Farleigh Castle, Wilts – 15th Aug 2010 – British Championship

HM Plant Red Bull KTM UK’s Jake Nicholls endured a tough outing at the historic Farleigh Castle track yesterday for round six of the British MX2 Championship to conclude the day in eighth overall, while newly employed Alex Erikson made the most of his superb starts with some strong races for eleventh place.

A greasy and slippery track greeted the MX2 riders as they headed out for first practice following days of heavy rainfall at the Bath track, which proved challenging for Nicholls who is recovering from a painful ankle injury sustained at the Czech Grand Prix last weekend.

Nicholls concluded the qualifying session just outside the top twelve superpole group in 13th place after dropping seven places in the final two-minutes of the session and being unable to respond with another flying lap, while his teammate, who is only in his third competitive outing for the team, finished in a promising 14th place on the gate.

In race one Nicholls didn’t get the good start we’re so used to seeing, and completed lap one in 12th position, although Swedish racer Erikson claimed a strong fourth place. Nicholls fought his way through to sixth place, while Erikson made a mistake in the opening laps and recovered from outside the top 20 into 14th place.

In the second heat, which was restarted after a red flag, Erikson clinched the holeshot aboard his HM Plant Red Bull KTM UK 250 SX-F in impressive style around the grassy, natural Farleigh Castle track. Nicholls gated into eleventh, but put on a show true to his usual form as he grittily battled his way through the field. The 19-year-old was in fourth place by lap five, but by the time he managed to edge his way into second position, it was too late to make any impression on arch-rival Zach Osborne. Erikson also enjoyed a good outing to conclude the race in 12th place.

In the final race of the day Erikson again holeshotted aboard his KTM machine with Nicholls gating well but slipping off at the fourth turn to remount outside the top ten. Erikson dropped back to eleventh place, while Nicholls endured a tough ride after crashing again on lap three of the 20-minute plus two-lap moto. The gritty racer remounted dead last and fought his way back to 20th position to be rewarded just a single point for his efforts and concluded the day in eighth overall. A disappointed Nicholls, who came into the race with only a small points deficit from Osborne in the overall title standings, is now 44 points shy of the top spot, but is still comfortably ahead of Martin Barr and has vowed to continue to battle for the British Championship title.

HM Plant Red Bull KTM UK’s injured Graeme Irwin underwent surgery last week on his shoulder to repair the ligaments damaged through dislocation. His consultant is very happy with his progress, and he now begins a three month recuperation period before starting training with the aim of being fully fit for 2011. Natalie Kane is still suffering with pain from the after effects of a broken bone in her wrist, and will head to Holland this week for more treatment with a specialist, where it is expected she will receive acupuncture to help reduce the pain and swelling so she can continue her World and British Championship challenge.

Jake Nicholls #45: 8th Overall
“It was a tough week for me coming back from injuring my ankle at the Czech Grand Prix. I had check-ups and physio on it all week and we got it in the best shape we could, which meant I only got 35-mins of riding time in on Friday. Qualifying was going okay, as I was in sixth with three minutes to go. I rode around to try and put in another lap but ran out of time and managed to go down seven positions in the final minutes, which meant I ended up 13th; I was gutted to say the least. In the first race it took me a while to get into it, as I felt a bit rusty. In the second race I got an okay start but was pushed wide, so I got my head down and fought through the pack all race and ended up second. In the last one I got an average start, but then out of the fourth corner I lost the front end a little and someone took me bars away from me and I went down in a heap. I tried really hard and pushed through a bit and then crashed again. It really wasn’t my day but I didn’t give up. I’m incredibly disappointed but at least a little bit thankful that I am still fit and fighting.”

Alex Erikson #261: 11th Overall
“My qualification wasn’t that good, I was riding a little bit stiff and I was learning the track, which was really slippery and very different from what I am used to. In the beginning of the track is quite like enduro and it is very fast in other places. It wasn’t so bad as I ended up 14th, which was okay for the gate, although I really wanted to go to Superpole, so we’ll try for that next time. The first race wasn’t the best one. I made a silly mistake on the first lap, but I didn’t find my momentum so well. In the second race I got the holeshot and I was up fighting with the top guys before the red flag. I holeshotted again and I was fighting, but my speed wasn’t so good and I lost my rhythm in the middle of the race to finish 12th. Then the last race I relaxed a little bit to get better lines. It was a really good race, I holeshotted and although I was a little bit tired, I could still fight quite hard. I really wanted that top 10 so I’m a little bit disappointed as I lost the position on the last lap. I will now fight for top 10 finishes at the next round as that is what me and my mechanic Jeremy really are working for. I am starting to feel more comfortable on the bike now, and I had a really good feeling today so I hope we can continue making more improvements.”

Roger Magee: HM Plant Red Bull KTM UK Team Manager
“We came into this round with Jake just seven points shy of Zach Osborne, but the day didn’t start off well as he made a little mistake and didn’t give himself enough time to get a good lap in when the track had started to dry out in qualifying. It proved to be unlucky 13 as he had three bad starts today, which isn’t like him and he fell twice in the last race to come back for just one point, which pretty much sums up the whole day. We’re still not too despondent as we’re still second and there are still six races to go. Anything can happen in motocross, and we just need a bit of luck on our side. Alex proved today that he can certainly holeshot with the bike, and he’s known for being a good starter at home. His fitness level isn’t quite there yet, as a few weeks ago he did puncture a lung, but he showed good rhythm today on a course that’s very different from what he has ridden before, to finish just outside the top ten. He will go home to Sweden now for a few weeks before Silverstone, while the rest of the team will head off to Brazil where hopefully Jake’s luck can turn the corner. Ben and Nathan Watson are racing the European and World Championship 85cc races in the next two weeks, so I’d like to wish them all the best and maybe they can bring home a title for us too.”

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