Proppa.com KTM Season Off To a Solid Start
March 8, 2011 11:05am
Proppa.com KTM riders Martin Barr, Nathan Parker and Liam Garland got stuck into the first round of the Maxxis British Motocross Championship at Little Silver near Exeter this past weekend to finish with solid results.
The weekend's racing got underway with qualifiers under cold, overcast skies. For Liam the first qualifier meant a lot, this being his first round in a new class. For Martin, qualifying went very well with a fifth. During super-pole, he improved this result to go to pole by more than a tenth of a second over his nearest competitor. Nathan felt uneasy on the bike and as a result qualified lower in the field, but still inside the top fifteen.
Liam's first race started off with a good position in the top thirty, but was soon marred by a crash that relegated him to thirty-fifth. From there, he worked his way forward to end in thirtieth. The second race was a solid run battling for twenty-eighth, switching positions multiple times with Estonian Erki Kahro, but going across the finish line in front. The final race was tough for Liam as his reserves began to flag and he began to suffer from arm pump, but he continued to push on hard to finish the race just outside the top thirty.
For Martin, the first race started off with a bit of a disaster after going down in the first corner and having to restart virtually in last place. However, he made short thrift of his rivals, leapfrogging the pack by half within the first four laps, and then running into stiff competition in Kristian Whatley and Dorren Coutts. With only two laps to go, he was able to make more headway to end in thirteenth. The second race looked to be an improvement, but two crashes put him on the ground in the early stages, and forcing him to work his way forward yet again. The hard work paid off with him ending in eleventh. His final race of the day proved to be the third time lucky. A start just outside the top five ended with a fourth place just behind Tom Church, for an overall ninth place on the day.
Nathan rode the most consistent of all, with a top ten start in the first race and ending virtually where he started. Only with a few corners to go, he had to concede his top ten place to Whatley to end eleventh. The second race got off the ground a bit slower, but Nathan soon found himself in the top ten again. A solid run in ninth paid off after a pass on Alex Snow in the last lap put him one place up, in eighth. The final race for Nathan was again a very solid but cautious run throughout, ending the race in twelfth for an overall in eleventh on the day.
“I'm really happy with the way the new KTM 350 SX-F performs against the 450cc bikes in the MX1 class. We don't have any worries with the bike this year,” team principal Steve Turner commented on the day.
“Team-wise, things were a bit of an up-and-down day today. Martin's result was a bit disappointing but still a good overall for the day. In the first and second races he tried a little too hard, I think, but in the third race came through quite nicely. The first round is out of the way and the second one will be a lot better.
“Nathan rode really steady; last year he came away from Little Silver with three points, this year it's thirty-two, so a lot better. He was struggling a bit in the third race with the low sun in his eyes, but in the second race he was strong.
“For Liam it was a bit of a learning curve today, a baptism of fire. It's a bit of a shock to get stuck in with these boys, they're all so strong and no-one gives up their place so easily in this class. But the first round is out of the way, and he'll be al-right for the next one.”
Liam Garland: “The day didn't go too bad, I suppose. It was very hard, everyone's really fast, so I just tried to do my best. The second race was the best, where I had an ok start and worked my way through to end in twenty-eighth.”
Martin Barr: “The day started off well, I was quickest in super-pole this morning which I was over the moon about, especially this being such a fast track. Being out there on a 350cc against the big bikes and coming away with pole was brilliant. It gave me a lot of confidence and I was on a high going into the first race. The first two races were a bit disappointing; I lost a lot of points in them, which is unfortunate for me. It's something to work on and I'm glad to have the first round out of the way.”
Nathan Parker: “Today went very good after a bad start. I struggled in qualifying and in the first race, I didn't feel good at all. For the second race we changed a few things, put a different tyre on, and it felt a lot better, but in the last race the sun was settling really low and I was struggling to see much. I didn't want to crash, so I took it easy. It's the first round, and so not a bad day.”
The next race for the Proppa.com KTM team will be the Hawkstone International at Hawkstone Park in a fortnight's time.
The weekend's racing got underway with qualifiers under cold, overcast skies. For Liam the first qualifier meant a lot, this being his first round in a new class. For Martin, qualifying went very well with a fifth. During super-pole, he improved this result to go to pole by more than a tenth of a second over his nearest competitor. Nathan felt uneasy on the bike and as a result qualified lower in the field, but still inside the top fifteen.
Liam's first race started off with a good position in the top thirty, but was soon marred by a crash that relegated him to thirty-fifth. From there, he worked his way forward to end in thirtieth. The second race was a solid run battling for twenty-eighth, switching positions multiple times with Estonian Erki Kahro, but going across the finish line in front. The final race was tough for Liam as his reserves began to flag and he began to suffer from arm pump, but he continued to push on hard to finish the race just outside the top thirty.
For Martin, the first race started off with a bit of a disaster after going down in the first corner and having to restart virtually in last place. However, he made short thrift of his rivals, leapfrogging the pack by half within the first four laps, and then running into stiff competition in Kristian Whatley and Dorren Coutts. With only two laps to go, he was able to make more headway to end in thirteenth. The second race looked to be an improvement, but two crashes put him on the ground in the early stages, and forcing him to work his way forward yet again. The hard work paid off with him ending in eleventh. His final race of the day proved to be the third time lucky. A start just outside the top five ended with a fourth place just behind Tom Church, for an overall ninth place on the day.
Nathan rode the most consistent of all, with a top ten start in the first race and ending virtually where he started. Only with a few corners to go, he had to concede his top ten place to Whatley to end eleventh. The second race got off the ground a bit slower, but Nathan soon found himself in the top ten again. A solid run in ninth paid off after a pass on Alex Snow in the last lap put him one place up, in eighth. The final race for Nathan was again a very solid but cautious run throughout, ending the race in twelfth for an overall in eleventh on the day.
“I'm really happy with the way the new KTM 350 SX-F performs against the 450cc bikes in the MX1 class. We don't have any worries with the bike this year,” team principal Steve Turner commented on the day.
“Team-wise, things were a bit of an up-and-down day today. Martin's result was a bit disappointing but still a good overall for the day. In the first and second races he tried a little too hard, I think, but in the third race came through quite nicely. The first round is out of the way and the second one will be a lot better.
“Nathan rode really steady; last year he came away from Little Silver with three points, this year it's thirty-two, so a lot better. He was struggling a bit in the third race with the low sun in his eyes, but in the second race he was strong.
“For Liam it was a bit of a learning curve today, a baptism of fire. It's a bit of a shock to get stuck in with these boys, they're all so strong and no-one gives up their place so easily in this class. But the first round is out of the way, and he'll be al-right for the next one.”
Liam Garland: “The day didn't go too bad, I suppose. It was very hard, everyone's really fast, so I just tried to do my best. The second race was the best, where I had an ok start and worked my way through to end in twenty-eighth.”
Martin Barr: “The day started off well, I was quickest in super-pole this morning which I was over the moon about, especially this being such a fast track. Being out there on a 350cc against the big bikes and coming away with pole was brilliant. It gave me a lot of confidence and I was on a high going into the first race. The first two races were a bit disappointing; I lost a lot of points in them, which is unfortunate for me. It's something to work on and I'm glad to have the first round out of the way.”
Nathan Parker: “Today went very good after a bad start. I struggled in qualifying and in the first race, I didn't feel good at all. For the second race we changed a few things, put a different tyre on, and it felt a lot better, but in the last race the sun was settling really low and I was struggling to see much. I didn't want to crash, so I took it easy. It's the first round, and so not a bad day.”
The next race for the Proppa.com KTM team will be the Hawkstone International at Hawkstone Park in a fortnight's time.