The Monster Energy Bike It Yamaha had a good start to it’s British MX campaign at FatCat in Doncaster.
Round one of the British Maxxis Championship was held at the FatCAt track at Doncaster, a track with deep sand that is considered by many riders to be very demanding.
In the first MX2 qualifying race Zach Osborne and Arnaud Tonus placed first and second with Mel Pocock fourth. That led to the first race where Arnaud Tonus and Zach Osborne had a fight over the whole race for the win. Tonus finally overtook his team mate to take the win with Zach Osborne second, the pair 23 seconds clear of the rest of the field.
In the second race Zach Osborne could take the lead, closely followed by team mate Mel Pocock. Tonus got away badly but could climb back from sixth place to third place on the first lap before crashing. He tried to ride another lap but was still a little dazed from the heavy fall and decided against continuing the race.
Up at the front Zach Osborne was in great form, leading the whole race to take another double victory for the team with team mate Mel Pocock in an excellent second place. The two of them were 15 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
The third and final MX2 race of the day saw Tonus again back on form. It was a repeat of the first race with Tonus and Osborne battling hard over the whole race and displaying world class performance. In the end Tonus managed to win, just two seconds ahead of Osborne and 1 ½ minute ahead of Mel Pocock in third place to give the team an excellent 1-2-3 in the last race.
In the overall standings Zach Osborne claimed the top spot and Tonus, despite retiring from the second race, placed fourth overall thansk to his two wins. Team mate Mel Pocock solid runs meant he finished second overall.
The team also proved to be strong in the MX1 class with Shaun Simpson finishing second overall in the first race. Overall Shaun placed just two points behind third place overall.
Team manager Steve Dixon was pleased with the teams performance in the opening round of the season.
“It was a fantastic day, yes we are expected to win in UK but it’s motorsport so nothing is a fact until the flag is waved! It was a demanding track on the riders and bikes and apart from Arnaud’s fall we would have had a 1-2-3 podium in MX2 which would have been awesome as many were surprised by Mel’s speed since last year. The team has worked hard over the winter and lead mechanic Ben Popperwell has excelled all expectations with his engine and suspension work.”
The team will return to action at Canada Heights in UK for the second round of the British Championship on April 9th. The first world championship round for the team is at Valkenswaard in the Netherlands April 22th.
Some video action from the teams opening round at FatCats is available at these links:
http://video.mpora.com/watch/bXAgPzwIT/
http://video.mpora.com/watch/E14lEPqDN/