Wednesday October 10, 2012 at 11:12am
The eighth and final round of the Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship took place on Sunday at the Little Silver Circuit in Exeter. With the weather forecast predicting bad weather, all the teams and riders arrived to find the circuit in top condition ready for the final showdown of the season.
The championship standings showed that Kevin Strijbos had a healthy lead going into the round and a solid result in the opening race would be enough to secure the championship ahead of Shaun Simpson. In the MX2 class the championship was much closer as Mel Pocock held just a 16 points lead going into Little Silver, ahead of Elliott Banks Browne.
The day started with the qualifying sessions for all classes. In the MX2 class it was Elliott Banks Browne that gained the first advantage of the day, taking pole position over Graeme Irwin and Mel Pocock in third. In theMX1 class it was to be Nico Aubin that took pole over Kevin Strijbos and Shaun Simpson.
After the lunch break it was time for the first race of the day and it was Elliott Banks Browne that made the early race start and quickly set about creating a gap over the rest of the field. Pocock was pushing hard and moved into second place after Banks Browne crashed out of the lead. The battle resumed as Banks Browne closed back in on Pocock and passed the Yamaha rider. Pocock's luck ran out at the halfway distance when his bike stopped and forced him out of the race, allowing Banks Browne to take the win and the championship lead.
Next up was the first MX1 race of the day and the holeshot went to Martin Barr, but Simpson quickly took over the race lead and set about taking the race win. Strijbos suffered a slow start and had to work his way into second place and then set about Simpson and clinching the title with a race win. After making a couple of small mistakes Strijbos decided to settle for second and secure the title, allowing Simpson to take the race win.
With the MX1 title settled all eyes were on the battle for the MX2 title. The second race of the day was to produce yet more drama with Banks Browne again taking the early race lead and crashed early on and slipped to third place. Banks Browne recovered back to second, before taking the lead over with three laps remaining only to crash and lose a handful of places due to not being able to restart the machine. Pocock went on to take the victory ahead of Bryan MacKenzie and Graeme Irwin in third, Banks Browne recovered to sixth place but lost the championship lead by one point with one race left.
The second MX1 race of the day saw an outright battle between Strijbos and Simpson. Simpson made the start but it was Strijbos that battled back to claim the race victory. Third place went to the returning Brad Anderson with Jason Dougan in fourth ahead of Nico Aubin.
With the championship in the balance all eyes were on the final mixed race of the year, two riders in a winner take all battle. The final twist in the tail was to come at the start of the final race, with a false start and start straight crash for Banks Browne. The race was Red Flagged and after a short delay the riders returned to the gate for take two.
This time Banks Browne made the start and rounded the first corner in the lead. Banks Browne controlled the race from the front while his championship rival suffered a poor start and was battling hard to recover. As the race progressed the gap became closer and closer, with Banks Browne in second and Pocock in fifth. The final lap saw yet more drama as Banks Browne slipped off but was able to remount and claim the Championship win, making it two titles for the HM Plant KTM UK squad. The final result saw Simpson take the win ahead of Banks Browne and Strijbos. Fourth place went to Gert Krestinov and Mel Pocock finished in fifth.