Taking three straight wins each, Max Anstie (Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki) and Shaun Simpson (Hitachi Construction KTM UK) dominated their respective classes in round two of the championship at Lyng in Norfolk.
Both were headed in the opening motos by their main challengers, Adam Sterry (Wilvo Forkrent KTM) in MX2 and Kristian Whatley (Buildbase Honda) in the premier class. Indeed with three quarters of the race distance run in the opening MX1 encounter on the sandy circuit it looked very much as if former champion Whatley had done enough as he had built up a comfortable lead, but Simpson kept grinding away and eventually took the lead and the chequered flag.
It was a similar situation for Anstie in the first MX2 race as Sterry looked smooth at the front but a small mistake allowed the Kawasaki rider to the front and he was never headed again.
In reality, Anstie, Sterry and Steven Lenoir (Dyer and Butler KTM) were on a different pace to the rest of the field in MX2 and while Anstie took the three moto wins, very little separated the two KTM riders – although in different Teams – for the whole day.
In the end Sterry’s 2-3-2 result gave him the second step on the podium by virtue of his better last race result as Lenoir scored 3-2-3. Ben Watson (Hitachi Construction KTM) retained the championship leaders red plate with a trio of fourth places to back up his two moto wins three weeks ago.
With Simpson taking the three MX1 moto wins he has already taken the championship red plate with five straight wins, but on the day he had a fight on his hands as Whatley adapted to the rough Cadders Hill circuit well and his smooth style conserved energy whilst scoring 2-3-3 results.
In contrast, Tanel Leok (LPE Kawasaki) was on a mission and with exceptional cornering speed took third on the day, despite a small fall with 5-2-2 finishes to keep Whatley and Simpson on their toes. Simpson heads to round three in one month’s time with a comfortable 27 point gap over Leok with Whatley just a further three points adrift.
The event also incorporated the opening round of the MXY2 championship and returning 1-1-2 results was enough to put Olly Osmaston (MXW Racing Chichester Honda) on the top step of the podium with Jay Hague (Monster Energy DRT Racing Kawasaki) staying on the championship pace with 2-2-1 results whilst Henry Williams (Feehily MX) took the lower step with 5-3-4 scores.
The championship now takes a four week break with the next round on May 3 at the Canada Heights circuit in Kent.
