King Kiwi!
By TMX Archives on 16th Nov 05
After storms dampen the going at both Landrake and Whitby the sun's finally shining for the eighth and final round of the Maxxis British motocross championship at Matchams Park.
After storms dampen the going at both Landrake and Whitby the sun's finally shining for the eighth and final round of the Maxxis British motocross championship at Matchams Park. Ironically, the circuit that sits right on the Hampshire/Dorset border is probably the track that's more suited for running in wet conditions than any of the season's others - oh well! With just eight points separating MX1's top three championship challengers as they come into Matchams you just know it's gonna be a barnstormer with the only certainty being that the title's going the way of a Honda rider. It's defending champ Josh Coppins who heads the hunt for CAS but both Multitek's Paul Cooper and RWJ's James Noble are in with a shout and hungry for success. But against all odds it's Yamaha's Martin Barr who's got his bars in front as the pack leave turn one and head off along that stupendously rough, long right-hander that kicks off the Matchams lap. And the young Irishman still leads at the end of lap one before Coppins and Coops blast by and Barr bins it, slipping back to 15th or so. Noble, Jordan Rose and Neville 'the beast from the south east' Bradshaw all move up a position thanks to Martin's mistake - although Bradshaw doesn't stay there too long as his spluttering Suzuki finally packs up right around the 15-minute mark. At the front Coops is losing time to Coppins who's cruising to his ninth Maxxis moto win on the trot. Paul hangs on to second with Whitby boys Noble and Rose filling the front four while Barr battles back to fifth and first non-red rider home. Moto two is almost Coppins all the way. Josh yanks the holeshot and pulls out a small gap before making a big mistake on lap three which allows Cooper by for a while. But it doesn't take JC long to recover his composure and within a lap he's back out front and putting down laptimes that are over three seconds faster than everybody bar Coops and Noble. But despite being one of the quickest riders on the track Noble's already blown it. He hits the startgate and then has a quick lie-down in turn one before getting back up and lighting the wick on his rocket-powered CRF450. Moving from last to 20th on lap one, James takes eight more scalps on the second tour and five further in the next 20 minutes to grab seventh by the end - one spot behind Lithuanian Essex boy Arunas Gelazninkas who's enjoying the rough sandy going on his TP Motorcycles-sponsored Honda. The top five are led home by the new champ who also happens to be the old champ - long live the champ we say! Coops holds on for the runner-up spot in the race and the final series standings while Yoshi Atsuta grabs the final podium spot in his farewell Maxxis ride for Motovision Suzuki. Atsuta's team-mate Bradshaw is next and Gordon Crockard takes fifth on the Dixon Yamaha. While Steve Dixon's MX1 boys can only grab a fifth apiece their team-mate Billy MacKenzie romps home to a pair of outstanding wins in the MX2 division. But Billy doesn't have it all his own way... Champ KTM's recently crowned British champ Carl Nunn launches from the startgate to an early race lead in moto one but Billy's right with him and so are Jason Dougan, Gareth Swanepoel, Wayne Smith and lightning-fast schoolboy-sensation Elliot Banks-Browne who are all chasing hard on the ever-roughening 1,500 metre circuit. On lap five Billy makes a move to take the lead and immediately pulls a small gap on Nunn who seems to be coming under increasing pressure from Doogs who's having his best domestic ride since finishing second at Landrake. Swanny's still holding on to fourth while his Molson team-mate Tommy Searle scythes his way to fifth from way outside the top 10. The top five hold their positions right to the death and the only real on-track battle is over 11th as Honda riders Ben Saunders, Jake Nicholls and Danny Smyth fight it out in a private battle behind CAS team-manager Neil Prince who's enjoying a rare ride out to finish the race in 10th. Moto two starts pretty much the same as the first as Nunny lays down the awesome power of the factory SXF to take the lead. Swanny runs second early on until Billy Mac piles on plenty of pressure and does both Gareth and Carl in quick succession. From there on he's gone, Nunny settles in second and Swanny stays safe in third. Fourth place is a totally different matter. Brad Anderson holds the position early doors until Searle blazes by then bins it allowing Ando back through. But Doogs also fancies a crack at fourth and forces his way past Bradley to hold down the position until Tommy once more comes hauling past. And that's the way things end - MacKenzie's the deserved winner followed by Nunny, Swanny, Searley, Doogie, Ando and KRM's Scott Probert who ends up right back where he started in seventh. The final series standings see Innovate Honda's Wayne Smith - who's had a nightmare day by his standards to go 6-dnf - finally leapfrog the injured Tom Church to end the year in third behind MacKenzie and Nunn while Searle slips past Ando for fifth in his rookie season.
James Noble
MX1 Matchams 3-7
"I was looking forward to the event as there were only eight points difference between myself, Josh and Paul. I had a good start in race one and was battling with Paul for most of the race but got stuck behind backmarkers and finished in third. That meant I had to beat Paul in the second race to finish second overall for the championship. "Unfortunately, I went too soon and hit the gate. I was in last place but kept going. I finished seventh in the race and third in the championship which I'm disappointed with but I'll work hard over the winter to get onto Josh's pace for 2006."
Martin Barr
MX1 Matchams 5-8
"I was really looking forward to the first race and felt confident. I took the holeshot and led for a lap then I went back to third and dropped it which put me way down in 15th. I managed to pull back through to fifth which again was my best race result of the season. "I just couldn't wait to get back on my bike for the second race. I made a mistake on the second corner and the front wheel washed out - I went down and was way back in 25th place. I knew I had a lot of work to do and eventually got back to finish eighth. I've progressed every round and I'm real happy."
Carl Nunn
MX2 Matchams 2-2
"In qualifying I was a bit disappointed as I couldn't get a clear lap in but the start at Matchams is pretty fair so I didn't worry too much. "I took the holeshot in race one and I led for a few laps until Billy came by. Gareth was pushing hard for a while but we broke him and pulled away. With three laps to go I caught Billy up which I was surprised about but unfortunately I got caught by a back-marker which held me up so I settled for second."
Josh Coppins
MX1 Matchams Park 1-1
"I was a little bit disappointed not to have taken pole position but Paul was on fire in qualification. I had good starts for the motos - I was second in the first race and then had the lead out of the gate in the second. I've been trying to improve on my riding and I was happy with my first moto performance, I didn't let up and kept pushing. "I made a big mistake halfway through the second race because the sun was quite low and getting all the jumps right was difficult but I regained my composure and pulled out a big lead to win by the end. Winning 10 motos in a row is a record for me, when I came back from injury I wanted to win them all and I knew it would be possible but I didn't have a good day at Lyng - thankfully since then there's been a gradual improvement."
Billy MacKenzie
MX2 Matchams Park 1-1
"It was good to finish the year this way with a strong double win and without any injury. I think I ended up equalling Carl when it comes to race victories but I'm disappointed not to have won the championship. "I felt good on the track today and had to make some decent moves to take the lead in both motos. It was really rough but the suspension was working perfectly. It was nice to ride like that in front of everyone who has supported me this season."
Yoshitaka Atsuta
MX1 Matchams Park 8-3
"I had a good start in the first moto but crashed pretty hard in the first corner after I hit a rider who was already going down. I rode well after that and was happy to come back to that position. "In the second race I got through okay and found the rhythm and speed that I had earlier in the day - it was nice to finish with a podium. I will go back to Japan next season although I hope to return for the British Grand Prix and will also be doing the Japanese round of the world championship." Wayne Smith MX2 Matchams 6-dnf "In the first race I just wanted to get my points and secure third place in the championship, then in the second race I was sixth or seventh and the head gasket went. "All in all the season has been good really. I'm third which is where I wanted to be and it's my best ever result in the British championship so I'm over the moon with that."
results - round eight
MX1
1 Josh Coppins (CAS Honda) 30+30=60
2 Paul Cooper (Multitek Honda) 27+27=54
3 Yoshi Atsuta (Motovision Suzuki) 17+25=42
4 James Noble (RWJ Honda) 25+17=42
5 Martin Barr (Bike it Dixon Yamaha) 21+15=36
6 Gordon Crockard (Bike it Dixon Yamaha) 10+23=33
7 Arunas Gelazninkas (TP Honda) 8+19=27
8 Jordan Rose (Meredith Honda) 23+4=27
9 Mark Eastwood (Wiseco Honda) 15+11=26
10 Bryan MacKenzie (Twisted 7 Kawasaki) 9+13=22
MX2
1 Billy MacKenzie (Bike It Dixon Yamaha) 30+30=60
2 Carl Nunn (Champ KTM) 27+27=54
3 Gareth Swanepoel (Molson Kawasaki) 23+25=48
4 Jason Dougan (Motovision Suzuki) 25+21=46
5 Tommy Searle (Molson Kawasaki) 21+23=44
6 Brad Anderson (O'Neal Yamaha) 15+19=34
7 Lewis Gregory (Hooper Suzuki) 17+13=30
8 Elliot Banks-Browne (RWJ Honda) 17+13=30
9 Scott Probert (KRM Honda) 6+17=23
10 Wayne Smith (Innovate Honda) 19+0=19
final series standings
MX1
1 Coppins 414 points, 2 Cooper 400, 3 Noble 393, 4 Atsuta 336, 5 Vehvilainen 246, 6 Bradshaw 240, 7 Jones 233, 8 Phillips 184, 9 Hucklebridge 144, 10 Rose 143 MX2 1 Nunn 444 points, 2 MacKenzie 370, 3 Smith 305, 4 Church 292, 5 Searle 265, 6 Anderson 261, 7 Dougan 199, 8 Eggens 184, 9 Gregory 172, 10 Swanepoel 171