Although Steven Lenoir had a good gate pick after qualifying fifth, he unfortunately had a bad start in moto one on a track that was very hard to pass on. However, he pushed forward despite this and captured fifth. The second moto was very similar, as Lenoir again had to push through the field. He actually had a better start this time around, but got caught up in an incident on lap one, which pushed him outside of the top ten. After passing a lot of riders he eventually finished fifth yet again and had some of the best lap times of the race.
Steven finally got a good start in the final moto and quickly forced his way into second after a couple of laps. He then attempted to chase down the MX2 champion, which he did. Once he was onto his back wheel he started to apply some pressure until the leader made a mistake, which left the door open for Lenoir to take the moto win, his first in the Maxxis British Championship this year. Although he just missed the overall podium, he did manage to move up into sixth in the championship, despite the fact that he missed a round with injury earlier this year.
After finishing third in the superpole session, Nathan Watson got caught up in an incident on lap one of the first MX1 encounter, which bent his rear disc and left him without a back brake. Despite this he salvaged a respectable ninth. Bad luck struck Nathan again in moto two, as he went down in turn one and had to start at the back. Watson past a majority of the field on the difficult track – he eventually finished eighth.
In the third moto Nathan started up front and stayed there, as he battled it out for a spot on the podium. Again he proved that his fitness is where it needs to be, as he made a pass for third on the final lap. However, he was later docked ten positions for ignoring a waved yellow flag, which left him thirteenth in the moto and ninth overall on the day. He eventually ended the season sixth in the MX1 class, just a handful of points off of the top five.
The MXY2 class returned to action at Foxhill and Tony Saunders qualified fourteenth in the stacked field. Saunders improved on that in race one, as he finished just outside of the top ten in eleventh. Unfortunately he crashed out of the final moto and sustained a fractured tibia as a result. Get well soon, Tony!
Nathan Watson: “Qualifying was good, I was the third fastest and the times were close. In the first race I got tagged on the first lap and bent my rear disc like a banana, so I had no rear brake for the whole race! In the second race I got taken down in the first corner and had a dead leg, but got going way back and came through to eighth. In the last race I wanted to end on a high after such a bad day, I ended up a strong third in the race but got disqualified for passing on a yellow flag! It just wasn't my day - one to forget.”
Steven Lenoir: “My day started okay; my goal was to qualify in the top five to get a good place on the gate. In the first race I had a bad start and it took me a little while to get into a good rhythm - I got fifth. My start in the second race was better, but I went down on the first lap. I came back strong to fifth, only seven seconds from the lead, so it was close.
“In the last race I started around fifth, made my way up to the front and caught Karro – we were doing some fast lap times that were quicker than the MX1 riders. I was pressuring him and with two laps to go he made a mistake. I took the opportunity to win my first British Championship moto of the year. It was a really nice way to end the series. I must thank the team for all the hard work they have done for me over the last two years.”
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