The Red Bull Pro Nationals rock up at Hawkstone Park this weekend for round five of the action-packed series and this time around there are some world famous names making guest appearances at the super-tough Shropshire circuit.
Following their starring rides at last weekend’s British GP, the Monster Energy CLS Kawasaki riders Max Anstie and Tommy Searle and the KRT boys Xavier Boog and Jonathan Barragan will add some world championship spice to the mix.
This means fans will be treated to the mouth-watering sight of Max and Tommy battling against series regulars Elliott Banks-Browne, Mel Pocock and Bryan MacKenzie in the MX2 class and Boog and Barragan mixing it up with the best of the British riders including Brad Anderson, Martin Barr and Kristian Whatley up in MX1.
So who will be king of the hill at Hawkstone? Boost Energy KTM’s Martin Barr was confident ahead of Canada Heights after taking his first race win of the season but PAR Honda-mounted Brad Anderson was back in dominant form – especially as Barr had bike trouble in the first moto. Ando is definitely a confident man and is thinking about when he will wrap up the championship and not if!
“Hawkstone is my favourite track so I’m looking forward to that. I don’t know what the points gap is now but hopefully I can wrap up the championship a round earlier now.”
Nathan Parker on the other Boost Energy KTM was flying high at Canada Heights and having taken an opening second place in moto one and a solid fifth in moto two bagged his first podium of the season with a well-earned second place overall. With Parker back on a 450 the extra power seems to suit his style and only time will tell as to whether he can take this form into round five.
“Hawkstone is next which is a difficult track and I think everyone will find it hard because it always gets so rough but I know my fitness is good and now I’m on the 450 I think we’ve got the power there and it should be a good weekend if we can get some starts and get away at the front.”
In the MX2 class Pulse Racing DB Honda’s Elliott Banks-Browne is still top of the pile and with Nev Bradshaw breaking EBB’s win-streak the pressure is off and he can concentrate on the racing and wrapping up the championship. EBB seems to be getting quicker and quicker and even took an overall second place in moto one ahead of all the 450 riders at Canada Heights. Two crashes in moto two gave the victory to Bradshaw who again is a man on form with two-second overalls in the last two rounds.
You can bet your bottom dollar that these two will be battling it out again at Hawkstone and they will be keen not to let Monster Energy Pro Circuit riders Tommy Searle and Max Anstie get the better of them although Elliott’s still carrying a pesky wrist injury that may slow him.
In the Fuchs Silkolene 2 Stroke British Championship it was all about the new Iron Man Stuart Edmonds aboard his Electraction TM in both the 125 and Open classes and MX2 races. Edmonds took a leaf out of Dave Willet’s book and raced everything he was eligible to ride in. He started things off with a three from three in the Open two-stroke followed home by series leader Matt Moffat with a brace of second places and Electraction Wulfsport rider Jim Davies taking third overall with a 5-4-4 finish. Edmonds showed great pace throughout the day and had a large lead in each race and will be desperate to keep this form going.
In the Open Junior class Christian Lyth was the man on fire with two moto wins following on from his good form from the previous round. A DNF in moto two spoiled his day but he looks set to take the challenge to series leader Jason Martin. Casting our minds back to the opening round though Martin was unstoppable in the deep sand of Fatcat – will he be able to bring that form to Hawkstone? Current top three are Jason Martin, Simon Booth and Christian Lyth. With Booth’s consistent results it’s only a matter of time before he gets an overall victory under his belt and Hawkstone could be his round!
In the 125cc Expert class, last round winner was Stuart Edmonds who was just racing for a bit of fun and fitness as he put it. With Hawkstone coming up its unlikely he will do the same again on a demanding circuit and so it will be back to the series regulars of Pettitt, Remmer and Rooks to battle it out.
Jon Pettitt suffered from a mystery bug that had him awake most of the night before race day and it showed as he struggled to get into a rhythm but he gritted his teeth and as he got better through the day so did his results. A solid fifth overall was a sterling effort! Remmer had another good day with a third overall and Ryan Houghton guest rode in the 125 class and bagged himself a second overall. However a shout out needs to go to Nathan Rooks who had another solid race day and has moved himself back up the leader board into third position.
The 125cc Junior class has once again proved to be a blinder with Jake Fry taking his good form as winner at Whitby through to Canada Heights and took the opening moto win. A consistent day followed for Fry who ended out with a second and fifth to finish up second overall and third in the series. Jamie Houghton had a not so stellar weekend in comparison to the rest of his season with his first non-podium finish but still remains 21 points in front of nearest competitor Thomas Kirk who had a solid fourth overall at Canada Heights, gaining seven valuable points on Houghton.
The Red Bull Elite Youth Cup is the starting block for the stars of the future and what stars they have in the series! Three of the riders – Alexander Brown, Ben Watson and James Dunn – have all competed at world level recently with all of them finishing in the top seven. As the season moves in to the final few rounds there are a few contenders to the titles and it’s looking likely that some of these classes will go down to the wire! Hawkstone Park is a challenge to most pro riders but let’s see if these young talents can show the pros how it’s done.
On top of the racing action there will be the regular FMX Live Tour that travels around with the series performing on the Saturday and Sunday plus the Suzuki motocross try-out area for those who want to take their first steps in becoming a motocross legend. There will be music from the Red Bull DJ truck over the weekend, a trade village, kids zones including Zorb balls and bungee trampolines, Red Bull bar and the big screen featuring trackside interviews and live timing!
Added to that, Kawasaki UK will be present in full force with their new for 2012 KX250F and KX450F on display for the public to see, multiple Red Bull Air Race World Champion Paul Bonhomme will make a flypast and 12-time world trials champion Dougie Lampkin will be at Hawkstone on the Sunday performing some awe-inspiring tricks.
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