British Update 5

By Stefan Paetow

Stefan is a South African living in the U.K., and he sent us these updates of the Hawkstone international, and the first round of the Maxxis British Motocross Championship which was held at Donington Park, the site of the 2008 Motocross of Nations. Thanks, Stefan.

Click any of the photos here for a larger version, or click the following link for a 23-photo gallery of images.

Doesn't time just fly? Easter is coming up and Europe is finally thawing out. The Grands Prix are at hand, and so are all the National Championships all over the continent. The British season officially started in February with the season opener of the second domestic series, something that's not really been done before. The Hawkstone International, celebrating a decade of bringing Grand Prix stars to one of Britain's most loved tracks, but without all the Grand Prix hoo-hah, has always been considered the starter's gun for motocross to get on with it already. And this year, on its tenth birthday, the event still does not disappoint.

When the likes of Josh Coppins, Marc de Reuver, David Philippaerts and Steve Ramon in the MX1 class, and Erik Eggens, Tyla Rattray and Gareth Swanepoel in the MX2 class come all the way from Belgium and Italy to race, you know this is still a place with some of the soul of the good old days of box vans and caravans left. Of course, March is still one of those months where the weather has not made up its mind yet, but at least the weather holds on race day. It is Red Bull KTM's Tyla Rattray who wins the MX2 class, while Marc de Reuver shows that he is confident on his new Martin Honda ride by beating the current world champion Steve Ramon. Rattray's teammate, Tommy Searle, gets the cheers of the crowd when he keeps a cool head and wins the International Grand Final with an eight-second lead on Ramon.

The week after it is the start of the top British championship, the Maxxis British Motocross Championship. The place is Donington Park, where the 2008 Motocross of Nations will be held. Again the weather plays along. Although it's freezing cold, at least the sun shines throughout most of the day. During the second races the weather turns nasty; a mix between snow and frozen rain descends in waves, especially so during the second MX1 race.

The Maxxis has changed over the last two years. In a way it's a good thing; the changes made in 2007 mean that forty youth riders who are on the cusp of making it to the big time, can race on the same track as the professionals, on the same day, and in the same championship.

This MXY2 class sees the return of Scott Elderfield, who was seriously injured at a race in Europe just over eighteen months ago. The time off has not dulled his racing spirit, he takes pole. Still on an Elderfield KTM, he's on the top step of the podium at the end of the day after a win and a fifth place trump the two third places of MotoXtreme Kawasaki's Sam Davis. Second race winner, Redline KTM's Josh Spinks, is third with his ninth place in the first race, beating Team Green Kawasaki's Josh Waterman.

Red Bull KTM's Tommy Searle, twice the runner-up in the MX2 class, plans to give his compatriots a bit of his own brand of medicine. He is not slated to race the Maxxis this year, but this first round appears to be his good-bye to England. Not surprisingly, he is pole with a time a fifth of a second faster than Grand Prix regular and newcomer to the Maxxis, Swift Suzuki's Pascal Leuret from France. Team KTM UK's Shaun Simpson is third. The only consistency in the MX2 class that day are Searle and Molson Kawasaki's Stephen Sword. Sword practically pulverized both ankles at the German Grand Prix at Teutschenthal two years ago while well on his way to becoming the next great British rider, but it is clear that the long, arduous and painful recovery was well worth it. He is back and he is on fire. Searle and he are 1-2 both races, beating Leuret and Simpson. Leuret is third overall that day with his third and fourth places, Simpson having suffered a split fuel line in the first race and having to pull out.

The MX1 class sees a playful but confident Billy MacKenzie on pole, on the new Monster CAS Honda CRF450, of course. U Tag Yamaha brings along the Norwegian veteran of motocross, Kenneth Gundersen, who is second, with Team KTM UK's James Noble in third. MacKenzie is also off to a flying start to the season with two wins, making up for his lack of flair the weekend before. He enjoys himself on the bike, he says, no doubt helped on by finally having that long sought-after championship under his belt. In the first race he has company in Molson Kawasaki's Tom Church, who keeps up for much of the race, but who is finally eclipsed by Gundersen. Church ends in fifth in the second race, slipping off the podium after both Noble and Swift Suzuki's Brad Anderson push past him. Anderson, fifth in the first race, hunts down Gundersen to end in second in the second race and is rewarded with a third place overall. Gundersen takes the second place on the podium.

With this, the stage is inevitably set for the season ahead as the second round of the Maxxis championship decamps to the iconic Canada Heights track in Kent on Easter Sunday. This second round is the last weekend for the British riders participating in the 2008 World Motocross Championship, which starts in Valkenswaard in the Netherlands on the first weekend in April, to prepare for it. May the battle begin.