Crendon Fastrack Honda team of Tommy Searle and Jake Nicholls both ended up on the MX1 podium in round three of the British championship at Lyng on Sunday after some close and thrilling racing.
Red plate holder Searle took the overall victory on his Honda CRF450R while Nicholls took a fantastic third overall – his first time on the British championship podium since he won at Hawkstone Park in August 2018.
Searle was in stunning form at the sandy circuit in Norfolk, setting the fastest time in qualifying. In the opening race he made a good start and quickly moved into second place behind title rival Harri Kullas. On a track that proved very difficult to pass, Searle staged an incredible late race charge to set his fastest lap on the penultimate time around the roughening circuit. But he couldn’t get by and took second, around one second behind Kullas.
Second time out and Searle was in no mood for second place as he took the holeshot and led every lap to take a dominant win. He controlled the race and only lost a little ground to second place Kullas when he got held up by backmarkers. But the current British champ held on for a classy win, meaning he has won four of the six motos this year, with one second and one third place finish. He has a 14-point lead.
Searle said: “Definitely a decent day with a second and a first in the races and I won qualifying as well. You need a good start here as it’s start very difficult to pass. I was third at the beginning of the first race but got into second behind Harri and he was riding so well. In race two I got away first and broke away then got caught up with the lappers. But I then pulled a gap again to take the win.”
“It’s so nice for Jake to get third as I know he’s worked hard. And it’s definitely great for Crendon Fastrack Honda to have both riders on the podium.”
