Tough twin weekend for LPE Kawasaki
After a week’s break, Kawasaki Motors UK’s official team returned to racing this past weekend. While Kristian Whatley attended the second round of the British Masters Motocross championship at Dean Moor in Cumbria, the rest of LPE Kawasaki drove to the opposite side of the country to Landrake in Cornwall for the first round of the Red Bull Pro Nationals. The team also saw Elliott Banks-Browne return to racing after his collarbone injury.
Kristian started his day off with an excellent qualifying practice, ending second behind main competition Brad Anderson. He then went on to dominate the first race after an excellent start, going on to lead from start to near finish, where Anderson finally caught up with him one lap from the end. The second race started off slightly worse; Kristian completing the first lap in sixth. He soon started reeling in one rival ahead of him after the other, returning to second around the halfway mark. From there he worked hard to reduce the distance between Anderson in the lead and himself, ending with the fastest lap overall. A second place overall was the end result.
In Cornwall, things were somewhat different. The Red Bull Pro Nationals qualify the Pro Nationals riders in two mixed groups, of which the top twenty each qualify for the main race. The main races are also mixed, but the two capacities are scored separately. All three team riders qualified in their respective groups, Elliott returning to racing with a blazing qualifying result in the top three of his group.
The races were somewhat different. While Elliott was in the top five around the first lap, things soon went south with a crash that dropped him back to eighteenth. He quickly returned to the top ten, only dropping back with a third of the race to go as the shoulder, not yet back to full strength, started to take its toll. Lewis Rose had a similar experience; after a crash on a fast uphill section he was forced to retire to seek medical advice. A hard knock to his shoulder left him unable to use his right arm for several minutes. Daniel suffered from a bad start in his first race, soon improving his position with a rapid rise to fifteenth by mid-race, ending the race in thirteenth, and in sixth for his class.
The second race saw Lewis try again, but he had to retire a lap in for safety sake. He is to see a doctor on Monday morning. Elliott also tried to race the second race, starting in a top fifteen position, but having to retire a third of the way in, struggling with pain. Daniel had an improved start in twentieth, and again proved that he was capable of a top result. A stall in a difficult corner set him back to nineteenth, returning to fifteenth in the second to last lap. A small crash dropped him to eighteenth, where he ended the race in ninth of his class and a seventh overall on the day.
Commented team owner Steve James: “Kristian’s very happy with his day’s results, and so am I. I can’t wait for Brampton now. Hopefully Elliott’s shoulder will be stronger than it was today, he showed that he has not lost the pace, and he’ll go riding in the week to loosen it up a little. I hope we’re done with shoulder injuries now, Lewis’s is the third we’ve had. He’ll have to rest the shoulder this weekend, the Maxxis round next weekend is more important. And Dan, Dan keeps plugging away every weekend getting results and he’s currently the only one not injured. He got a seventh overall this weekend which is very good. He’s kept good pace and I’m happy with that.”
The team next races the third round of the Maxxis British Motocross Championship at Brampton on Early May Bank Holiday weekend.
LPE Kawasaki is the official motocross team for Kawasaki Motors UK.
Tags: banks browne, british masters, lpe kawasaki, redbull national, whatley
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