Ellis shines at Coupe de l’Avenir
By Mike Gurney on 19th Oct 18
While Messers Anstie, Searle and Watson battled away at the MXON in the USA, on the same weekend, Team GB Under-21s had a tough challenge of their own in Belgium.
Fighting for another podium position at the prestigious Coupe de lAvenir (European Under-21s MXON), experienced Team Manager Dave Garland, had high hopes his squad could emulate the success of recent years.
At the end of the day, there were impressive individual podium successes for Michael Ellis as otherwise it was largely a tale of bad luck and injury for Team GB. Picking out some Saturday qualification race highlights, Ashton Boughen was on top form as he claimed a cracking second place finishin the 65s.
In the 85cc qualifier, Charlie Heyman was on course for pole until particularly unlucky when dropping off the race lead in the closing stages.As for the older guys in the combined Open qualification race, Ellis (MX2) finished best in 11th place.
Carrying injuries picked up on the second lap of practise, Taylor Hammal (MX1) took 19th, as with a really tough task, Adam Collings made 34th on his 125cc machine. Danish EMX 250 star Mikkel Haarup was the class act of the field, bagging the qualifier race win, he finished 24 seconds clear.
So yesterday didnt quite go to plan as we qualified second in the 65s, ninth in the 85s and eighth in the Open, said team manager Dave Garland before the Sunday races got underway.
Team GB
Some bad luck came our way, non more so than for Charlie Heyman who with just three laps to go had the 85cc win in the bag but an engine seizureput him out.
Ultimately, Harrup won the main Coupe de lAvenir Open individual prize (won last year by Josh Gilbert) laying down a perfect 1-1-1 score.A brilliant seasons best show from Ellis (6-2-3), put him on the box in second place as injured Hammal ended up 14th overall after going 13-8-24.
Consistent and solid on his 125, Collings went 26-24-30, taking 26th in the combined individual standing.
On the second lap of practice I over jumped a step down and injured both my wrists, I kept on riding but in a lot of pain, said Hammal after the event. In the Saturday timed qualifying session my main bike broke, so I had to use my standard practisce bike for the first two races.
That then broke, so I borrowed Mikes spare bike for the last race and I couldnt get out the gate at all. Taking a positive from the event, I showed good speed being the fastest on track for last three laps in race two.
In the 65s opener Boughen was on a charge and impressively up into second place before jarring his back on one of the fast drop offs. Injury meant he finished down the order in that one, and he was doubtful for race two. While not exactly in the best of shape, second time around Boughen finished 28th recording 23rd overall.Fellow 65cc scrapper Marshall McKenzie went 14-13 for 13th overall, as Billy Askew finished in 28th.
Posting the fastest lap in the 85s opener, Heyman was up into third place and looking good as he battled with Germanys Constantin Pillar, the eventual section winner. All that came to an abrupt end though as once again Heyman hit problems late in the race. After taking a tumble in race two, Heyman finished 16th overall after going 32-15-10.
Sam Atkinson was our other rider in the 85s and finishing sixth in race one was his personal best as he went to record 12-27 on his way to 13th overall.
So for me thats another Coupe de lAvenir done and dusted and without doubt the toughest one to date, Dave Garland said reflecting on the weekend events.
Heading into the event with a team more than capable of winning we ended seventh overall with this years team title going to very worthy winners in the shape of Latvia.Our scorecard of 65cc eighth, 85cc eighth and Open class fourth didnt really paint a fair picture of how good we were, as every rider wore their shirt with pride.
I didnt want to single out any of my riders but Ive got to mention Michael Ellis finishing runner-up in the Open class, he certainly turned a few heads with his speed in all three motos. Its now time to start preparing for 2019, as we have riders in every class capable of winning this event.
Thanks to Lee Butler at BRP imports for the team shirts, Stefan Pratt at GP Grafix for the backgrounds and Paul Butler at Fatree5 for the pitwear. Thanks also to Steve McCauley and the ACU for supporting us again this year and lastly a massive well done to Team Ireland for taking the Open team title.
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