Finally the UK is getting the weather that actually warrants it being called summer! It’s been hot recently and so has the action at the Red Bull Pro Nationals and round six this weekend at Pontrilas was much of the same!
The beautiful Howton Court circuit etched into the hillside just outside of Pontrilas in Herefordshire looked every bit the part as the MC Federation once again rolled in with an array of colour to give the place that real sense of event. They had their work cut out with track preparations this time out though. We may well be getting some decent tanning and beach weather but with it comes dry land and the Howton Court circuit needed thousands of gallons of water to keep the dust down and generate a good racing circuit, good job the race got on before a hose pipe ban! Intensive watering started a few days before the event and the first few dousings just seemed to disappear in no time as the track soaked it up like a sponge. It was almost drought like conditions.
Luckily the same cannot be said about the action in the Red Bull Pro Nationals of late as we’ve been spoilt with a prolonged downpour of the best racing action this country has seen for a good few years. With the pros, the Fuchs-Silkolene 2 Stroke British championship and the Red Bull Elite Youth Cup all thrown together over two days of action the Red Bull Pro Nationals are definitely changing the face of British motocross and Pontrilas proved that yet again.
The Suzuki MX experience had a steady stream of youngsters having their first taste of what it’s like to ride a dirt bike after watching other kids their age banging bars and tearing around the flowing hillside circuit. If that’s wasn’t enough of a buzz for the families and kids new to motocross then the Red Bull X Fighters Jams tour certainly left them wanting more. Chris Brock, Frog and Chris Birch laid on another belting display of skill as they flipped and whipped (literally) the crowd up ready for the Red Bull Pro races that followed.
To be fair the fans were already buzzing from the earlier Fuchs-Silkolene 2 stroke and Red Bull Elite Youth Cup races, especially those that witnessed some great racing on the Saturday. Ben Lamay took the opportunity to race a 250 2 stroke for the first time in the UK and did so in convincing style to take the overall in the Open 2 stroke class with two race wins and a second on his Samsung Yamaha. It was great to see Lamay pit his wits against the regular 2 stroke lads and by the last moto Scott Elderfield had got his act together on his PAR Honda and had something for Lamay as he took the final moto of the day and with it second overall. Third on the box was the defending 3 time champion Mark Eastwood on his Wiseco/Eastwood Honda. There’s not much to say about Easty that hasn’t already been said! Yet again he rode brilliantly and showed all his experience to extend his championship lead over James Noble (Proppa.com Honda). Although he desperately wanted to beat Lamay and Elderfield he knew they are no real threat in the title hunt and didn’t do anything stupid to leave Pontrilas still holding the championship leader red plate.
The Open Juniors were at it again as they fought out their championship a little further down the line from the super fast Expert riders. Corey Nemeth rolled out a Honda this time out (maybe he has a fleet of 2 strokes in his workshop?!) and blasted his way round for three straight moto wins to take the overall. Jason Kendrick (KTM) didn’t have any answers for him on this occasion but did have the speed to hold of Tim Burrows on his Suzuki and nail down second place and open up a 62 point lead ahead of Daniel Ward.
The kids of the Red Bull Elite Youth Cup almost rode the wheels off their bikes at Pontrilas. It was a fast track for the smaller bikes and the lads were getting everything out of their equipment, especially the 65cc riders! After five hard fought races it was Ryan Vickers on his Cobra who went back to back to take his second overall victory on the year, but it was so close and all hinged on the last race. Taylor Hammal couldn’t hide his disappointment on the podium after he crashed with a few laps to go and lost his chance for the overall as he dropped down to third. Second, again, went to Keenan Hird who continues to prove consistency pays as he still leads the series by a healthy 78 points without taking an overall win so far this year! The boy is silk smooth and rides so smart, and that’s why he’s leading the way.
Ryan Vickers #193 and Taylor Hammal #23, along with Keenan Hird took it right down to the wire in the 65cc class
The small wheel class was equally as up and down. In the end it was a well and certainly hard earned first overall win for Todd Kellett. He certainly made it hard for himself after crashing in the last moto he fought from way down the field to take the overall ahead of local rider Danny Lanfear who rode great. The pair of Suzuki riders seem to never be far apart, like their bikes are magnetic or something! Gradie Featherstone rounded out on the podium with a solid performance even though he didn’t seem so naturally at home on the Howton Court circuit as much as he did at Whitby. Lanfear did enough to leave with the red plate after previous series leader Conrad Mewse could only manage fifth overall.
The big wheeled class got blown wide open at Pontrilas as series leader Ben Howell went out on the Sunday with a broken collarbone. The rider he made contact with in the incident, James Harrison (Twisted 7 Honda) took full advantage to take his first overall win of the year and with it the championship lead. Harrison hasn’t been off the podium all year and he shares that stat with Ben Watson on the HM Plant/Red Bull KTM but this time Watson only managed third overall despite looking incredibly fast and taking three moto wins. Like Howell he also suffered bad luck with bike problems. Liam Garland got back on track with a solid second overall on his Proppa.com Honda and now has a chance to catch Howell and move into third in the series behind Harrison and Watson.
It was a good time for film maker Alex Rankin to focus on the Rookie class for Red Bull’s ‘Dirt Rats’ video series as they laid on yet more aggressive racing and it was also a good time for Poole Yamaha’s Jake Shipton who also took his first overall victory of the season. Shipton’s team were desperate for a race win over the weekend. It never came but what did was a superb display of consistency with a 2-2-2-3-2 scorecard and a very popular overall win. Sunny Thompson took the second spot with another professional like performance on his Samsung Yamaha and did enough to stretch his series lead out by another solitary point over Lewis Trickett on his 250 2 stroke Suzuki. Trickett was on fire on Sunday just as he was at Whitby but just can’t seem to get his act together on Saturday’s!
Jake Shipton didn't win a moto but finally came good for a well earned overall in the Rookie class!
The Fuchs-Silkolene 125cc British championship riders rolled out onto a well soaked track on Sunday to cut the lines for the day and Kiwi racer Kayne Lamont laid down his attentions for the day setting the quickest time in qualifying on his Suzuki GB ride. It was the New Zealander’s first ever Fuchs-Silkolene event and he got straight down to business as he won the opening moto to back it up, and he was even racing the Rookie class too! Series leader David Willet proved why they call him ‘Iron Man’ in the second moto though as he wore down Kayne to take that one but he had no answers for the Kiwi in the final moto as he roped away with the win, the overall and more annoyingly for Willet £300 more than him as he exasperated on the podium. Defending champion Jim Davies proved why he has the #1 on his TM with an incredibly gutsy display as he rode through the pain of severe ankle and foot ligament damage and possibly broken bones after getting his foot caught in Will Worden’s wheel in the Open class the day before. After going to hospital he came back to ride and actually had to use crutches to get on the podium. Fair play to Jim on some good old fashion grit!!
Charles Statt has been so dominate in the Junior class and Pontrilas was no different, although he didn’t take all three moto wins this time out. Ben Thompson was flying in the first moto as he duked it out with the Expert front runners, later admitting it probably took more out of him than he’d of liked. Still it was a great performance and helped him to second overall. Third went to Corey Nemeth who couldn’t double up and add a 125 win to his Open class victory from the previous day. He may showed grit too though, maybe not as much as Davies though!
Talking of grit, that’s exactly what you get from Brad Anderson and he proved it once again as he put a stop to the rot and Ben Lamay’s charge to take a convincing 1-1 victory in the Red Bull Pro Nationals MX1 class. Ando and his PAR Honda were definitely back to their best on a track that by Brad’s own admission suits his style better and he made it show as he extended his lead out to 36 points as Lamay seemed to suffer with a 6-8 score, maybe due to over extending himself the day before on the 2 stroke? Lamay may well have been off the pace he’s shown in the last month but two riders who weren’t and were just glad to be out there racing were the Buildbase CCM teammates of Stephen Sword and Tom Church. Both have had a nightmare season with injuries and viruses but they proved they are always a serious threat for race wins when fit. Church, who has been off a bike for some time, returned with a second overall after tying with his teammate but due to his stronger second moto finish behind Anderson got the verdict. Neither were really a match for Anderson though as he romped to the win.
Ando wanted to get back to winning ways at Pontrilas - he did in emphatic style!
Anderson’s PAR Honda teammate Martin Barr no doubt had been thinking about his mechanical DNF at Whitby that allowed Elliott Banks-Browne to get the points gap down to 6 as they came into Pontrilas. It was enough to motivate him to another brilliant performance as he also went 1-1 to make it clean sweep for the Honda team. EBB pushed him all the way and was a little disgruntled as he took the second spot on the podium but the Pulse /DB racing Honda rider knows the series is far from over with only 12 point separating them and will keep fighting . As if PAR Honda hadn’t had a good enough weekend as it was, Scott Elderfield took the final spot on the podium with a 3-4 result after swapping his 250 2 stroke from Saturday to the 250 4 stroke for Sunday.
With all the classes so nicely poised it’s certainly adding to the tension of finding out where the next round is going to be held. Keep logging in right here to find out where that will be. An announcement will be made soon.
Full race and series run down on the points on the results page.