Canada Heights, Kent – 27th March 2011 | 2011 Maxxis British Championships

CONSISTENT DAY FOR HM PLANT RED BULL KTM AT CANADA HEIGHTS 28th March 2011

HM Plant Red Bull KTM enjoyed a consistent day at Canada Heights yesterday for round two of the Maxxis British Motocross Championship with Graeme Irwin finishing the day 10th overall in the MX1 class and Jordan Booker 11th overall in the MX2 class.

Despite suffering from groin strain after a practice crash in training last week, Irwin put on a strong showing aboard his KTM 350 SX-F MX1 machine. The 19-year-old Ulsterman enjoyed a good qualifying session to finish 10th, although he went on to slip off on his superpole lap, which bumped him down to a still promising 12th on the gate.

In race one Irwin didn’t get the best of starts and struggled to find his rhythm early on. The youngster rode a consistent race around the challenging Canada Heights circuit to finish 12th at the end of the 20-minute plus two-lap moto.
In the second moto Irwin got a strong start, although the race was red flagged before half race distance due to Sebastien Pourcel’s crash. Irwin claimed another good start on the re-start and, despite losing a few places down to 10th in the first few laps, the KTM-pilot fought his way through to eighth, when the race was stopped again due to another faller and the results declared.

In the final moto of the day Irwin was looking strong and comfortable after another good start. The #555 rider rode a strong race around the Kent track, which had become very rough, to finish in ninth place and a strong 10th overall.
In the MX2 class Booker was HM Plant Red Bull KTM’s sole flag flier with the absence of Jake Nicholls due to his ankle injury. Despite only qualifying 15th, Booker shot out of the gate in the first moto into eighth position. The 18-year-old lost a few places in the opening part of the race, but rode consistently throughout the second half of the moto to bring his KTM 250 SX-F home in 10th position.

In race two Booker gated well again, but slipped off before the end of lap one. The KTM racer made his way to 13th from outside the top 20, although the track was fast and difficult to make passes around. In the final moto of the day Booker didn’t get the best of gates, but made a lot of passes in the first few corners and was 12th by the end of lap one. The youngster fought his way up-to tenth with some consistently strong riding, but a small mistake in the final part of the race meant he crossed the finish line in 11th and just outside the top ten in 11th overall.

HM Plant Red Bull KTM’s next outing is next weekend at Fatcat Motoparc for round one of the Red Bull Pro National series.

Graeme Irwin #555: 10th overall “Coming into this weekend I was feeling quite sore as I had a big crash in practice at Lommel during the week, and strained my groin. Every time I put my foot out it was giving me pain, and catching ruts was painful. On a positive side we managed to carry on and especially in that last race I felt a lot better. Qualifying was okay, but I crashed in my superpole lap, although it still left me 12th on the gate. In the first race I got a dreadful start and I was coming through, but got caught up behind a few guys and struggled to find my rhythm. I got by Alex Snow and put a few good hard laps in, but I still felt I could have ridden a lot better. In race two I got a good start but it was red flagged. On the restart I got out of the gate good and kept tight in the first corner, which worked for me. I finished off eighth, but it’s not where I want to be, I just need a bit more time to get closer to those front guys. I got a good start in the last one, but I was maybe trying a bit too hard in the first few laps. When I got into my rhythm I was pulling high gears and riding smooth for ninth, so it was definitely an improvement even though the track had become quite bluegrooved and rough. Overall I’m happy, I just would like to make more progress to be closer to the front group.”

Jordan Booker #114: 11th overall “Qualifying wasn’t great. I put in a lap early on as I thought the track would get slower, and I was around sixth for a lot of the session but dropped back down to 15th.  With the concrete start I’m usually pretty good and in the first race I came out about sixth or seventh, then had a few bad laps and dropped back to 10th, but I stayed pretty consistent to the end, which was good. In the second race I had another good start, but went down quite hard at the end of the first lap. I worked my way back from 20th to around 13th.  In the last race I got a bad start and was outside the top 20, but I made a lot of good decisions and moves on the first lap. I got up to 10th and was catching Scott Elderfield but I dropped it. I got back going again and finished 11th. The track had gotten quite one-liney, and was real hardpack in places but loose in others, so there was little room for error. Overall it’s been a good day and there’s been improvements, I just need to iron out the little mistakes.”

Roger Magee: HM Plant Red Bull KTM Team Manager “Both Graeme and Jordan had a consistent day on what proved to be a difficult track, which saw quite a few incidents. Obviously the hardpack nature of the track compared with other years caught out quite a few riders. The KTM 350 SX-F performed well competing against the 450’s and Graeme rode well with the small injury he picked up in training last week. He just needs to pick the pace up a little to find those extra few seconds a lap to run in the top six, who seem to be in a league of their own at the moment. Jordan improved on his Little Silver performance and proved he can run consistently in and around the top 10. His lap times have been good and with better starts he could run around top seven. Both riders came out the weekend unscathed and we look forward to Fatcat Motoparc next weekend for the first round of the Red Bull Pro Nationals, followed by the first Grand Prix a week later. It was also good to see Jake at Canada Heights, even though he was frustrated at being the wrong side of the fence or so to speak. Being the professional that he is it gave everyone a chance to catch up with him and we look forward to having him back on the track as soon as possible. In the MXY2 class Ryan Houghton enjoyed a good outing with two strong rides and just missed out on the win by one point. 15-year-old Conner Campbell also showed he had good pace against his older counterparts, although a crash in the first race saw him miss out on the rest of the day’s racing. All in all it was a positive day.”

All the results from yesterday’s races can be found here: http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=635372 HM Plant Red Bull KTM UK would like to thank its sponsors:  HM Plant, Hitachi Construction Equipment, Red Bull,  KTM, Trucks ‘R’ Us, Motorex, Bott, Prox, Cholwill Plant and Equipment Hire, Venhill, FMF, Volleberg Motorsport, Renthal, Edward J Magee, Press commercial bodyworks, Wiseco, TwinAir, EBC Brakes, Silent Sport Premium, Pro Carbon Racing, NGK, Donjoy, Samco Sport, GSPMX, Petersen Racing, Pulse Racing Products, Empire logo mats, High5 and Stolen Bike Co.

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