The GTCI Revo Kawasaki team set up with a strong line-up of three riders at the fifth round of the Revo ACU British Motocross Championships at Hawkstone Park, with reigning MX1 Champion Tommy Searle returning from injury, Mel Pocock continuing to stand in for Dylan Walsh in MX2, and Billy Askew looking to continue his perfect run in the 250cc Youth class.
Askew had a busier weekend than previously, with two races on the Saturday as well as qualifying, but it was business as usual for the #441, topping Qualifying by 2.4 seconds, taking the Kecks Fastest Lap Award in race 1 on the way to a 33 second win, then the 24MX Holeshot Award with a 48.5 second margin of victory in race 2. Race 3 on Sunday was very similar to Race 2, but in Race 4 Billy had his first real adversity in the series. At the end of lap one, he was sent over the handlebars on some braking bumps and looked in pain, remounting at the very back. Incredibly, Billy kept on charging, reaching 8th by half distance and showing serious pace. 4th with two laps to go saw him 9.5 seconds back of the leader, but he was through to 2nd by the last lap, 4 seconds behind! With three corners to go, Billy made the move coming out of the sandpit to take the race win, and keep his perfect 11-moto winning streak intact! “That was definitely the hardest I’ve pushed all year. I’m a little sore from the crash but really pleased to have won again,” said Billy, who now holds a commanding 55-point lead in the 250cc Championship.
In MX2, Mel qualified in 7th place but shot out of the starting gate in Race 1, 2nd only to GP rider Bobby Bruce. Battling hard amongst some of the top riders in the series, he made a mistake to slip to 5th on lap five, but recovered to re-take 4th place for his best moto finish of the season so far.
Mel was sharp out of the gate again in Race 2, once more only beaten to the first corner by Bruce, but he tangled with series leader Isak Gifting on the second lap and hit the ground! He managed to recover in 9th but got passed by a couple of young guns to finish 11th, and still score a season-best 6th overall. “It was an enjoyable day getting good starts and running near the front, the team are great and I’m looking forward to finishing the year,” said Mel.
Tommy qualified 9th in MX1 and was looking to work his way back into somewhere near his top pace, having not raced in over a month due to his injuries. He started Race 1 well up in 4th and held on well until lap 10, when a colossal battle for 5th place caught him up and he was overtaken by three riders just before the two-lap board came out. Race 2 again started well with Tommy up in 3rd initially, before being taken by some of the top championship contenders to come home in 6th, with his consistency earning him 5th overall behind the top four in the series. “It was a hard day, but still a good day. I haven’t ridden anything like this recently to avoid hurting myself. I feel slow out there but it’s given me something to build on. It’s a shame the way the year’s gone because the team and bike are brilliant, I’m disappointed for them that I haven’t been able to show how good the bike is. We’ll build from today and try to get some momentum going.”
Team Manager Sam Yates was happy with his riders: “Mel was solid in the first race, had a good day overall. Tommy is improving after his injuries and we will push to get back up the front in the last two rounds. What Billy did was unbelievable, we were all gobsmacked with that last-to-first ride, it showed so much determination.” The next round is at School House near Durham on the 1st & 2nd of July.
