Some harsh lessons were learned by the Kiwi contingent at round two of the British Motocross Championships at Canada Heights, in Kent, at the weekend.

Masterton’s Bjarne Fredricksen is sidelined with a knee injury but Rotorua’s John Phillips and Hawke’s Bay’s Kieran Scheele managed to fight on and wave the flag for the Kiwi-backed Kiwi DBG Suzuki Team.

The Kiwi DBG Suzuki Team is managed by former Hawke’s Bay man Rex Michau.

Phillips finished 28th, 23rd and 20th in his three MX2 class outings, both times struggling with the treacherous conditions.

“I pushed hard the first couple laps then got caught up with a few riders and, by the time I had got past them, the guys in front of me had gone.

“I ran in 25th position right up until the last lap where I pushed it too hard and came off in a rut, jamming my clutch. It took me a while to get going but managed to finish in 28th.

“For race two I got off to another mid-pack start and managed to charge past a few riders in the first couple laps before I got held up by another rider. I was right up his exhaust for a couple laps and, with nowhere to pass, I had to make an aggressive move and block pass him.

“Unfortunately we both went down and I stalled my bike. I got going in about 26th and had to make my charge again getting back up to 23th before crossing the finish line.

“Race three I got off to a bad start but charged hard catching up to 22nd before I stalled in a rut, losing a couple of places. I managed to catch up to where I was and gained a couple more positions before crossing the finish line in 20th position

“The track was ridiculously rough by the end of it all, so I was happy to finish the day in one piece. I learned a lot this weekend and I know what I have to do to score some decent points.”

For Scheele, competing in the MX1 class, it was something of a miracle that he could ride at all, but he managed to finish 31st and 22nd before DNFing the final moto.

“Preparation was quite slow for me during the week, with headaches and a sore back. So visited a local chiropractor to see what the go was,” said Scheele.

“It turns out I wasn’t in good shape after a crash I had last year not healing up right. I have a twisted pelvis, which has made my right leg an inch shorter than the other and brought my neck forward an inch. So there was my problem with the headaches. I got told to take it easy through the week and work on bringing it back into place through the next couple of weeks.

Scheele managed to qualify but then a difficult day on the track turned even worse for him in the last race.

“My last race was all downhill, with me crashing over a table top and going over the bars. It happened so quick. I got into a rutted on an up ramp with a kicker on top. I tried to hop back on and ride but it was too painful so I pulled out in a disappointing day.

“I went to hospital with my collar bone separated from my acl joint. There were a lot of crashes throughout the day with a lot of top riders getting injured.

“My dad day that got worse and I will be seeing specialist through the week to see how I go about getting healed so I’m back on the bike as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile, LS Racing Honda rider Shaun Simpson went 1-2-1 in the three MX1 motos for the Scottish rider to take the overall victory at Canada Heights.

RESULTS, Maxxis British Championships – Rnd 2 – Canada Heights:

MX1 Moto 1: 1. Simpson, 2. Sword, 3. Anderson, 4. Pourcel, 5. Whatley.

MX1 Moto 2: 1. Dougan, 2. Simpson, 3. Whatley, 4. Schiffer, 5. Anderson.

MX1 Moto 3: 1. Simpson, 2. Sword, 3. Whatley, 4. Anderson, 5. Schiffer

MX1 Overall: 1. Simpson 72 points, 2. Whatley 56, 3. Sword 55.