MAXXIS ROUND 2 - LANGRISHMaxxis British Championship, Round 2, Langrish
Doing things by half!
With beautiful weather all week leading into the second round of the Maxxis championship the Moto/ Twisted 7 Honda team were on buzzing, especially with things finally starting to fall into place after the switch to Honda. The new bright red paddock set up had finally arrived and everyone was feeling upbeat, but then only a few days before the event the team were cut down to just two!
Following on from his unfortunate, horrific first turn crash at the Hawkstone International team leader Bryan Mackenzie is still going to be out for 2-3 weeks. Bryan broke his hand in the incident that also finished Gordon Crockard’s year and although we tried to salvage some points at the opening Maxxis round at Canada Heights it wasn’t to be. Bryan was confident he’d be able to tough it out and try again but after a second look and a trip back to his doctor it was decided it was best to rest up and come back fully fit for a serious assault in making up for lost time. He has two broken bones in his hand but one of them is a spiral fracture from knuckle to wrist and needs more time to heal.
Twisted 7 MX1 support rider Andreas Johansson has also had a rough time of it of late away from the track and due to personal, private issues has made the decision to take time off from racing for a couple of months. We wish him well and hope to see him back soon with a clear mind.
So it was left to our MX2 pilots to keep the team on track. Qualifying went well in the fact that our #1 MX2 rider Rickard Sandberg went through to the race, this time with MX2 teammate Greg Fisher who qualified for his first Maxxis Championship of the year.
With a full season ahead of him on tracks he’ll be riding for the first time, Richard struggled a little bit with the hard pack terrain and learning the layout of the old school style Langrish circuit. After starting outside the top 25 he took a while to get into the grove before eventually grinding out a 15th place finish in the first moto on the fast and dusty circuit. Starting way out on the outside of the gate as one of the final qualifiers Greg Fisher was buried deep in the pack but kept plugging away for a 26th position in moto one.
The second moto was much like the first, with overtaking proving difficult for many riders and the track becoming more and more hard pack and with little bumps forming, the lap times proved tight and making up time was difficult. By his own admission hard pack isn’t one of Rickard’s favourite track conditions but the 21 year old proved he’s eager to improve and again after being buried mid pack continued to ground out strong, consistent laps. After a poor mid section of the race and loss of rhythm he stepped it up again and came strong at the race, proving he’s been working on his fitness since his broken back last year. He eventually crossed the line in 18th position for 16th overall on the day. He now sits in 17th in the championship standings, with the best yet to come as he gets to grips with his new surroundings. Greg once again struggled to get a good start from way out right on the start but he made sure he continued to work on his fitness and speed by going all the way to the end for a 27th. He failed to score points but now that’s his next target as he looks to improve.
Moto Twisted 7’s next race is the MMX/ Open and Under 21 championship on the 5th April at Mildenhall. Hopefully Bryan Mackenzie’s hand will be healed and he will be back by then and he’ll be able to join Rickard who currently sits 4th in the under 21 British Championship.
Thanks for your continued support. We couldn’t do it without you. We are now working on a new website and our videos through www.mpora.com will be coming soon. We’ll send you the link when they’re ready.
See you at a race soon.
Jeff Perrett
Team Manager
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MAXXIS ROUND 1Painful start for Moto Twisted 7 Honda
The first major race of the year for the team, the Maxxis British Championship at Canada Heights in Kent, proved to be nothing but a painful experience for the new team in red. Greeted with beautiful sunshine in the morning on the hillside circuit the day looked like it was going to be good one – but it was not to be. The Moto Twisted 7 team revealed their new team look, with graphics designed by Andrew Ferguson from Beneath and their sharp Thor clothing but on this occasion having the look wasn’t quite enough.
Team leader Bryan Mackenzie came into the race very much with damage limitation on his mind following a horrific crash from the previous race meeting at the Hawkstone International which involved several riders, including Gordon Crockard who spent several days in intensive care. Bryan on the other hand was luckier, well on one hand at least! He smashed his left hand pretty badly, breaking the two outside bones , in fact he actually split the outside one down the length from knuckle to wrist! We spoke about missing the opening round but Bry being Bry can be pretty persuasive, and above anything - determined! He wanted to get some points on the board. With a hand puffed up like a scene from Tom and Jerry he went out and qualified for the race.
After a poor start (he couldn’t really let the clutch up properly because of the swelling) Bryan was virtually last going into the first corner but somehow by mid distance had clawed his way up to 16th but then as the race wound down the pain become worse and he lost feeling down his entire left arm. Slowly he dropped back out of the points and that was it. He retired in agony and this time we ordered him not to go out for the second moto – even that took some persuading!!
Our top MX2 pilot Rickard Sandberg came into the event fitter but didn’t leave much better than Mackenzie. After a long season getting into shape following a broken back and ten days of paralysis mid way through last year Rickard has been looking forward to his first full season competing in the UK but it all came tumbling down in the first corner. After a reasonable qualifying time considering he’s never been to Canada Heights before the wheels fell off a good solid start to the championship when he tangled with another rider in the first corner and hit the ground. Hard enough to put a hole in his arm the size of a golf ball, it was so bad it was deep enough to show the bone of his forearm! But Rickard is a tough Swedish cookie and ploughed on the best he could with a sore arm and no front brake – that got ripped off in the incident. He stayed out on track until he got lapped by the leaders to use it as track learning time for the second moto.
Between Moto’s Rickard avoided going to see the first aid crew because he knew a trip to the hospital was on the cards. So he just put some toilet tissue over the wound and wrapped it with gaffer tape!! Must be the Viking in him. Feeling pretty beaten up Rickard went out in the now horrid conditions and muscled his CRF250 home to a 16th place finish in the deep ruts for his first ever British championship points. He wasn’t happy but under the circumstances at least we got something out of the weekend. Rickard went to hospital directly after but after being told he’d have to wait for 5 hours he set sail back to Sweden to get stitched up there!
Moto Twisted 7 support riders Greg Fisher and Andreas Johansson failed to make the cut for the main race but will be looking to improve for round 2 of the Maxxis British motocross championship at Langrish, Hampshire on the 22nd March. This will be the team’s next race.
In the meantime, thanks so much for your continued support, it’s greatly appreciated. Keep your eyes peeled for a team video coming soon on Mpora.
Regards,
Jeff Perrett
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