Nicholls toasts 20th birthday
with Bulgarian GP top ten finish

HM Plant Red Bull KTM’s Jake Nicholls celebrated the arrival of his second decade with a decent performance to 9th overall at the Grand Prix of Bulgaria for the first round of fifteen in the FIM Motocross World Championship. The Sevlievo circuit was visited by 20,000 spectators over the weekend that saw the GP series get underway at one of the best facilities on the calendar.

After a damp beginning on Saturday – where Nicholls defied the ample and fast terrain that had been coated with fine morning rain – Sunday dawned sunny and warm and provided temperatures in the mid-20s by the afternoon. Nicholls took 9th place in the Qualification Heat and gave himself a decent slot in the gate.

Moto1 was the action highlight as Nicholls engaged in a tussle with British championship rival Zach Osborne as well as factory rider Shaun Simpson and Jeremy Van Horebeek. He suffered a slight lull in the final quarter of the 35 minutes and 2 laps distance but 10th place ahead of Simpson was good work. Nicholls nailed probably his finest Grand Prix start in Moto2 and a proactive approach on the first lap saw the birthday-boy run in fifth and then sixth position for most of the race. He recorded 8th by the flag and was pleased with a day’s work that saw him reacquaint himself with GP speed (especially after the short three race format from the last two British Championship rounds).

Natalie Kane overcame some first grand prix nerves to register 7th and 5th on the KTM 250SX-F in what was the opening salvo of seven in the FIM Women’s World Championship. The Irishwoman rode tense in Moto1 but after a wobble in Moto2 rallied and finished the event strongly, passing AMA Women’s champion Ashley Fiolek for 5th.

Graeme Irwin underwent an operation on his weak shoulder this week and will now begin a period of rehab and recovery to hopefully commence training in one month and be back on the KTM 250SX-F four weeks later.

The FIM Motocross World Championship barely has time to pause with the paddock shifting west and south to Mantova, Italy for the Grand Prix of Lombardia next weekend.

For more information visit the team’s website at: www.ktmukmx.com

Jake Nicholls:

“Qualifying went well and I set myself up for some good starts. In the first moto my start wasn’t great but I worked hard early-on and got up to tenth. I battled with three or four riders but when I got to about the 25 minute mark I got into a weird race zone that I wasn’t used to after the 20 minute British Championship races of late. I pushed-on at the end and got 10th which wasn’t bad. The start was better in the second moto and I worked up to 5th. I had a gap on the rest of the field and that helped me when Zach and Van Horebeek were just a little too fast. I rode strong to go 10-8 and I am very happy to have started the championship where I left off because it has been a long, pretty miserable winter! I am not used to these sorts of tracks at the moment, so to be up with those boys straightaway is really good.”

Natalie Kane:

“I was a bit nervous yesterday with it being the first GP and rode tight in the first moto. I nearly crashed on the first corner and the front group got away from me. I couldn’t really get into it. The second race was better but I collided with Chiara over the jump at the top of the track. I managed to make some ground up and had a good battle with Ashely Fiolek, so I am happier. I have no injuries and left here last year after a lot of crashes! So I’ll look forward now to the next GP in five weeks.”

Roger Magee:

“With it being his birthday today Jake certainly gave himself a nice present. We had planned to go for two top tens and that’s what he did. Jake now knows what he has to do and unfortunately had some legacy of the misinformed change to the format of the British Championship to deal with. The short, sharp races of the last weeks have not helped his preparation and if the ACU want to bring riders through to this level then they should pay attention to what is happening on the track. Graeme had his shoulder operation on Wednesday so we wish him all the best and hope he is back for early June. Natalie did well with two top seven finishes and she is on course to equal or better her third place of last year. She is just getting used to riding with the team but she showed progress in the second race and we will look forward to her next GP with us in Portugal.”

Return to results