.

MX2

It was to be another weekend of perfect weather as the first race got under-way, however disaster struck for the Raptor Titanium sponsored Monster Energy Cosworth Yamaha team as Arnaud Tonus, winner of two races at Fat Cats two weeks previously, tumbled out of the first race in the opening laps, injuring his wrist and breaking a rib which will put in doubt whether he will be able to participate in the opening round of the 2012 FIM World MX Championship next week at Valkenswaard. This follows news of their other MX2 ace Zach Osborne being forced to travel back the US after sustaining heavy injuries in practise earlier in the week.

Arnaud's early exit blew the competition wide open in the MX2 class and it was a scramble for the victory in the first race as Monster Energy Yamaha team's only man left in the running, Mel Pocock, battled amongst fellow Raptor Titanium sponsored riders Nicholas Aubin, Elliot Banks-Browne and Neville Bradshaw. Aubin prevailed in the end after a crash by EBB in the closing stages and Pocock and Bradshaw having dropped off.

It was much more open in the second MX2 race as EBB and Pocock quickly asserted an early lead over the rest of the field and diced for a few laps before EBB's 250 KTM seemed to inexplicably stop for a few seconds, handing the lead to Pocock. EBB wasn't disheartened however, and came back even faster, eventually re-overtaking Pocock to claim the win.

The Raptor Titanium and HM Plant KTM UK rider then dominated the final race as he took the holeshot and wasn't threatened at all as he commanded the final race onto his overall victory for the day. The final MX2 race was red flagged towards the end due to a crash.

MX2 Overall Results

1. Elliott Banks-Browne (KTM) 5-1-1 | 66 pts
2. Neville Bradshaw (Honda) 3-4-2 | 60 pts
3. Mel Pocock (Yamaha) 4-2-3 | 60 pts
4. Nicolas Aubin (Honda) 1-3-6 | 60 pts
5. Bryan MacKenzie (KTM) 6-5-5 | 47 pts
6. Steven Lenoir (Yamaha) 2-27-4 | 40 pts
7. Connor Walkley (Kawasaki) 12-12-7 | 32 pts
8. Jordan Booker (Honda) 7-16-9 | 31 pts
9. Stuart Edmonds (Suzuki) 18-6-12 | 27 pts
10. Shane Carless (KTM) 8-15-13 | 27 pts
11. Alan Keet (Suzuki) 10-20-8 | 25 pts
12. Luke Remmer (Yamaha) dnf-9-10 | 23 pts
13. Lewis Tombs (Honda) 9-dnf-11 | 22 pts
14. James Cottrell (Honda) 31-7-19 | 16 pts
15. Bradley Pocock (Honda) 27-13-14 | 15 pts
16. Hamish Harwood (Honda) 14-19-15 | 15 pts
17. Ryan Houghton (Honda) dnf-11-17 | 14 pts
18. Sunny Thompson (Kawasaki) 26-8-27 | 13 pts
19. Anthony Reville (Honda) 16-14-dnf | 12 pts
20. Alexander Eriksson (Kawasaki) 23-10-26 | 11 pts
Arnaud Tonus (Yamaha) dnf-dns-dns | 0 pt

Overall points winner at Canada Heights, Elliot Banks-Browne

MX1

It was just as close, if not closer, in the MX1 class as there were three different winners in each race from different teams, on different bikes and none of them were the first round's dominant overall winner Kevin Strijbos, the only thing they seemingly having in common was that they all were using Raptor Titanium footpegs.

It was World MX GP veteran and Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Stephen Sword of Tyco Suzuki who grabbed the holeshot in the first race, and looked in commanding form as the rest of the pack jostled for position further back. Raptor Titanium's Kevin Strijbos got off to a horrible start out of the first corner and had to battle up from the back, eventually claiming a ninth position. Sword held out in the lead for most of the race, but fellow Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Marc De Reuver of Lanes Kawasaki managed to prise the victory from him in the closing laps.

The second race was all about Raptor Titanium sponsored riders Mattis Karro and Kevin Strijbos, the two KTM riders having an unbelievably close race, with Karro just edging the Belgian to claim the second race.

Karro looked set to get two in a row in the final race as he sprinted out into the lead with his second holeshot of the day, however Raptor Titanium and Yamaha's Shaun Simpson was right on his tail and pressured the Latvian into a mistake midway through the race, handing the Scotsman his first victory of the season. Karro, shaken by the pressure that caused him to surrender the lead, was then passed by Strijbos shortly adfter and managed to cling on for a well-deserved third place and the overall win for the day. Stephen Sword's consistency paid off and he got himself a well-earned place on the second step of the podium, with Shaun Simpson rounding off an all Raptor Titanium rider podium for the day, with the top nine all using Raptor Titanium footpegs.

MX1 Overall Results

1. Mattis Karro (KTM) 8-1-3 | 58 pts
2. Stephen Sword (Suzuki) 2-3-5 | 58 pts
3. Shaun Simpson (Yamaha) 3-9-1 | 57 pts
4. Kevin Strijbos (KTM) 9-2-2 | 56 pts
5. Kristian Whatley (Honda) 4-7-7 | 46 pts
6. Marc De Reuver (Kawasaki) 1-dnf-6 | 40 pts
7. Dorren Coutts (Honda) 11-6-8 | 38 pts
8. Martin Barr (Kawasaki) 14-4-9 | 37 pts
9. Gert Krestinov (Honda) 5-dnf-4 | 34 pts
10. Alex Snow (Kawasaki) 10-8-11 | 34 pts
11. Nathan Parker (KTM) 7-5-24 | 30 pts
12. Jamie Law (KTM) 12-14-10 | 27 pts
13. Alfie Smith (Kawasaki) 16-11-12 | 24 pts
14. Josh Waterman (Suzuki) 15-12-15 | 21 pts
15. Jason Dougan (Honda) 6-17-dns | 19 pts
16. John May (Honda) 17-10-21 | 15 pts
17. Ashley Wilde (Kawasaki) 20-15-14 | 14 pts
18. Wayne Garrett (Honda) 19-16-16 | 12 pts
19. Mathew Moffat (KTM) 23-13-18 | 11 pts
20. Jamie Smith (Honda) dnf-19-13 | 10 pts

Raptor Titanium Sponsored riders Mattis Karro and Kevin Strijbos


MX2 Points

1. Mel Pocock (Yamaha) 118 pts/2 top-3
2. Neville Bradshaw (Evotech Stevens Honda) 108 pts/2 top-3
3. Elliott Banks-Browne (HM Plant KTM) 104 pts/2 wins
4. Nicolas Aubin (Buildbase Honda) 83 pts/1 win
5. Steven Lenoir (Samsung Yamaha) 81 pts/1 top-3
6. Bryan MacKenzie (Rockstar KTM) 76 pts/2 top-5
7. Jordan Booker (Buildbase Honda) 71 pts/1 top-5
8. Zach Osborne (Monster Bike It Yamaha) 69 pts/1 win
9. Stuart Edmonds (Tyco TAS Suzuki) 63 pts
10. Graeme Irwin (Samsung Yamaha) 51 pts/1 top-3
11. Arnaud Tonus (Monster Bike It Yamaha) 50 pts/2 wins
12. Connor Walkley (Maxxis Henderson LPE) 44 pts
13. James Cottrell (Pulse DB Racing Honda) 41 pts
14. Shane Carless (Rockstar KTM) 40 pts
15. Lewis Tombs (John Banks Honda) 39 pts
16. Alan Keet (Dyer & Butler Suzuki) 34 pts
17. Luke Remmer (MX Protech/Yamaha) 31 pts
18. Bradley Pocock (MVRD Honda) 28 pts
19. Nathan Watson (PAR Honda) 28 pts
20. Sunny Thompson (Lanes Kawasaki) 23 pts


MX1 Points

1. Kevin Strijbos (HM Plant KTM) 131 pts/3 wins
2. Mattis Karro (STR KTM) 115 pts/1 win
3. Shaun Simpson (Monster Bike It Yamaha) 113 pts/1 win
4. Stephen Sword (Tyco TAS Suzuki) 101 pts/2 top-3
5. G. Krestinov (Route77energy MVR-D Honda) 92 pts/2 top-3
6. Martin Barr (Maxxis Henderson LPE Kawasaki) 87 pts/1 top-3
7. Marc De Reuver (Lanes Kawasaki) 70 pts/1 win
8. Dorren Coutts (PAR Honda) 70 pts
9. Kristian Whatley (PAR Honda) 67 pts/1 top-5
10. J. Dougan (Route77energy MVR-D Honda) 64 pts/1 top-5
11. Nathan Parker (Team STR KTM) 62 pts/1 top-5
12. Jamie Law (D3 KTM) 62 pts
13. Alex Snow (Oakleaf Kawasaki) 55 pts
14. Alfie Smith (LPE Kawasaki) 44 pts
15. Mathew Moffat (Dean Moff Star KTM) 35 pts
16. Josh Waterman (Dyer & Butler/Suzuki) 24 pts
17. Ashley Wilde (Sandbach Srap Metals/Kawasaki) 19 pts
18. Daniel Hutchinson (KTM) 18 pts
19. John May (St Blazey MX/Honda) 17 pts
20. Wayne Garrett (JAR Honda) 12 pts


The championship is now well and truly anybody's guess as it moves on to Lyng, Norfolk on May 6th. See you there!