Monday, May 2 2011
2nd May 2011
PAR Honda enjoyed a superb outing at Milton Park, Northampton yesterday for round four of the British Motocross Championship with Brad Anderson taking the overall win in the MX1 class with a super-impressive 1-2-1 scorecard and Anthony Reville finishing 10th overall in the MX2 class.
Although this is not the type of track that Anderson usually enjoys, the gritty 29-year-old took the challenge in his stride from the off, taking a superb pole position in his one flying superpole lap. Despite having the first choice of gates, Anderson didn’t get the best of starts into the extremely tight first turn during race one, and gave himself a whole load of work to do. The PAR Honda pilot fought through from eighth place to bridge the gap to runaway leader, Kristian Whatley, and stole the lead on the final lap to take the race win.
In the second heat Anderson again didn’t get the best of starts for the 20-minute plus two-lap moto, but around halfway through the 20-minute plus two-lap race he put the hammer down and was chasing down leader Whatley in the closing stages, although the PAR Honda pilot ran out of time and was forced to settle for second position at the chequered flag. In the final race Anderson gated into second place and took Alex Snow soon after for an almost perfect gate-to-flag performance and another win in the bag, which earned him the overall. He now leads the championship by 12 points at the halfway stage.
In the MX2 class an injured Reville put in just one flying lap during the timed session to finish seventh, although a small slip off on his superpole lap put him back to 10th on the gate. In race one Reville gated into 14th place but worked hard around the hardpack track to elevate himself to eighth place, when a stall at the first turn as he battled with arm pump cost him dearly in the final part of the race and he finished in 14th position.
In the second moto Reville gated into 12th and fought hard throughout with consistently quick laps to finish in ninth place. In the final race of the day Reville almost clinched the holeshot aboard his CRF 250R, but came around in ninth place at the end of the first lap. The 17-year-old youngster battled throughout and came home in 11th position to earn his first top 10 overall score at this level, which elevates him to 11th in the ultra-competivie MX2 Championship standings.
Brad Anderson #60: 1st Overall MX1 “I was real pumped with the first race, as I got a bad start and came through to take it on the last lap. I didn’t think I was going to catch them up, but I was riding real good. In the second race I didn’t get a good start, and the best I could do was second, but Kristian Whatley was riding real well today and it was all on the last race between us. In the last one I was really wanting it so I could carry on with my roll of winning. I made sure I got out the gate, and I knew I could pass Alex Snow, then I just cruised from there and just controlled the race from the front to take the overall. It was also my first pole position; Neil offered us a bit of a bet so I had to have it. It’s been a good day, this really isn’t my kind of track, as I’m more of a sand rider and I wasn’t expecting to do anything special today; the team is working good and it’s gone our way so I’m happy.
” Anthony Reville #356: 10th Overall MX2 “Qualifying went good for me. The track was really wet and sloppy, but I put one lap in and ended up seventh, which was good enough for Superpole. Then in my flying lap it was going well, but I made a mistake and dropped it, so I ended up 10th, which wasn’t so bad. In the first race I got an alright start and worked through to ninth. I was catching the guys ahead but got a bit pumped up and stalled the bike. It took a while to get going, so I ended up 14th in the end, which I wasn’t so happy with. In the second race I got another alright start and got through to ninth, but the track was getting quite gnarly and hard to pass. Then in the last one I nearly got the holeshot but shut off too early. I struggled to get into a rhythm and got pumped up again so I ended up 11th. I’m fairly happy, as I haven’t been able to train this week because of a leg injury I’ve got. We’ve got a few weeks without any races, so I need to work hard for the next one.”
Neil Prince: PAR Honda Team Manager “Brad was good today. On this type of track he’s hating it really, and he put in three tremendous performances for the overall. To be honest he’s the best rider out there, he’s the strongest and he came through in the first two races impressively. If he gets the start like he did in the third heat, he’s the quickest, no questions. So we’ll be aiming just to continue with this form; the bike is working fantastic and Brad is strong, although Whatley is riding good too. Anthony has a little injury from last weekend so he hasn’t been able to train, but really today he should have finished every race around the top eight. I think he’s realised today that now we have a bit of time he needs to improve his fitness, so we’ll be working on that to help him improve for the next European event.”
