Simpson finishes second on his Weston debut

Published: 13th October 2008

Author: G2F

Weston Beach Race 12th October 2008. Shaun Simpson KTM UK rounded off his 2008 season with an unexpected second place on his debut at the World famous Weston Beach Race. The three-hour sea front battle at Weston-Super-Mare was won by the sand man himself Stefan Everts, who will be Simpson¹s mentor when he moves to the factory KTM team next year.

Whilst having not confirmed his participation in this unique event until late this week, Shaun showed that he was a serious contender as early as the first lap. Despite being at a disadvantage against the bigger capacity bikes on the initial sprint down the long start straight, Simpson rounded the first corner in a top ten position.

As the action shifted to the never ending line of massive dunes, the Scot started to show his pedigree and quickly made his way up the order to have the early leader and eventual victor Everts within his sights mid way though the first lap. Shaun made a brave move to pass the sand king, but his glory was short lived as he then lost the front end as he dropped down one of the steep virgin descents.

Undeterred the recently crowned MX2 British motocross champion was soon back in action, and had managed to get himself back into fourth spot as he crossed the line for the first time. With many of the other headline names dropping by the wayside as the race progressed, the twenty year old once again showed great maturity as he settled into a solid rhythm that would keep Everts within his sights.

Swift and well executed pit stops after an hour and then at the two hour mark saw Simpson pause only briefly for fuel, drink and fresh goggles on both occasions, with the KTM 250SX-F two-fifty four stroke machine not missing a beat throughout this gruelling encounter. Come the end of the three hour race, only the front three riders had managed to complete eighteen laps, with Shaun coming home just a couple of minutes behind Everts to take a worthy runners¹ up place on his MX2 bike.

Around one hundred thousand fans watched the twenty sixth edition of this annual race in glorious weather, with temperatures on the South West coast reaching the early twenties. Shaun's father Willie Simpson was the winner of the first ever Weston Beach Race back in 1983.

Speaking after the race Simpson said. That was mega, I loved every minute of it, and I am so glad that I have finally had the chance to ride this great race. I made a good start, but perhaps should have opted to follow Stefan rather than passing him on the first lap. Despite losing out on power in some places, I was making up good time in the motocross part of the track.

Shaun continued. ³The second hour was the hardest as I forgot to put my drinks pack on during the first pit stop, so I got quite dehydrated. The last hour was OK as I picked it up on my second stop, and that gave me an extra spurt for the final push. To finish second behind Stefan on a two-fifty four stroke is a great result both for me and KTM.