Monday April 18, 2011 at 2:40pm
Sunday 17th April marked round 3 of the Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship at Lyng in Norfolk. The sandy circuit was in great condition when the racing kicked off just after lunch and the Norwich Vikings Club where blessed with good weather all day long.
The MX2 races featured some close action in all three outings between the Bike It Cosworth Wild Wolf Yamaha pairing of Arnaud Tonus and Zach Osborne. Both riders had to battle off the attention of Mel Pocock and Elliott Banks-Browne throughout the afternoon. Unfortunately Tonus and Pocock both suffered problems in the opening race of the day, with Tonus losing power on the Yamaha. Pocock proved his pace has increased as he becomes more comfortable on the Relentless by TAS Suzuki and recorded the second fastest time in Superpole to split the Bike It pairing, if it wasn’t for a DNF in the opening race Pocock would have been good for second overall. At the end of the day it was Osborne that took the overall win and the championship lead. Second overall on the day went to Elliott Banks-Browne at his local race of the season, the result also moved him up to third in the championship. Third overall on day went to a consistent Ray Rowson after a series of top 5 finishes.
The MX1 class again saw some close racing at the front of the field, Brad Anderson showed that his speed is increasing all the time, whilst Kristian Whatley is continually closing the gap on the front. The Buildbase CCM pairing of Stephen Sword and Tom Church also posted some strong results to close the championship points gap. The overall result on the day went to Anderson after recording two race wins ahead of Stephen Sword in second overall and Kristian Whatley in third overall. Whatley almost took the final race win after leading for two thirds of the race until being passed by Anderson who now leads the championship by twelve points over Whatley.
Lyng also marked round two of the MXY2 championship which was unfortunately overshadowed by the injury to Bradley Pocock in the morning qualifying session. When the racing got underway it was Ryan Houghton who stormed to a first race win ahead of James Dunn who had charged through the pack into second. The second race saw Dunn take the race win for the overall. Second overall on the day went to Adam Sterry with new championship leader Jordan Divall in third place.
The next round of the 2011 Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship will be taking place at Milton Park on the 1st May. For more information go to www.mxgb.co.uk and advanced tickets can be purchased for the event from www.miltonmxpark.co.uk until Tuesday 26th April.