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Round
8 – British Championship –
KTM UK’s Shaun Simpson collected his first ever MX2 Maxxis British Motocross Championship title with a solid second overall at the final round of the series held at Hawkstone Park in Shropshire in front of 4,000 excited race fans. The Hawkstone Park track is well known as being one of the toughest and most technical circuits in the country although both track and weather conditions were perfect on the day. Simpson was able to secure the title ahead of fellow Scotsman Stephen Sword – who’ll replace Shaun in the KTM UK team in 2009 – by simply following Sword home in both races. By taking a pair of second places on the day super-smooth Shaun ensured that he secured the championship with a nine point margin in his final year of racing for the Roger Magee owned team before he moves to the full factory Red Bull KTM squad in 2009. It was a disappointing day for the team’s second MX2 rider Alex Snow. After wrapping up the Under-21 title and riding in his first ever GP moto at Faenza, Snowy had a difficult day at Hawkstone Park as a crash in qualifying split open the 20-year-old’s elbow. Choosing to bandage the cut rather than have stitches, Alex’s arm was numbed by the overly tight bandage in race one before a crash with a fellow competitor in race two caused even more pain to the damaged joint. By not finishing either moto Alex dropped a position in the MX2 series to finally end the season 13th. James Noble had a distant chance of stealing the MX1 title from under the nose of Billy MacKenzie at Hawkstone Park although bad luck on the day kept the Yorkshireman from making a real challenge. A bad start in moto one and a broken goggle strap in the second encounter meant James could only run 5-7 on the day but he did secure second on the final series standings. Shaun Simpson’s first race as British Motocross Champion will be at this weekend’s Motocross of Nations at Donington Park where he’ll take the Open class berth for the British team. Riding his 250SX-F against a class of mostly 450 machines the tenacious Scot will really have his work cut out but will still be a threat along with his team-mates Billy MacKenzie and Tommy Searle to claim a podium finish for the British team. Quotes Roger Magee – KTM UK Team Manager “It’s been a memorable day for the whole team. Everybody’s worked hard all season and Shaun definitely deserved to win the title today – he rode with his head and secured the title safely. James Noble also took second place in the MX1 championship and with Alex Snow winning the Under-21 series a few weeks ago that makes it two British titles and a second place which definitely makes us the most successful team in the British Championship this year. We’ll take that accolade because results like those don’t come around all that often. “I couldn’t have asked for anymore from the team members and the riders this year and a few weeks ago when it looked almost certain that we’d get the results we now have I seriously thought about finishing the team and going out on top as it were but I’ve had a good think about it and I’m pleased to announce that I’ve signed Stephen Sword and Jake Nicholls for 2009 and we’re also in negotiations with several top MX1 riders. “Thanks to all the sponsors this year – KTM UK, Red Bull, Discover Ireland, Bott and of course all the rest too. Hopefully everybody will be back with us next year and I’m already looking forward to another successful season in 2009.” Shaun Simpson – MX2 2-2 “It hasn’t really sunk in yet even though I’ve been thinking about winning the championship since Brampton so I have had a long time to get my head around it. Stephen sort of messed up at Brampton and that gave me a comfortable lead heading into here. I know I can beat him here, but today I was just riding really tense and I got arm pump and lots of strange things happened. I just did what I had to do to beat him in the championship and it feels good to have done that. “I’ve got to say thanks to Roger Magee for all the support – the team have really stepped it up this year and my bike has been excellent. I’d also like to thank my trainer, my mum, my dad and my brother who’s done an excellent job – he’s only 17-years-old – so hat’s off to him. “I’ll be back to defend my British title with Roger’s support next year and I’m really looking forward to working with him and the team again.” James Noble – MX1 5-7 “I didn’t get a brilliant start in the first race and I rode tight in the first few laps but I don’t really know why. I settled in and tried to come through as best as I could and finally came to fifth which wasn’t too bad. My goggle strap broke as I put them on before the start of race two which meant I had to do the whole moto without them. I tried to get a good start – which I didn’t – and from there it was just a case of battling through again. I’ve got two very sore eyes now but I did manage to get back to seventh. Second in the championship is good and I’m happy with that even though I’ve had quite a disappointing year.” Alex Snow – MX2 DNF-DNF “I had a big crash on the second lap of qualifying and I must have banged my elbow on the handlebars because it was split open. The doctors wanted to put some stitches in but I wouldn’t have been able to race if they’d done that and so they just fitted a bandage. Unfortunately it was way too tight and my arm was numb after a couple of laps and it was just a waste of time. “In the second race I was going pretty well. I got a good start and was going okay until I came together with Elliot Banks-Browne. It’s always the way that if you’re riding with an injury you’ll crash onto it and that was the case here also. The pain was too much to continue and that was pretty much the icing on the cake. Congratulations to Shaun – he really deserved to take the title.”
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