PAR HONDA
ANDERSON COMPLETES TRIPLE CHAMPIONSHIP WINNING SEASON WITH VICTORY AT HAWKSTONE PARK

PAR Honda’s Brad Anderson completed his near perfect season in which he has taken victory in the British Masters, Red Bull Pro Nationals, and ACU British MX1 Championship with a 1-2-1 scorecard at Hawkstone Park yesterday, to take the overall at the final round of the British Championship series.

Having already triumphed at the previous round in Duns, Scotland, Anderson was purely looking to end his season on a high aboard his CRF450R. Having taken pole position, Anderson led race one from start to finish around the sandy Shropshire circuit. In the second race Anderson got to the front early on, but made a mistake and went down. The gritty 30-year-old was unable to come back through and catch Martin Barr, to reach the chequered flag in second place.

In the final moto it was Tom Church who took to the front. Anderson enjoyed a good battle with Barr throughout the race, but as Barr fell, he managed to get his head down and reel in a runaway Church to take the lead three laps from the end to finish the day with his X overall of the season in the series and 98 points clear of second-placed Kristian Whatley.

In the MX2 class both Anthony Reville and Luke Hawkins are still not quite back to full speed, but the young guns both endured mixed fortunes during yesterday’s races. Reville got a superb start aboard his CRF250R in race one into sixth position at the end of lap one, while Hawkins gated into 16th. Reville crashed at the top of the notorious Hawkstone hill on lap two and rejoined the race around 25th, but put in a superb performance to fight his way back through the pack for an impressive 11th place, while Hawkins, who is struggling with a lack of race fitness, slipped back in the final few laps to finish in 15th position.

In race two Reville got another good gate just into the top ten with Hawkins completing lap one in 24th position. Reville made his way past Jordan Booker in the following laps and although seventh was unreachable, the 17-year-old Lincolnshire-man maintained his lead over Booker to take eighth at the chequered flag. Hawkins managed to fight his way through to 18th place.

In the final race of the day Reville clinched another good start and was around fifth into the first turn, although he was pushed wide on the second corner and went down. Reville took some time to rejoin the race and managed to get onto the back of the pack, when he tweaked the tibia break he sustained earlier in the year around the now super-rough track and was forced to retire. Hawkins gated into 17th, and despite battling to go forward the youngster concluded the race in 17th position.

Brad Anderson #60: MX1 1st Overall
“In the first race I led start to finish. In the second one I was leading again, but made stupid mistake come off and got sand caught in my clutch. In the final one Tom Church was checking out. Martin and I were having a good battle; as I made a mistake he got away, then he came off and I got the hammer down to catch Tom up to come away with a win to finish the season off. And what a season it’s been. I’d just like to thank Paul and Geoff for doing an awesome job. Route 77, Fox, Neil for helping me with my riding, I couldn’t have done it without everyone who has helped me. It’s all up in the air for next year. I’m 95% sure that I’m going to Australia but there’s still that five percent that I might not, but it’s been a great year and I’ve really enjoyed it.”

Anthony Reville #356: MX2 10th Overall
“Qualifying was okay today, but the track was really smooth with no bumps, so I didn’t quite get into it and finished 14th, but that’s not such a bad gate. In the first race I got a good start into sixth, and then I made a mistake at the top of the big hill, as I lost the front end on the stones and was then run over. I dropped right back outside the top 20 but I managed to get back up to 11th, as I just kept pushing all the way through. In the second race I got a good start again and just stayed in eighth after passing Booker. I was fairly consistent as seventh had already got away, and kept a gap to maintain my position. In the last race I got a good start but crashed in the corner and twisted my ankle. I felt it pop and tried to carry on but I was struggling to put any pressure on my leg. It was a disappointing end to a good day, but I’ll be going to get it x-rayed and hopefully it will be okay for me to be able to do some more races before the season is out.”

Luke Hawkins #12: 20th Overall
“I came into the weekend feeling fresh and positive, but I don’t really know what went wrong. This is my third race now since coming back and although I knew I wasn’t going to be where I was at the start of the season, I thought I could make at least a top 10. It turned out harder than I thought. I’ve got the fitness in the gym but I haven’t got the bike fitness. In the first race I could go as fast as I could for 20-minutes but in the last two laps I dropped back four places. My starts weren’t good and I need to get my confidence back, get my head right out the gate. Where I’m starting is in the 20’s and coming back through is hard as you get into other riders speed and routine. Today has just been hard. My plan now is hopefully to do the beach race at Weston, then have a rest and get everything right, get my head right and start training, ride a bit through the winter, put this year behind me and start fresh for next year. I’d like to thank Paul and Claire for not giving up on me, my parents, my girlfriend, all my sponsors for their support this year, as it’s not been an easy one.”

Paul Rowlands: PAR Honda Team Owner
“Well that’s it for another year. Brad went out in true Ando style with two wins to take the overall. He’s had a tremendous year winning all three championships and he’s given me 110% all season. We’re not sure if he will be staying with the team next year as there’s rumours he’s going to Australia, which would be a big disappointment, but we wish him the best of luck. With the young riders Rev came back and had a pretty good day to be fair and Luke has been struggling a bit with confidence, which we’ll be looking at over the winter. We’re now working on assembling the team for next year and going forward, and we’re pleased to announce we will be continuing with Honda.”

BOOST ENERGY KTM
Boost Energy KTM celebrates podium at Maxxis season closer

With a brief Indian summer in full swing this past week, Boost Energy KTM travelled to Hawkstone Park in Shropshire for the final round of the Maxxis British Motocross Championship. The team was joined by Australian rider Louis Calvin for the day.

Sunday morning dawned cool and overcast, and team star Martin Barr took charge early on in qualifying by setting the fastest time around the challenging track in the first lap, but had to settle for the runner-up position in the super-pole session afterwards. Team-mate Nathan Parker joined Barr in the super-pole session where he ended tenth, while Calvin qualified in sixteenth.

For Barr, the first race was near-perfect. Tucking in behind Brad Anderson, Barr kept up the pressure throughout the race to end in second. His second race was even better. Although the start left him scrapping for second with Tom Church, a mistake by leader Anderson catapulted Barr into the lead a mere three laps into the race. Keeping his cool and riding smart gave Barr a six second lead across the finish line, levelling his point score for the third race. In the final race Barr got off the start in second behind Church. Defending his position against Anderson became a bit of a cat and mouse game, switching places time and again, but a small but costly mistake put an end to Barr's aspirations to take the day overall win and he had to settle for fourth at the finish. With the day over, Barr found himself in second overall, securing a third overall in the championship standings.

Parker's weekend was a tough end to a difficult week. After contracting a bug towards the end of the previous weekend and bedridden since then, he was unsure whether he would end the first race. His start in tenth turned into a race with gritted teeth all the way through, earning Parker one more position against intense pressure from fellow KTM rider Jamie Law for a ninth place at the chequered flag. The second race was another struggle for Parker. After summoning all his strength for a good start, Parker valiantly defended his position in seventh from Dorren Coutts for much of the first half of the race. The continued pressure eventually proved too much and Parker had to relinquish his position to settle for an eighth place at the finish. Parker's final race ended before it really began. A stunner of a start in fourth ended on Hawkstone Hill as his front-end tucked in and he went over the bars, hurting his neck and hand in the process. There was not much else to do but call it a day, and accept an eleventh place overall on the day. Nonetheless, Parker finishes the season in seventh place, a marked improvement over his previous year's standings.

Calvin, not used to concrete starts, started his first race in the back of the pack but impressively made short work of several rivals in just one lap. Soon after, he found himself in thirteenth, battling Nathan Watson and Josh Waterman throughout the race and keeping the position to the finish line. The second race was another start in mid-pack, but as with the first race, Calvin made steady progress up the pack before running into stiff competition from Watson in twelfth. Biding his time, he stalked Watson to the end, and then took ruthless advantage in the last corners to pass Watson for eleventh place. Calvin found himself shadowing Watson again in his final race after a start in thirteenth. Making short work of two more rivals gave Calvin the push he needed to progress to tenth, where he gave Law a hard time for the remainder of the race, ending tenth, and tenth overall on the day.

Team principal Steve Turner declared himself content with the day's results, saying: "It was a good end to the season today, Martin secured third place in the championship and really gave it a good shot at taking second from Whatley. He had a really good shout at winning the overall but dropped it whilst in second and had to settle for fourth. He rode really strong throughout the day and nearly took second off Whatley. Nathan came here ill, was sick all week and couldn't keep any food down. He rode the first two races and I didn't even think he'd finish those, but he managed to tough it out and finish them both. In the last race he had a good start and was in fourth, then binned it down the hill and his hand ended up in the back wheel and ripped all his knuckles, so he called it a day. He's had a good season, finishing in seventh overall. I’m really pleased with the season, a third and a seventh is the best we've had, so we move on to next year and hope we can do even better."

Nathan Parker: "I wasn't looking forward to coming to Hawkstone, it's a tough track and there's been a bit of a heat wave this week, which has made things a bit worse for me. I've been ill since last weekend, I considered not going out at all this week, so I struggled all day really. I couldn't eat anything, I was sick after the first race, and it took its toll. In the last race, I was in fourth and coming down the hill the bike just tucked on me and I didn't have any strength to fight it and went straight over the bars. I've hurt my wrist and my neck again, skinned my knuckles, so it's all ended on a bit of a sour note, but it's still been a good season."

Martin: "Today started off good, in timed qualifying I ended up first and  in super-pole second, which still gave me a good enough gate pick. First race I got a good start and got into second behind Brad, pushed him the whole race but never got close enough to try and get by him, but I was happy with that. In the second race I didn't get that good a start, Tom Church and I hit in the second corner, but once we got going we came through the pack again and started catching up on Brad. In the same lap that I passed Tom, Brad crashed and I went from third to first. I just raced my own race, and got a win, so that was me and Brad even in points going into the last race, and I was only a few points behind Whatley for second place in the championship. In the last race I got an OK start, but Tom just checked out and Brad and me had a thing going. Then I made a silly mistake and the front-end washed out. I got going again but I was too far behind to have any chance of getting back to the front again. If I hadn't crashed, I would've had the momentum to keep going and pass Tom. All in all it was a good day and I ended up second today and third in the championship.

"I'd like to thank Steve and Boost Energy KTM, my mechanic Chris, Ken, Janet and their kids, they've been brilliant all year, I've had a fun and exciting year. I hope Steve's happy with the results and how things have gone this year as this is my last outdoor race for him. I'm still doing the Sheffield supercross and then I move on. So thank you and it's been a good year."

Louis: "Today was good. I struggled all day getting off that concrete start; I kept going sideways. We changed the mapping on the bike for the last one and that went better. The guys in the team couldn't be more helpful. The races got progressively better, I think I'm still a bit tired from the flight and training throughout the week; maybe I pushed it a bit hard with a long flight behind me. I'm looking forward to maybe having a go at doing a supercross here, maybe try the first round and see how we go."

HM PLANT RED BULL KTM UK
DOUBLE PODIUM FOR HM PLANT RED BULL KTM UK AT FINAL BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP

HM Plant Red Bull KTM UK concluded the 2011 British Motocross championship with a double podium as Tom Church and Jake Nicholls took third overall in each of the MX1 and MX2 classes for the final round of the series at Hawkstone Park yesterday.

In the MX1 class Church entered his final British Championship weekend determined to end on a high note. After qualifying his KTM 350 SX-F in third position, the 29-year-old racer gated into third in the first race. Kristian Whatley managed to get by on lap two of the 20-minute plus two lap moto, and Church concluded the race in the final spot of a four-way train from the front at the chequered flag.

In the second race Church got another good start and was in second by the end of lap one. In a three-way battle for the lead with Brad Anderson and Martin Barr, Anderson went down and Church was looking comfortable in second position. However, a charging Anderson caught the KTM pilot with four laps to go and Church was forced to settle for a still strong third position.

In the final moto of the day Church holeshotted the race and put his all in as he stretched a lead over the chasing pack. It was looking like a perfect win for the KTM-ace, when in the last three laps Anderson reeled him in and he was forced to settle for a respectable second place, which confirmed a podium finish for his final British MX1 championship outing before his retirement next year.

In the MX2 class, after qualifying second, Nicholls didn’t get the best of starts into eighth by the end of lap one, while team-mate Jordan Booker also had a disastrous first lap after crashing in the second turn. Nicholls managed to fight his way back to fifth place, while Booker went down again at the top of the notorious Hawkstone hill and was unable to complete the race.

In race two Nicholls, who is recovering from illness, got a good start and lead from the first lap. The 20-year-old racer put on a hard fight with Arnaud Tonus, who eventually got the better of him, in an exciting battle throughout the race to finish in second place. Booker gated into eighth place and settled into a steady rhythm to finish in ninth position.

In the final race of the day Nicholls gated in third and set about chasing Tonus while Booker also got a good start into sixth position. Nicholls had some issues mid-race and was forced to settle for second place again and third overall, while Booker had a race-long battle with Kayne Lamont, which he succeeded in to take sixth place and a strong ninth position overall.

Tom Church #4: MX1 3rd Overall
“It’s been a good day, but also a tough day because the track rode really fast and everyone was pushing so hard. I managed to get on the podium at the end of it and it’s good to end on a high note. In the last race I really wanted to win it and I tried so hard, but I just didn’t have enough in the tank, although I’ve really enjoyed today. The team has been great. I was really lucky to get this ride, unfortunately with Graeme being injured, but it all worked out and they’ve done a really good job and my mechanic has worked really hard. We’ve still got a few more races left with the supercross though, which I’m looking forward to. I’d like to say thanks to the team and I’m glad we’ve had some good results. It would have been nice to get a win and I’ve loved riding the 350 SX-F, but I’m looking forward to the beach race next weekend at Weston then the British supercross series before I finish.”

Jake Nicholls #45: MX2 3rd Overall
“I got ill this week, as I’ve been carrying a bit of a chesty type bug with a sore throat, so I didn’t ride from Tuesday and I was a bit tight coming into today. In the first race I got a bit of arm pump and didn’t feel good at all, as I struggled to get my breathing and rhythm right. In the second one I managed to give Arnaud a bit of a fight and ended up second. Then in the third race Arnaud got out front and I tried to chase him, but he got away a bit. When I tried to push I struggled to breathe and then halfway in I had a bit of a bike problem. I lost a lot of time so I aimed to keep Bryan (Mackenzie) behind me, although I really wanted to push Arnaud to the finish. It’s been a really good three years and I’d like to thank Roger and his family, as well as my mechanic Wayne, as everyone has been really good to me. Thanks also to Fox and Shift as well as everyone in the team, the sponsors and so on, as it’s been good. Finally, special thanks must also go to HM Plant, Red Bull and KTM UK for their sponsorship over the past number of years. It’s a shame I have to move on but I’m looking forward to my new challenge.”

Jordan Booker #114: MX2 9th Overall
“Qualifying was good, in fact the best it’s been all year, as I was seventh after superpole. In the first race I got to a bit of a bad start off the gate, and collided with Jake, but I came out about top 10. I then washed out in the second turn and was dead last. I put in the lap of my life and got from last to 15th in one lap and then at the top of Hawkstone hill I cleaned out a hay bale and went straight over the bars. Someone clipped the back of my head when I was down, so it was quite eventful! I have been feeling a little bit dazed since that. In the second race I had an eighth place start and dropped back one for ninth, but I wasn’t feeling great. I had a good sleep before the last one and came out guns blazing. I gated in seventh and got to sixth. I had a really good battle with Kayne Lamont. We were bar bashing and probably passed each other 10 times and I held onto sixth. I’d like to say thanks to all of the HM Plant Red Bull KTM UK team, as well as all the sponsors for everything this year. I’d also like to say a big thanks to Mark Stokoe for hooking me up with everything I’ve needed for this year too. I can’t thank everyone enough, a huge thanks to Roger Magee for giving me the opportunity to ride for him, as it’s been the best year of my life racing at the Grand Prix events. I’d also like to thank Tom Church for all his help both on and off the bike all year, even before he joined the team and I wish him all the best for the future.”

Roger Magee: HM Plant Red Bull KTM UK Team Manager
“It’s been a bitter sweet sort of day at the last round of the British Championship today. Jake was able to put it on the podium for his last ride with the team this year and I want to take this opportunity to thank him for the last three years, as it’s been good. We’ve enjoyed his progress since he came to us in 2009 and we wish him all the best for next year, even though we’ll be competing against him. Jordan finished the season well with a really stonking sixth place in the last race. He’s shown the potential that he has and hopefully he can continue that progress next year. With Tom it’s been his last British Championship race, which has been pretty emotional for everybody. To get the holeshot and lead the race in the last one he gave it his all and I’d like to thank him for his input since he joined the team earlier in the year. I’d like to wish him all the best in the supercross series, and I’m sure his life will change a lot in January when he becomes a father.”