After setting the blistering pace in qualifying, Graeme Irwin took his Suzuki RM-Z450 to a 1-1 victory at Hawkstone Park for round five of the British MX Nationals on Sunday.

New Zealand’s Kayne Lamont, in only his second serious event on his road back to full fitness following a wrist injury sustained in June, secured a pair of 14th place finishes in the MX2 class.

Riding for the MX Zone Turvey Construction Yamaha Team, Mangakino’s Lamont struggled with his starts all day and ended up 12th overall for the event.

But the day belonged to Irwin.

After setting a qualifying time 3.7 seconds quicker than the rest of the field, Heads & All Threads Suzuki Team rider Irwin gated in second behind series leader Kristian Whatley, but he made short work of getting to the front and dominated both races until the chequered flag, closing the gap in the championship to just seven points with one round to go.

“I knew in qualifying that I had the speed and I knew I had the races under control. I rode a steady pace in the first trying to conserve energy for the second because I knew it would be tough, but I had enough in the tank in both races to put the hammer down when I needed to. It was just a perfect day and everything worked really well.

“A big thanks to everyone for sticking by me. It’s been a long year and a long time since I’ve gone 1-1,” said Irwin.

Team manager Neil Prince was thrilled with the outcome.

“A great weekend. Graeme was exactly where I expected him to be,” said Prince.

“The way he’s been practising you could just tell he’s on form at the minute, and everything is in the right place for him at the moment.”

The sixth and final round of the series is set for Canada Heights on September 12-20.

Photo courtesy Suzuki UK

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MX1 Overall

1. Graeme Irwin
2. Kristian Whatley
3. Brad Anderson
4. Elliot Banks-Brown
5. Martin Barr
6. Alex Snow
7. Matt Burrows
8. James Harrison
9. Luke Benstead
10. Gavin Stevenson

MX1 Standings

1. 194 Kristian Whatley
2. 187 Graeme Irwin
3. 184 Martin Barr
4. 149 Harri Kullas
5. 122 Alex Snow
6. 114 Brad Anderson
7. 106 Josh Spinks
8. 90 Dan Thornhill
9. 54 Ashley Greedy
10. 52 Jamie Law

MX2 Overall

1. Steven Lenior
2. Adam Sterry
3. Liam Knight
4. Lewis Trickett
5. Jake Millward
6. Brad Todd
7. Rob Davidson
8. Matthew Bayliss
9. Gary Gibson
10. Ashley Smith

MX2 Standings

1. 244 Steven Lenior
2. 162 Jake Millward
3. 145 Liam Knight
4. 135 Rob Davidson
5. 118 Nathan Dixon
6. 110 Michael Eccles
7. 97 Lewis Trickett
8. 95 Brad Todd
9. 82 Adam Sterry
10. 69 James Harrison