Karro Storms to Second at British Championship Opener
March 7, 2011, 9:30am
Mark Chamberlain is not your typical stiff upper lip Englishman, standing stoically by as events unfold around him. In this respect he is more - shall we say - Italian. If you trifle with him, or if things go wrong, you will know about it soon enough. If things go well, he will show it too, with unrestrained joy. The emotions are always bubbling right under the surface. In a sense, he is the perfect counterfoil for his number one rider, Matiss Karro, who takes the term laconic to another level altogether.
With this in mind, one can understand that Mark will be stepping on clouds if his ward does well, and this past weekend, the Latvian rider gave his team boss ample reason to step high and smile from ear to proverbial ear. The occasion was the first round of the Maxxis British motocross championships at Little Silver. Matiss had given a few inklings that he was headed for a potentially good season with strong results in early international races, and being as the British Championship series is important for his team and sponsors, this would be a good time to pull another good result out of his back pocket.
The young man steered his Honda onto the track with the necessary dose of enthusiasm, and the qualifying sessions underscored his willingness to do well. He posted the 4th fastest time in the qualifying session, just a smidgen of a second off the pole time, and went one better to clock clock the 3rd fastest time in the Superpole session. Latvian lightning looked ready to strike.
So it came to pass that on a crisp but sunny morning Matiss Karro rolled up to the start line for his first British Championship outing on a Honda. His first start nearly turned into a duff affair as Jake Nicholls cut across him. Having to bulldoze his way back form the rear of the field, the Riga Raider was at a disadvantage right off the bat, but he recovered well to cross the line in 5th position. A better start in race two launched CurlyKarr and his Honda into fourth spot. He homed in on the selfsame Nicholls, and a fierce battle erupted for the third spot. Matiss had a bit of a freakish crash when the brake caliper of his bike snagged on a berm, and that put him out of the running for third spot. The battle between him and Nicholls had put them so far clear of the next riders, though, that he was still able to haul a fourth place finish out of the coals.
In the third race, Matiss jumped off the line well, but he explained in his racing vernacular that something happened in the first corner that we shall politely translate to say that he messed up. He had to fight his way back from seventh spot. He charged to fourth position, and when Zack Osborne had a visitation of the break-the-bike ghost, Matiss inherited third spot. He kept the throttle on full-ahead setting, and claimed another place to cross the line in second. This was good enough to earn him some British championship bubbly, as he was called onto the podium for second overall. He therefore also holds the second position in the championship standings.
In front of the podium, Mark Chamberlain was smiling broadly. He had placed a lot of faith in Matiss over the last few years, and results such as these would continue justifying his belief in the likeable Latvian. If the trend continues, the MVR-D team may well be looking at one of its most memorable season ever.
With this in mind, one can understand that Mark will be stepping on clouds if his ward does well, and this past weekend, the Latvian rider gave his team boss ample reason to step high and smile from ear to proverbial ear. The occasion was the first round of the Maxxis British motocross championships at Little Silver. Matiss had given a few inklings that he was headed for a potentially good season with strong results in early international races, and being as the British Championship series is important for his team and sponsors, this would be a good time to pull another good result out of his back pocket.
The young man steered his Honda onto the track with the necessary dose of enthusiasm, and the qualifying sessions underscored his willingness to do well. He posted the 4th fastest time in the qualifying session, just a smidgen of a second off the pole time, and went one better to clock clock the 3rd fastest time in the Superpole session. Latvian lightning looked ready to strike.
So it came to pass that on a crisp but sunny morning Matiss Karro rolled up to the start line for his first British Championship outing on a Honda. His first start nearly turned into a duff affair as Jake Nicholls cut across him. Having to bulldoze his way back form the rear of the field, the Riga Raider was at a disadvantage right off the bat, but he recovered well to cross the line in 5th position. A better start in race two launched CurlyKarr and his Honda into fourth spot. He homed in on the selfsame Nicholls, and a fierce battle erupted for the third spot. Matiss had a bit of a freakish crash when the brake caliper of his bike snagged on a berm, and that put him out of the running for third spot. The battle between him and Nicholls had put them so far clear of the next riders, though, that he was still able to haul a fourth place finish out of the coals.
In the third race, Matiss jumped off the line well, but he explained in his racing vernacular that something happened in the first corner that we shall politely translate to say that he messed up. He had to fight his way back from seventh spot. He charged to fourth position, and when Zack Osborne had a visitation of the break-the-bike ghost, Matiss inherited third spot. He kept the throttle on full-ahead setting, and claimed another place to cross the line in second. This was good enough to earn him some British championship bubbly, as he was called onto the podium for second overall. He therefore also holds the second position in the championship standings.
In front of the podium, Mark Chamberlain was smiling broadly. He had placed a lot of faith in Matiss over the last few years, and results such as these would continue justifying his belief in the likeable Latvian. If the trend continues, the MVR-D team may well be looking at one of its most memorable season ever.
