Church makes a winning debut, whilst Dunlop finishes second in the Ladies

CCM Racing teamster Tom Church made an emphatic debut for his new all British team by taking the overall win at the initial round of the 2009 ACU British Open Motocross Championship. The highly experienced Grand Prix rider claimed the top prize with a third place in the first race, and an even better performance during his second outing, which saw him follow Brad Anderson home. CCM Racing’s recent female signing Alix Dunlop made it an excellent day for the newly formed squad, with the sixteen year old recording an incredible second spot in the second moto to come out the best of a three way tie for the runners up spot overall.

The only slight disappointment of the day was that Jason Dougan’s speed was not rewarded with the results that he deserved. Dougan had carved out an eight second lead after just three laps of the first moto, but was cruelly robbed of what looked like a certain win when the race was red flagged due to a serous incident. The restart proved to be a disaster for Jason as he was taken down on the first turn, which left him dead last and with an uphill battle to come through the field. Dougan’s run of bad luck continued in race two when a rock in one of the many ruts derailed the chain as the twenty-two year old was making good progress after a poor start.

Church was pleased with his debut. “Overall I am really happy with how the day has gone. I messed up both the start and the first corner in race one and had to come through the pack. I caught Swordy towards the end and we had a real good battle, but my arms pumped up so I had to settle for third. The second race was a similar story with another average start, which left me work to do. I came through the field well, but Anderson had long gone by the time I got into second. I think today’s results shows the progress we have made with the bike, and as a team, so I want to say thanks to everyone as they have all worked so hard.”

’09 British Enduro Championship – round 1: Muntjac Enduro             ,

Thetford Forest, 22.2.2009

Wakely secures top spot in E2 class at BEC opener

MPS Racing Husqvarna’s Si Wakely has started the defence of his Enduro 2 British Enduro Championship title in the perfect way - topping the competitive E2 class at the opening round of this year’s five-event BEC series, the Muntjac Enduro. Placing a deserved second overall behind Manxman David Knight at the end of a seriously tough day’s competition, Si held the overall lead for much of the day having put in two highly impressive special test performances during laps one and two. Adapting to the slippery conditions that faced the Championship class riders on the first test, Wakely cautiously rode his TE450 to victory, before then placing a close second to visiting WEC regular Rodrig Thain on the second test.

Setting the scene for a thrilling final special test, Si comfortably completed the event’s demanding tight check at the end of the day and was well set to try and claim the outright win. With Knight just over three seconds behind him Si knew that he would need to ride out of his skin to hold onto the lead and finished third, behind Knight and Paul Edmondson having stalled his bike close to the finish of the test. Despite his one small mistake Si placed as the best Enduro 2 class rider in the final end-of-event results, which had been his priority coming into the race, and as a close second overall to Knight as just three seconds separated the two riders. At the end of what was a demanding opening round to the BEC series Si was extremely pleased with his performances.

Making his BEC debut for the MPS Racing Husqvarna team Aston Bird performed well aboard his 250cc four-stoke and finished a creditable sixth overall to start his first full season of BEC competition in style. Aston also placed second in the Enduro 1 class, just 15 seconds behind class winner Daryl Bolter.

MPS Expert class rider, Gavin Houson on his WR125 also had a good weekend, finishing 2nd overall in the Expert class.

Si Wakely: “It’s a little disappointing not to have won considering I lead after the first two tests, but when you’re racing against someone like David Knight winning is always tough. But I’m really, really happy with the way the event went for me. I felt so confident on the bike, I really enjoyed the whole event. The team have put so much work into helping me get ready for the event; it’s just nice to be able to repay them with a good performance. I had to calm myself down a bit early in the first test because it was so slippery. Lap two was much better because there were more lines so I was able to really attack it. I stalled it once on the last test, which cost me a few seconds, but Knighter put in a great time so the end results wouldn’t have changed. It’s been a great start to the season.”

Results – BEC ’09 Rnd 1, overall