Tuesday March 17, 2015 at 3:22pm
The opening round of the 2015 Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship powered by Skye Energy kicked off at Hilton Park in the Midlands on Sunday. With cold and overcast weather conditions the sandy circuit provided challenging racing conditions all day.
In the MX2 class the opening MX2 race of the day saw a long delay after the race was Red Flagged following an incident on track involving title favourite Mel Pocock. In the restart it was Ben Watson who took the race win ahead of Adam Sterry who was later penalised 10 positions due to a rule infringement, handing second place to Steven Lenoir and current European Champion Steven Clarke in third.
The second MX2 race of the day saw Sterry once again start strongly but a derailed chain unfortunately forcing him out of the race. It was to be Ben Watson who took a second race win ahead of Frenchman Steven Lenoir and Scot Bryan MacKenzie in third place. With only two races taking place it was to be Ben Watson who claimed the overall victory ahead of Steven Lenoir and Bryan MacKenzie.
In the MX1 class it was Shaun Simpson who started the defence of his title in fine form, when title contender Steven Frossard crashed out of the event in the opening corners the first race. Simpson would go on to take the race win by nearly 30 seconds over Brad Anderson and Martin Barr in third.
The second race saw Simpson take the early race lead but a crash saw him slip back to fourth place before recovering and taking the race win once more. The returning Estonian Tanel Leok pushed Simpson hard towards the end of the race to take second ahead of Kristian Whatley in third. Overall it was Simpson who dominated the MX1 class taking 50 points ahead of Tanel Leok in second and Brad Anderson in third.
In the Veterans Class Ryan Voase took victory in both moto’s to claim the overall victory after fighting off the challenge from Brian Wheeler in both the races for second overall. Reigning champion Phil Mercer claimed third overall on the day with 4th and 3rd place finishes.
With just over two weeks until the Championship returns to action on Sunday 5th April at the regular Norfolk venue of Cadders Hill, Lyng. The Lyng circuit has undergone a number changes in readiness for the event and features a new spectator tunnel crossing as the Norwich Vikings club work hard to reclaim their title of Organiser of the Year.