Brampton proves tough for LPE Kawasaki

Posted by Ray | 5 May 2009 | Comment

On the Early May Bank holiday weekend, Kawasaki Motors UK’s official motocross team, LPE Kawasaki, made its way up T’North to the Scottish border for the third round of the Maxxis British Motocross Championship. The sandy Brampton track, just a few miles off the M6 motorway along the A69, had received a revamp from the famous track designer and builder Johnny Douglas-Hamilton, and combined with the sunny weather, proved to be tough and unforgiving.

In the MX2 class qualifying practice, Elliott Banks-Browne proved that he was almost back to full strength, qualifying in third behind Martin Barr and Matiss Karro, while younger class-mate Daniel Arnold had a right struggle with the track, qualifying in eighteenth. In the MX1 class, Kristian Whatley qualified just outside the top ten while Lewis Rose qualified in twenty-eighth.

The first MX2 race started in disastrous fashion for Elliott as he started virtually in last, but he soon he advanced to the top ten by mid-race after picking off three rivals a lap in the early stages. In the last lap he moved up to sixth. Elliott hit the gate on the second start and ended his first lap just outside the top ten. He soon tried to make his way to the front; his progress was hampered by a bike problem however, and his race ended soon after jarring his back badly after a jump. The DNF meant a top fifteen overall for Elliott.

Dan did not have it easy in his races either. In the first a start outside the top twenty turned into a battle up the pack. Stuck in seventeenth for several laps, he was able to move up one more position with several laps to go, ending in sixteenth. The second race was an improvement; a drop early in the race cost Dan several positions, but he soon made up for those and briefly touched the top ten with several minutes left on the clock. Forced back again, he ended the race in twelfth, and the day overall in seventeenth.

In the first MX1 race, Kristian got going with a top ten start and soon found himself in the thick of things in seventh. Battling with the likes of Church, Nunn and Osborne, Kristian made a grab for fifth in the last lap, but lost the position after a back marker got in the way at a crucial moment. In the second race, Kristian avoided a pileup in the first lap and found himself in ninth where he spent much of the first half of the race. Whilst in eighth, Kristian lost the front end battling with Mark Jones and dropped back to twelfth. He recovered one position with two laps to go, ending the race just ahead of Kawasaki Europe’s Gareth Swanepoel in eleventh, and tenth on the day.

Lewis had a disappointing day that he’d probably want to forget. Although the first race went well, the second one didn’t at all. Starting the first race in twenty-fifth, Lewis soon found himself in twentieth and under pressure of David Willet. Keeping up the pace, he ended the race in eighteenth, scoring three points. The second race however went south fairly quickly as a suspension problem manifested itself. Undeterred, Lewis refused to give up and pull in and went on to finish the race in twenty-eighth, and the day in twenty-second.

Commented Steve James: “It was an interesting day for us really. Qualifying went really well. In the races, Elliott crashed on the first corner in the first race and came back to sixth, which is excellent and proves that he has got his speed back and that if he gets out of the gate right he can run with the front guys. Dan fought through to twelfth place in the second race which is an excellent result, and both are now back in the points for the championship, which is good and moves us forward.

“In the MX1, Kristian finished sixth in the first race which was an excellent result, and Lewis came through to eighteenth, which is a good result for Lewis. In the second race Kristian made a small mistake while running comfortably in eighth and lost a few places, but he ended the day in tenth and is now ninth in the championship. He was twelfth coming into this round, so he’s moved up three places, and he’s headed in the right direction. Lewis had some suspension problems so he struggled a bit and his overall was hampered a bit today.

“The team are starting to move forward with all the riders, and once we’re consistent in both races, we’ll definitely start to gather points.”

The next race for the team as a whole will be the next round of the ACU British MMX Championship at Frome in Somerset in a fortnight, where fifth team-member Jamie Smith hopes to make his return. Kristian will participate in the next round of the British Masters Motocross championship at Pontrilas this coming weekend.

Tags: ACU, arnold, banks browne, brampton, british, kawasaki, lpe, maxxis, motocross, whatley