British Maxxis MX1 Championship Round 1 Little Silver
The first round of the Maxxis British Championship took place at Little Silver near Exeter on 28th February. The track was obviously extremely wet but luckily the storms predicted on race day never materialised and the whole program was able to be completed.
With the new qualifying format in operation Noble posted 10th in the first session and as one of the top 12 progressed forward into the super pole where he maintained his position. Parker suffered a burst water pump seal and was only able to post one fast lap, producing a creditable 18th.
The 1st race saw Noble gate in the top ten and progress through the pack to take 5th while Parker who had made his way up to 12th had to settle for 18th after crashing three times.
In the 2nd race neither rider gated well and were to pay for it as they both suffered misfortune in the mid pack melee. Noble was unlucky as Carl Nunn fell in front of him in a deep rut and unable to get round him Noble was left to wait for Nunn to restart his machine before he could continue. Parker managed to sneak through the inside of the stricken pair only to be taken out by another rider as they blasted up the next hill. Noble eventually got back into the mix in a lowly 25th with Parker restarting at the back of the field in 40th. Both riders rode hard to make up places but would both run out of time in the new 2010 format of three short races. Noble had to be content with 16th and Parker 20th in a disappointing race.
Race 3 saw both riders round the first corner in the top ten but not for long as they crashed into each other on the third corner leaving them with another mountain to climb as they ended the first lap in 21st and 26th places. Noble showed his strength and fitness as he made his way through to 10th at the finish and Parker rode superbly as he tagged onto the back of 1st race winner Bobryshev as he also tried to make amends for an earlier fall and the youngster followed the Russian all the way to the flag to gain an impressive 14th.
Noble commented “I rode ok but didn’t have a lot of luck. In the 2nd and 3rd races both incidents weren’t my fault and with the new shorter races there wasn’t enough time to get back as high up the field as I normally would have. I had hoped to have a better start to the season but there’s a long way to go and everyone will have good days and bad days.”
Parker added “ I got good starts in all three races but made it hard for myself by crashing in every one. But apart from the first race I rode well especially in the last one where I found some rhythm and made some good lap times.
Team Owner, Steve Turner was philosophical “We definitely fell foul of the new shorter race format which doesn’t give any rider who crashes enough time to make it back to a respectable position but we weren’t the only ones with nearly everyone having at least one bad race. Both Nez and James found the bikes really strong and showed good pace. We’re all looking forward to Hawkstone Park next weekend where the day should be a little less hectic.”
Courtesy www.steveturnerracing.com 2 March 2010
