KIWIS IN THE MIX | Bikesportnz

Britain’s Tommy Searle gave a lesson in riding at round five of the Red Bull Pro Nationals at Hawkstone Park at the weekend.

Set to ride the big Kawasaki for Team Great Britain at the upcoming Motocross of Nations in France, Searle’s form will come as a tonic for the British fans after their team has promised so much but actually delivered so little at the MXoN in recent years.

After his dominance in the first race it was more of the same in the second, although only after a close battle with fellow MXoN team-mate Brad Anderson (Honda) over the opening laps.

Behind the great Britons, former GP winner Gert Krestinov (Kawasaki), of Estonia, put his sand skills to good use and closed right onto the rear wheel of Anderson.

KTM’s Jake Nicholls and Kawasaki’s Max Anstie were the best of the MX2 riders, the riders all on the track together, although scored separately.

With MX2 players Anstie and Nicholls mixing it up at the front, the final step of the MX2 podium was filled by Kawasaki’s Bryan Mackenzie, who had managed to hunt down and pass Suzuki’s Steven Clarke. With both Mackenzie and Clarke finishing the day on 40 points Mackenzie’s pass proved crucial, as his better second moto finish gave him second spot on a count-back.

A couple of Kiwis were also in the mix – men who will also be representing their country at the MXoN in France.

Rotorua’s John Phillips (MX2 Suzuki) finished 16th and 15th overall (but 6th and 7th among the MX2 riders).

His Kiwi Dirt Bike Gym team-mate Kieran Scheele, from Elsthorpe in Central Hawke’s Bay, finished 26th and 17th overall (but was credited with bagging a pair of ninth placings among the MX1 riders).

A third Kiwi, Mangakino’s Kayne Lamont (MX2 Apico Suzuki), who will be Team New Zealand’s reserve rider at the MXoN, managed 27th and 29th overall, good enough for a pair of 18th placings among the MX2 riders.

This was Lamont’s first race meeting after injuring his shoulder five weeks ago. The BikesportNZ.com rider got back on the bike a week ago when he travelled to a practice track near Newcastle to ride a sandy surface – he got three 20-minute motos in on a very smooth and fast track and then we went to do some sprint laps but had problems with his bike so had to call it a day.

“The following day we travelled to Apex after a heavy night of rain for another practice,” Lamont explained.

“I went out and did a warm-up and went on to do a 25 + 1 lap practice at 80%, got about half way through to once again had more bike problems which were unable to be fixed at the track so off home again with very little riding!

“We entered Hawkestone, as I have never ridden this track before (and the final round of the British Champs is there) although I knew I was still far from 100% and has had very little bike time. It gave me a chance to ride the track and have a good practice to see where I was at.”

Lamont was in good spirits and the track was of similar soil to Whakatane, which was a change from the usual hard pack he usually rides in the UK.

“Went out in practice/qualifying and straight up the huge hill to find at the top I had no rear brakes. I completed the lap and pulled in to my mechanic who bled them but they were gone. I went out and tried to put a fast lap in to get a qualifying time and it was near impossible on this track as it has a huge downhill and lots of whoops and was rough as.

“I couldn’t even try anything out there and then pulled in with a 43rd position for qualifying.”

This meant Lamont had to start of the back of the grid for the day which was yet again another huge setback. He went out in race one and managed to get around the first lap in a reasonable position but, as time went on, he struggled on the very rough track with bike fitness and, by the last two laps, his shoulder was numb and he was really feeling the pinch.

He went out in the second race, which was quite soon after the first race and had another go, but his body was still pretty much shattered from the previous race, he struggled around but was not comfortable in any way.

“The only thing to take away from the weekend was that I managed to stay upright in both races, got to practice the track and completed two races on an extremely demanding track.”

As Lamont is still far from 100%, he has decided not to go to Desert Martin in Northern Ireland for the next round this weekend and he will instead concentrate solely on some serious on and off-the-bike training as he has lost so much fitness and strength.