Red Bull KTM UK
Race report – 5th Round of British Motocross Championship
Lyng 12th July 2009

Dominant is the word best used to describe the performances of Red Bull KTM UK team riders Stephen Sword and Jake Nicholls at the fifth round of the Maxxis British motocross championship as the two team-mates romped home to finish first and second overall at Lyng in the MX2 division. Sunny skies and a perfectly prepped race track greeted the team as the series entered its second half at the excellent Cadders Hill circuit that’s perched high on a hillside above the picturesque Norfolk village.

Reaching top form after a somewhat troublesome season so far there’d be absolutely no stopping Sword in Lyng as the 29-year-old led every lap on his perfectly prepared 250 SX-F on his way to a flawless double victory. The Scotsman now holds a massive 55 point lead in the series with just three rounds – at Foxhill, Duns and Landrake – remaining.

While Sword made easy work of the competition in Lyng his younger team-mate Jake Nicholls had a real fight on his hands as he tenaciously fought to the runner-up spot in both points-paying motos after less than perfect starts. Jake’s determination really paid off though and the Suffolk youngster moves back to third in the series standings – just nine points from the current second placed rider in the championship with some of his favourite tracks coming up in the championship.

The Red Bull KTM UK team’s rookie rider Graeme Irwin had a tougher time of it at Lyng than his team-mates but showed real grit and determination as he bravely battled on through both motos. Graeme’s 18-13 scorecard isn’t any indication of his speed on the day but after suffering a technical problem in the first race and small crash in the second it’s the best young Irwin could manage on the day. Despite his less than stellar results Irwin still holds down a solid eighth in the series standings.

For the team’s MX1 rider Alex Snow the fifth round of the series netted his best result of the year with a fighting eighth overall scored on the 450 SX-F. Proving that he’s now really getting to grips with the awesome power of the MX1 class machine the reigning under-21 champ powered to eighth and ninth place finishes leapfrogging into the top 10 of the series standings.

Team Red Bull KTM UK will be competing in Red Bull Pro Nationals action next weekend (July 19) at Canada Heights in Kent before resuming British Championship competition the following week at Foxhill in Swindon.

Quotes

Roger Magee – Team Manager
“I’m happy with how things worked out today and we had some good results all round. Stephen extended his points lead in the MX2 class and Jake did a great job to close in on second place in the championship. Graeme had a tough day but he needs to put this behind him and concentrate on having a good outing at a track more suited to him. In the MX1 class Alex put in two top ten results today to maintain his championship position which I’m happy with. Next week we’ll be at the Red Bull Pro National races at Canada Heights followed by the Foxhill British Championship round the weekend after.”

Stephen Sword – MX2 1-1
“Today has been a perfect day for us. I’ve had a couple of weeks off with a sore hand and the rest has definitely paid off. Pole position, two holeshots and two wins - you can’t ask for any more than that. This is a good track for me and I’m just pleased to be riding well again. In both races I got away a bit at the start to control the race from the front and I was careful not to put a foot wrong. I’ve struggled to find my form recently but with some practicing and testing in Holland this week I feel much more comfortable and it’s shown with today’s performance. I’m really looking forward to Foxhill as it’s one of my favourite tracks where I hope I can continue extending our points lead.”

Jake Nicholls – MX2 2-2
“Qualifying went well for me today which set us up well for the races. I got a good start in the first moto but struggled a bit to get by the guys in front of me so Swordy got away from me early on. I just rode a smart race to finish eight seconds behind him which I was happy enough with. I was feeling confident going into the second race but I didn’t get the best of starts. It took me too long to get past Bradshaw and Pocock so I was too late to do anything about Swordy up front again. I put a lot of pressure on Martin Barr on the last lap and he crashed, so I took another second place. I was happy enough with that but wish I had got a better start because I was confident I could have challenged for the win. I’m going out to do some more testing with the bike next week in Belgium so we can improve the set-up even more and then we’ll be well prepared for Foxhill which is one of my favourite tracks.”

Graeme Irwin – MX2 18-13
“I’ve been consistently just outside the top 10 all day but my speed just didn’t seem to be there today. In the first race I struggled a wee bit in the opening couple of laps and then found a bit of a rhythm before I had a problem with the bike and I had to pull in twice. The first time I came in we found that the silencer was coming off, so I went back out, did another lap then came in for it to be changed, which left me quite a long way back. I got an okay start in the second race but struggled again in the first few laps before I found a rhythm. Things were going good until I had a crash just two laps from the end and I lost a few places. I need to work on the first part of my races but I’m looking forward to Foxhill and hopefully we can move forwards there.”

Alex Snow – MX1 8-9
“I got a reasonable qualifying result in 11th which I was happy with ahead of the two races. We made some changes to the KTM this week to help with my starts and this definitely made a difference. I got a good start in the first moto and my fastest lap of the race wasn’t too far off the front-runners’ pace. I just tried to stay with the GP regulars as much as I could but it’s hard to run at that speed for 30 minutes and the more we do it, the easier it will become. I did make a small mistake, which cost me a few places, but finished eighth and I was reasonably happy with that. In the second race I was quite happy with the result, but dropped off the pace in the last few laps so that’s something I need to work on. The next race is on hardpack which I prefer so I’m looking forward to that.”

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