BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP
Author: Rick Blyth	Features | Tuesday, 29 September 2009 07:01

Sunday saw the final round of the Maxxis British Championship taking place at the Landrake. With both of  titles already decided it was a battle for the other championship positions. The track, which is normally very hard packed, had been ripped up and watered in the lead up to the event. The meeting also had the added excitement of trying to decide on the final team member for the British MX of Nations team.

In the first of the Women’s races it was Natalie Kane who made the start and from that point on disappeared away at the front. Second place was Hannah McLoad until she crashed and went back to allow Kerry Wilson into second Alix Dunlop in third. Fourth and fifth went to Stacey Fisher and Danielle Hipgrave.

In the first of the MX2 races there was action all the way. Michael Phillips took the early race lead ahead of his teammate Neville Bradshaw. The race was looking good until the two riders collided and both went down. This left Bradshaw on the floor and unable to restart the bike. Matiss Karro took over the lead with Jake Nicholls right behind. The race took another twist when Karro went down and got caught by Nicholls who also went down. Nicholls was able to get his bike started and back into the race while Karro got disqualified for outside help. The race lead was taking over by Mel Pocock who also took his first career race win. The second place went to Alan Keet. Elderfield pushed hard to remain in third ahead of Jake Nicholls and Pascal Leuret.

The first of two MX1 races saw the action to see who was worth the space on the MX of Nations teams. The race saw Shaun Simpson make the start and run with the early race lead, but Billy Mackenzie was flying pushing for the lead. At the mid-point of the race MacKenzie moved into the lead and went on the race for the win. Simpson was looking comfortable on the 450 bike and rode home to second. The third place was being held by Stephan Sword after battling with Tom Church who finished in fourth place. The fifth place went to Jason Dougan.

In the second of the Women’s race was again Natalie who took the holeshot and then went on for the race win and to the championship. Second place went to Kerry Wilson and Stacey Fisher in third place. The fourth and fifth places went to Amber Saunders and Alix Dunlop.

The second of the MX2 class races saw a battle between Nicholls and Bradshaw for the runner up spot in the championship. Jake went into the race with a three point advantage. At the start things were looking good for Jake as he lead off the gate and started to pull a big lead until the end of the second lap when he got crossed rutted and crashed. This handed the race lead to Karro with Bradshaw in second. This meant Jake would need to get back to 10th place to gain the runner up spot, but he was dead last after having to get his front brake disconnected due to the damage caused by the crash. At the front Karro and Bradshaw had cleared off with the lead. Jake was pushing and making moves up the order. Third place was being held by Mel Pocock but he was under pressure from Leuret. With only a couple of laps to go Jake was in 14th place and closing on the riders ahead. Bradshaw took the win and but everyone watching to see if Jake could pass the two riders into 10th and with a third of a lap to go Jake made the passes needed and gained the runner up spot by 1 point. In the race Leuret took third place over Pocock and Michael Phillips.

In the second and final MX1 race of the year it was Bryan MacKenzie that made the start and led the race while Billy collided with Simpson and as a result Simpson and visiting American Ryan Hughes both went down. Back at the front Stephan Sword was lining up a place on Bryan Mackenzie to take the lead. Swordy started to open a lead up over Noble who had moved into the second place. Billy Mackenzie was again riding well to take the third place. Fourth and fifth places went to Jason Dougan and Tom Church.

The final race of the day was the mechanics race which saw the mechanics take to the track for one race. This race saw Neil Prince the team manager of CAS Honda at the front battling with Ryan Voase of the LPE Kawasaki. The third place went to Paul Teasdale.