Motocross brakes by EBC give another fighting podium for Nicholls at duns

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August 22, 2011

ANOTHER FIGHTING PODIUM FOR NICHOLLS AT DUNS 15th August 2011
HM Plant Red Bull KTM’s Jake Nicholls scorched to another podium finish for the penultimate round of the Maxxis British Motocross Championship yesterday, despite a challenging day at the office at the Duns track, with teammate Jordan Booker also enjoying more top ten finishes for 12th overall. In the MX1 class Tom Church enjoyed some solid results after a tough opening race for fifth overall.

In the MX1 class following heavy overnight rain at the Scottish track Church finished the first qualifying session in fourth followed by a fifth position in his one flying superpole lap.

However, it wasn’t an easy day for the KTM pilot. After getting a poor start to the first moto Church began making his way through the pack, but despite his continuous best efforts, a number of further tumbles left him with a 13th place finish. In race two Church gated into fifth and had a more consistent outing to take Martin Barr in the latter part of the race for fourth place at the chequered flag.

In the final MX1 race of the day Church got a strong start to the 20-minute plus two-lap moto into third place. Mid-way through the moto Billy Mackenzie made a pass, but in the super bumpy conditions Church enjoyed another solid ride as he continues to accustom himself with the KTM 350 SX-F for fourth position at the finish line to earn fifth overall.
In the MX2 class Nicholls took up first place in the timed session, followed by sixth place in superpole with Booker in 14th position.

In the first race Nicholls had a coming together with another rider and went down off the start before remounting dead last while Booker had a good start into 10th place. With Nicholls coming through the pack with incredible determination to fifth position, Booker enjoyed a solid ride to finish in 10th place.

In race two Nicholls gated into sixth place with Booker struggling off the line into 17th. Nicholls fought his way to the front aboard his KTM 250 SX-F, and led the race until halfway around the last lap where a battle with Arnaud Tonus concluded in a nail-biting race to the finish, resulting in Nicholls being forced to settle for a still impressive second position. Booker endured a tough race after a big crash where he broke his front brake to finish in 19th place.
With the track dry, rutty and bumpy for the final race of the day it was another tough one for HM Plant Red Bull KTM’s MX2 duo. Nicholls got a good start but collided with another rider early on and had to pick himself up again to fight his way through the pack for a fourth place finish. Booker didn’t get the best of starts but came through to a strong ninth place.
The team is now looking forward to going to Matterly Basin for the British Grand Prix next weekend.

Tom Church #4: MX1 5th Overall.

In the first race I was riding good, but I made three mistakes and crashed a lot, which absolutely blew the race apart, so I finished 13th. Then in the second race I got an alright start, and had to come through a bit to finish fourth, then I was fourth again in the last one. I think I had the pace to be fourth all day. I didn’t have any more, but I didn’t have any less. I just have to keep working. The bike is good; we haven’t changed much, it’s just every week there’s something new like today with all the ruts, and I feel a bit rusty still. For me it wasn’t a great day as I really expected more. I’m really looking forward to the British Grand Prix next week, I just need to work on my speed a bit.

Jake Nicholls #45: MX2 2nd Overall:

It started off good today – I was first in the opening session and superpole was quite steady so I ended up sixth, which was alright. The first race was a nightmare, as I got a bad start, which is frustrating as I’ve practiced a lot of starts in the week, and then I got hit in the first turn and crashed, then my bike got towed down the track. I came from last, then had a coming together with someone in the air and crashed again, so I went back to last and I fought really hard to get back to fifth. I rode good, it was just bad luck really. In the second race it was an average start, but I got into the in the middle of the race and rode a good race, but I made a mistake halfway around the last week and Tonus got by, which cost me the win. In the last one it was a nightmare really. I finally got a good start then ran wide in the first corner, and came together with someone and went down. I was last again and I struggled to get my head straight as I was so gutted, but I rode good and got back to fourth. I can’t wait for the home Grand Prix now. I really want to put on a good show and Duns has been good practice as it’s technical here, and it’s technical at Matterly. It’s going to be great.

Jordan Booker #114: MX2 12th Overall:

It’s been a bit of an up and down day. I couldn’t get a rhythm in qualifying when the track was really muddy, so I ended up about 14th. I really could have done with a better gate pick, but that’s just how it was. In the first race I didn’t get a good start, but I came through to tenth. I felt that I could have been top six if I’d pushed earlier on. In the second race I had a really bad start and messed up the first turn, then ended up right at the back. I was coming through then two laps later I had a really big crash and broke my front brake. I rode as well as I could without the brake but it was hard with the ruts. In the last race I didn’t get a good start again but kept pushing and got ninth in the end. It’s not too bad, but frustrating as with better starts I think we could have had an even better overall result.

Roger Magee: HM Plant Red Bull KTM Team Manager

We’ve had another good event here at Duns, and despite the bad weather over the last few weeks the track held out well so thanks to the organisers for making it happen. In the MX1 Tom had a few unfortunate incidents in the first race, but he showed in the next two races he can run in that top four and he’s getting well acclimatised with the bike now, so we look forward to taking him to our home Grand Prix at Matterly, then the following week he will race at Southwick AMA national as it’s something he’s always wanted to do before he perhaps retires next year. I’d like to say thanks to Davy Coombs for making that happen. In the MX2 Jake had a couple of unfortunate errors where he was tagged at the start of the races, but he put on a strong show, although these races are just two short to really make any huge impression from the back of the field. In race two he led up until the last lap, but Tonus managed to get by and fair play to him for winning the championship. In the last race Jake was right up there but let a few guys come by. He came back through to fourth and was definitely setting the fastest laps of the race. Jordan has had another couple of top tens, which shows he’s had a lot of improvement this year since the start of the season. A special well done also goes to Ryan Houghton for winning the MXY2 Championship today as he’s worked hard all year and brought it home in the final race today.

HM Plant Red Bull KTM UK would like to thank its sponsors EBC Brakes.
All the results from yesterday’s races can be found here: http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=700521