DAVID KNIGHT
Successful BEC debut for Kawasaki & Knight

Competing in the British Enduro Championship for the first time ever on a Kawasaki Manxman David Knight has again claimed a winning result - this time topping the second day of the Central Wales Auto Club-organised Knighton Enduro. Despite having just one-week to prepare for the second round of the BEC series, the Paul Bird Motorsport/Kawasaki Superbike Racing Team backed rider finished third on day one before moving to the top of the overall results on day two. Importantly, having never raced his KX450F in enduro competition before, Knight came away from the event having made sizeable improvements in the set-up of his machine.

David Knight: “All things considered I’m really pleased with the way the event went. Really it was a case of getting on and racing the bike in an enduro to find out what areas of the bike need to be worked on, and I know exactly what I need to do now. A better result on day one would have been nice, but the important thing for me was that I was able to make changes to the bike and improve the bike during the event. Having only had a few weeks on the Kawasaki I knew that the bike wouldn’t be set up properly for enduros straight away. The few small changes that we made after the first day resulted in a big difference on day two – I know what areas I need to work on, and what direction to go in, now.

“I struggled a little on the first day to get the power down on the special tests. I was also riding a little bit too smoothly. There wasn’t any time to change anything so it was just a case of sticking with it. Third isn’t brilliant but both Edmondson and Wakely were riding well. I learned a lot about the bike, which was the most important thing for me. I changed the gearing and softened the suspension for the second day and it was better straight away. As the tests dried out the bike was awesome. Everything is heading in the right direction, which I’m pleased about. My riding improved as well. Paul Edmondson is still one of the fastest riders in the world on slippery, grassy conditions so to beat him on the second day is good. I know what direction I want to go in now and what stuff I want to test. I really enjoyed both days, had a good laugh, and learned a lot about the bike, which is what I wanted to do.”


KAWASAKI RACING
Knighter extends British Enduro Championship lead

Kawasaki's David Knight overcame the elements as well as the opposition to extend his lead in the British Enduro Championship following the second round and a busy weekend at Knighton in Powys.

Debuting the Kawasaki KX450F in the series after winning the opening round, the 31-year-old Manxman knew he'd have a tough task on his hands and following Saturday's action which was held on very hard but subsequently wet ground, he claimed third place following on from the special test whereby his choice of a hard terrain front tyre wasn't ideally suited.

However, the Paul Bird Motorsport Kawasaki Off Road Team made some minor adjustments to the bike overnight and these worked as Sunday saw no such problems for 'Knighter' as he romped to an impressive victory and in doing so, extended his lead at the head of the standings.
The meeting also heralded the start of further development work on the KX450F as David will soon start using the new injection maps that he has worked with Kawasaki on during recent testing.

David Knight: "It was good to get a proper race under our belts and we now know what great potential this bike has. I'm very happy with the KX450F, it is a great bike straight out of the crate and there's lots of potential still to come. We're still in the development stage and this weekend was a tough test so to come away with an increased lead in the championship is fantastic for both me and Kawasaki. That was probably the last time we'll use the bike in its standard form, I'm really looking forward to the next developments."

Stuart Bland (Enduro Team Co-ordinator): "This weekend was a good test to see how we would fare against the country's top enduro riders and with the added factor of the weather, it makes our results even better. David needed some more safe points here this weekend and we're delighted with the performance of the KX450F so it's looking promising for the rest of the season."


Electraction TM UK
Impressive weekend for McLaughlin at BEC Round 2

In only his second ever British Enduro Championship event as a Championship class rider, and having already claimed an impressive seventh overall at the opening round of the series back in February, Electraction TM UK rider Philip McLaughlin has finished the second round of the ’09 BEC series in fifth place overall on each of the two days of competition. Aboard his 450cc TM Philip rode well on both days and produced the type of form that has seen him finish at the sharp end of the Enduro Junior class in this season’s World Enduro Championship.

Despite incredibly slippery conditions on day one of the Central Wales Auto Club-run Knighton Enduro, McLaughlin was quickly up to speed and managed to finish just ahead of David Knight on the opening special test having posted the fifth overall fastest time. Again matching Knight’s pace on the opening enduro test Philip continued to ride well throughout the day. Finding the event’s few tight time controls to be no problem McLaughlin maintained his position inside the top six of the Championship class and despite losing a little time on the final two tests of the day claimed a solid fifth overall and fourth in the Enduro 2 class.

Day two again saw McLaughlin finish fifth overall, but in third in the competitive Enduro 2 class. With the day again starting wet before drying for the second and final lap, Philip wasn’t quite able to match his day one pace. Making things a little harder was the fact that he had to deal with a few small mechanical niggles, but despite that Philip finished the event with two impressive results.

Competing alongside Philip for TM UK in the Championship class Jamie Paget enjoyed two good results placing 12th and 11th overall. Gordon Clarke endured a tough weekend finishing 20th overall on day one and 25th on day two.

Former Championship class rider Carl Tiley enjoyed a great weekend on his 250cc two-stroke TM, topping the Veterans class on both days.

Philip McLaughlin: “The first day started really well. I had a good first test, which was helped by the fact that I’d been practising on grass during the week leading up to the event. Things continued to go well throughout the day. I was right up there with Knighter and we were going backwards and forwards to one another. But I dropped a bit of time on the sixth test, and then crashed on the final test, which was disappointing. That ruined all the work I’d put in during the day. On day two I had a few small problems with the bike. Nothing major, but a few things that made the day a little harder. I was really pleased to finish. I really enjoyed it. After the WEC event in Slovakia this didn’t seem too hard at all. I really enjoyed it and was pleased with my riding.”


Gas Gas Team
Report by John Shirt

The Steve Plain / GGUK Enduro Team were out in force at Round 2 of the British Championship Enduro Championship and No.1 Rider ASHLEY WOOD had an excellent weekend finished fifth in the Championship E2 Class (Seventh overall). He was fifth on Day 1 and fourth on Day 2.
Ash had some good consistent test times and stayed 'clean' on the going which was pretty tough on the Saturday because of the wet weather

Bradley King continues to impress this year and was gutted to lose 1 minute on the Saturday's tight check when he missed it by a only a few seconds. Suffering with a cold, this didn't deter him from digging deep in the shitty Welsh forests. His test times were OK, and he admits he must improve on the grass. Brad finished tenth in the Championship E2 Class (seventeenth overall). He was eleventh on Day 1 and eighth on Day 2 in E2.

Luke Meredith finished third in the Expert E2 Class (fifth overall). He was fifth on Day 1 and third on Day 2 in E2.

Luke had some excellent test times on Day 1 but this was spoilt by losing 4 minutes on the going. Luke has so much potential and needs to get his skinny ass and short legs to Wales for some training... maybe you can borrow my legs for the next round pal ;)

Gareth Hopkins retired on Day 1 hurting his injured shoulder again! Gareth has informed me this morning that his shoulder needs surgery and will now be out of action until mid October ;) Get well soon mate...

See the start of Kalem Hicks’ awesome near getoff below...

Not looking too bad so far...

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