The Blaxhall Circuit near Woodbridge marked the start of the second half of the season when Round 5 of the Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship took place and even a mix of sunshine and showers didn’t deter the large number of spectators who descended on the Suffolk venue.
In the MX1 qualifying session it was Frenchman Steven Frossard on the Wilvo Forkrent KTM who took pole position by the narrowest of margins from series leader Shaun Simpson on the Hitachi Construction Machinery REVO KTM UK while Elliott Banks Browne on the Geartec Suzuki finished third fastest in his return to British Championship action, ahead of Maxxis rider LPE Kawasaki’s Tanel Leok, Brad Anderson on the MBO Power ASA Scaffolding Yamaha and Jake Nicholls in sixth place on the second of the Wilvo Forkrent KTM.
In the MX2 class it was Maxxis rider Max Anstie who continued his recent domination by taking pole in the MX2 qualifying session on his Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki by over one and a half seconds ahead of Bryan Mackenzie and series leader Steven Lenoir in third. The supporting MXY2 class saw former World and European 85cc Champion Conrad Mewse make a wildcard appearance at Blaxhall and dominate the qualifying session ahead of the two title contenders Oliver Osmaston and Jay Hague.
When the races started it was Shaun Simpson who took the overall victory in the MX1 class after claiming a second in the opening race followed by two race wins, although Blaxhall was to be his toughest overall victory of the year after crashing on the opening lap of the final race and having to charge from last to take the race win. Frossard secured second overall on the day after taking the opening race win and two second place finishes whilst Kristian Whatley on the Buildbase Honda took third overall after producing three consistent results to finish 3-9-7. Whatley just beat the returning from injury, Jake Nicholls who just missed out on the lower step of the podium by one point after making a dramatic last corner move on Brad Anderson in the last race.
Max Anstie dominated the MX2 class by taking three moto wins and the accompanying seventy five points which now means he leads the championship after Steven Lenoir needed to dig deep in the final race after a first lap crash with Bryan MacKenzie meant the pair had to fight their way through the field on a rough track. Eventually Lenoir limited the damage to climb up to eighth by the chequered flag which was still just enough to give him the second step on the podium with Steven Clarke recording his best result of the current campaign with 3-5-3 finishes to take third overall on the day.
The event also incorporated the third round of the MXY2 championship which was turned upside down with the main series contenders having a difficult day. After three gruelling races, Wildcard Rider Conrad Mewse riding a 125cc two stroke KTM topped the podium with 4-1-1 results which just edged out Robbie Dowson who recorded 1-2-3 finishes with Robert Yates third with 3-5-5 moto finishes. Despite recording a DNF in the second moto, Oliver Osmaston now leads the championship after his main challenger Jay Hague crashed out of the first moto and was not deemed fit to ride for the remainder of the day.
The next round of the series takes place on the first hard pack track of the series at the Foxhill circuit on the 19th July.
