LPE Kawasaki off to good start of the season

Posted by Ray | 26 February 2009 | Comment

LPE Kawasaki started its race season off with the first round of the ACU British MMX Championship at Little Silver in Devon this past weekend. With cold and windy weather conditions, the team took on the moist and soon very rutty track for qualifying at quarter past nine in the morning.

Elliott Banks-Browne and Jamie Smith, the team’s British Open riders, qualified in sixth and twenty-fourth respectively, while Daniel Arnold, the team’s British Under 21 rider, qualified in a respectable ninth place.

Image by Stefan Paetow

After a restart in the first British Open race, Elliott found himself in dead last with Brad Anderson’s bike jammed in his rear tyre. After untangling his bike, he then put in some blazing laps that put him back in the upper half of the field two laps in, and in the top ten two laps after that. Cross-rutting in a corner, he restarted in nineteenth and clawed back one more position before the chequered flag. Jamie had a brilliant start just outside the top ten, but a slip on the track put paid to a top ten place. Instead Jamie nursed the bike on for as much as possible before having to withdraw with a few laps to go.

The second race went better for both riders as they both completed the first lap in mid-pack. By mid-race, Elliott found himself in eighth where he remained to the end, while Jamie, who was on his practice bike with only standard suspension and different bars, toughed it out in twentieth. Jamie gained another valuable point by pushing past Richard Cannings with only two laps to go. Elliott ended the day in thirteenth, Jamie in twenty-second.

Daniel Arnold had a tough time on the track as he suffered from arm pump that forced him to slow down and cost him several valuable positions. Starting his first race in fifteenth, he soon rose to thirteenth before having to back off again. This dropped him back to nineteenth, but he soon recovered his positions to end one position down in sixteenth. The second race started better, in twelfth, and a steady pace allowed Daniel to keep his position throughout. A stab at the top ten mid-race developed into a bit of a battle with Alex Rockwell which Daniel had to concede. He ended the race in twelfth, and the day overall in fourteenth.

Team owner Steve James commented: “All three riders ended the day uninjured. We struggled a bit with suspension settings today, but on the whole it’s been a good day, with room for improvement. It’s a long championship, so we’ve got time to improve.”

The team next visits Hawkstone Park in Shropshire for the annual Hawkstone International race on the coming weekend.