Great speed and results with a sprinkling of bad luck for Pendrich Kawasaki…
With extensive work put in to the track which included a complete new layout and a bunch of new jumps and obstacles it was a welcome and exciting change for all of the competitors.
Looking forward to testing the new layout I was eager to get at it on Sunday morning. Qualifying was unfortunately dampened by a consistent drizzle but for the overall conditions throughout the day it worked out perfect as it laid just enough water to keep the dust down right through to the last moto. Qualifying times were tight and only 0.2 seconds separated second through fifth of which I posted the fifth fastest time to earn my spot on the gate for the day.
Race one kicked off with a steady start and a positive first lap as I pushed around inside the top five. A few laps later I had slipped into fourth spot and tried to fight into the podium placings but unfortunately started to tighten up.
Already, so early in the day, the new track layout was getting super gnarly and catching riders out each lap, so, keen to live the day out I backed it down and raced well within my limits and accepted fourth place as a good platform to start the day.
For the second effort I was determined to go some places better and from the start everything was looking just a little rosier. Slotting into third position early doors, I was looking ahead and confidently keeping tabs on the rider ahead whilst comfortably pulling away from the chasing pack when just a handful of laps into the 20 minutes + two laps race distance I was forced to return back to the race truck with a problem and in a very bad mood.
Race two’s no score made me even more determined to take a top three result from the last race to make the eight hour drive home a little less painstaking and was adamant to end the day on a high.
A good start was a great place to begin and by the end of lap two had pushed my way into second place. Lap after lap for the remainder of the race I battled hard to hold on to my position from the series points leader and the gap yo-yoed back and forward down the stretch, but I was stronger to the finish this time out and able to hold onto the position until the chequered flag fell.
So, the final race really was the saviour to our day as we finished sixth overall even after our no points race two. However, although the track was very nicely laid out it got super dangerous with high speed bumps making it very easy to be caught out as some other riders found. To end the day safe and on a high note is most definitely a positive and now the MX2 championship looks like this:
1st Steven Lenoir 166 points
2nd Max Anstie 150 points
3rd Ben Watson 124 points
4th Bryan Mackenzie 123 points
5th Adam Sterry 112 points
For MXY2 rider Lee Perfect, it was another hard day at the office. In a field that has so many riders evenly matched, good starts are vital but luckily for our Lee he was quick out the traps all day which helped him no end towards getting his best results of the season so far in what is the toughest series of his year.
Starting inside the top 10 of race one, Perfect battled hard for the opening portion of the race to hold onto that top 10 place. Ultimately the intense nature of riding in those positions caught up with our young ripper and he fell into the clutches of arm pump.
Not wanting to risk a crash, Lee rode sensibly to within his limits and scored his first points of the season in 17th.
Race two again started well and Lee found himself in a similar position. This time battling on a little higher up, he did a great job at hustling his way to a ninth place finish to record his first top 10 of the championship.
Finally, the last one didn’t go our way. A crash on the second turn left Lee at the back of the pack and with a lot of work to do. As I said earlier, the MXY2 class is ridiculously stacked with a lot of riders evenly matched so to work his way through the pack was a big ask.
An eventual 27th to go with his previous 17th and ninth was enough to give Lee a satisfying 17th overall as he gets to grips with his first season racing on his KX250f.
