LS Honda Racing rider Shaun Simpson keeps pace with team-mate Ken De Dycker with a strong 1-2-1 score in the second round of the Maxxis British Motocross Championship! Shaun took his second win on home soil ahead of Kristian Whatley (Samsung Yamaha) and Stephen Sword (Buildbase CCM). Although Simpson is sitting out the remainder of the championship due to other commitments, he currently leads the championship standings. In MX2, Arnaud Tonus (Bike It Cosworth Yamaha) repeated his win from the first round (Little Silver), also winning two motos and finishing second once. Tonus' team-mate Osborne was second, with Joël Roelants (Nestaan JM Racing) third.
The first MX1 round went well for Shaun Simpson, who took pole in the morning, with a win from start to finish, despite fierce pushing from Sword. The second heat was much more complicated because the race was stopped twice with the red flag. Just before the restart, Simpson had climbed to fifth place, but by experimenting with new lines he was able to get to the front. The LS Honda Racing rider had just passed Dougan when the series was stopped prematurely due to an incident elsewhere on the circuit. Unfortunately, the end result was based on the previous round. This meant that a hat trick was no longer possible. Still, Simpson would finish his long day strong with a second win. Once again Shaun recovered from a mediocre start to fifth after the first lap to once again hold off Sword.
Osborne and Tonus turned it into a Cosworth Yamaha demonstration in the first MX2 race. Halfway through, the Swiss passed Osborne and ultimately Tonus also won with a lead of 5 seconds over his teammate. The two had a 35-second lead over the rest of the field! Despite a bad start, it was again the two Cosworth men who did the talking. Tonus won again ahead of Osborne, Karro and Joël Roelants. The third race was the best for Roelants with a third place. The fight for victory was again between Osborne and Tonus, this time the American won. Tonus finished 4 seconds after Osborne.
Shaun Simpson's response: “Overall it was a good day. Too bad about that second race, there was a misunderstanding about the result even though I had actually led the last two laps before the race ended! In any case, I won the final standings and was happy with how I rode. The first race of the day may have been the easiest, but it was also where I enjoyed myself the least. I wasn't relaxed enough and you could see that in the way I rode. The last two series were fun, I had to keep coming back. It was interesting to try out new lines, so it was also a good training. We still have some work to do before the Bulgarian GP, but things are going in the right direction.”
Response from Arnaud Tonus: “It was great to win again and maintain the leadership position in the championship. But this is also my best preparation ever for the GPs, which is why I am really looking forward to the coming World Cup season! It was a cool match with Zach (Osborne), it was always fair and I think the crowd enjoyed themselves. The British public was very enthusiastic, so I enjoy riding here.”
ALL RESULTS FROM CANADA HEIGHTS here: http://www.mylaps.com/results/showrun.jsp?id=1812903
Series 1 MX1: 1. Simpson, 2. Sword, 3. Anderson, 4. Pourcel, 5. Whatley, 6. Dougan, 7. Barr, 8. Church, 9. Schiffer, 10. Crockard
Series 2 MX1: 1. Dougan, 2. Simpson, 3. Whatley, 4. Schiffer, 5. Anderson, 6. Barr, 7. Couts, 8. Irwin, 9. Krestinov, 10. Sword
Series 3 MX1: 1. Simpson, 2. Sword, 3. Whatley, 4. Anderson, 5. Schiffer, 6. Dougan, 7. Krestinov, 8. Church, 9. Irwin, 10. BarrMX1 general: 1. Shaun Simpson 72, 2. Whatley 56, 3. Stephen Sword 55, 4. Jason Dougan 55, 5. Brad Anderson 54, 6. Markus Schiffer 46, 7. Martin Barr 40, 8. Gert Krestinov 36, 9. Tom Church 35, 10. Graeme Irwin 34
British MX Championship: 1. Shaun Simpson (LS Honda Racing) 138, 2. Jason Dougan 112, 3. Christian Whatley 106, 4. Kristian Watley 102, 5. Tom Church 98, 6. Stephen Sword 80, 7. Martin Barr 76, 8. Gert Krestinov 75, 9. Graeme Irwin 75, 10. Dorren Couts 57
Series 1 MX2: 1. Tonus, 2. Osborne, 3. Banks Browne, 4. Karro, 5. Roelants, 6. Pocock, 7. Rowson, 8. Edmonds, 9. Elderfield, 10. Booker
Series 2 MX2: 1. Tonus, 2. Osborne, 3. Karro, 4. Roelants, 5. Pocock, 6. Banks Browne, 7. Mackenzie, 8. Rowson, 9. Clarke, 10. EdmondsSeries 3 MX2: 1. Osborne, 2. Tonus, 3. Roelants, 4. Banks Browne, 5. Pocock, 6. Karro, 7. Mackenzie, 8. Clarke, 9. Elderfield, 10. Keet
Final ranking Canada Heights MX2: 1. Tonus 72, 2. Osborne 69, 3. Roelants 54, 4. Banks Browne 53, 5. Karro
British MX2 Championship standings: 1 Tonus 141, 2. Osborne 119, 3. Karro 109, 4. Banks Browne 101, 5. Pocock 84
Photo credit: Ray Archer, Bike It Cosworth YAmaha
