Motorcross of Nations
Donington, Great Britain, 28th September 2008

Simpson ends 2008 world championship in 4th place

Team KTM UK completed a fantastic 2008 racing schedule with the 62nd Motocross of Nations at Donington Park this weekend. ’08 British Champion Shaun Simpson represented Great Britain in the three rider team for the first time and helped the country to 4th position –only narrowly missing out on the podium- by riding his SXS250F machine to 6th place overall in the Open category.

A bumper 60,000 crowd came to the MotoGP and future Formula One venue in the Midlands for the last major event on the current version of the off-road layout that is located in the Infield section. The track was rough and tricky thanks to the hard and bumpy reddish soil and a coating of rain for several hours on Sunday morning only helped to churn the tacky soil even further.

Simpson got off to a poor start in the second of three races (the first for him) of the day, tangling with other riders and crashing in the second corner. He produced an impressive comeback, goggle-less, to make 15th position by the chequered flag. A better start in the next race (with the machines of the MX1 class in the gate) delivered a steady ride to 13th; a considerable achievement against the bigger bikes.

“It was a mega experience being here as part of the team and in front of a crowd like that, definitely one of the highlights of my career so far,” said Simpson in what was his last appearance for the team after a four year association. “It has been a good season. Breaking my collarbone in the Czech Republic was a setback but we could still take the British title, my first, and today was like a crowning moment. I could not think of a better way to end the year. My only regret is that we missed out on the podium. We were so close and it shows how exciting things can be at this event.”

After campaigns involving the FIM Motocross World Championship, the Maxxis British Championship and the Under-21 British championship, the team came away with two titles thanks to Simpson and Alex Snow’s efforts in the last two series respectively, with James Noble runner-up in the MX1 series.