Teutschenthal, Germany, would be the setting for the 8th round of the MXGP World Championship for the Bike It Kawasaki team. A promising 11th in qualifying gave Jack Chambers a suitable opening in the first race to work his way from 15th to 12th in the first half of the race, but with the majority of the front runners too far ahead he took home 11th. In race two a better start saw Chambers running in 10th for several laps, but a fall would send him back to 19th. A clash when passing another rider cost him his front break so he had to settle for 16th, and took home 14th overall.
Teammate Bobby Bruce also saw the edge of the top 10 in race one, only to face a similar fate as a crash sent the Brit right back through the pack. Starting 12th in race two, then holding onto 13th for the first half of the race would again raise the pressure and small mistakes are easily snapped up by opponents, leaving the 579 to finish in 15th for 18th overall.
Unfortunately EMX250 rider Billy Askew took a small but awkward fall in the opening practice, resulting in a broken thumb. Billy had surgery in Belgium and will look to return as soon as he is ready.
The team now heads to Latvia for round 9.
Jack Chambers – MX2
“The first moto was good with no falls and riding smooth, but I still need to work on a few things; I feel like I’m riding too safe and cautious. I got a good start in tenth in race two and was making good progress but I made a mistake, fell and went back to nineteenth. I made some good passes to come back to fifteenth but the next guy was making crazy line-choices, all over the track. Eventually I almost passed but I hit him pretty hard and broke off my front brake lever so I had to ride the last three laps with no brake and my teammate passed me. I’m looking forward to Lavtia now; the track has more flow and speed, and that suits me.”
Bobby Bruce – MX2
“It’s baby steps at the moment but we are making small progress every time. I’m looking forward to Latvia this weekend!”
Billy Askew – EMX250
“Obviously this isn’t the sort of comment you want to have to make, but a small mistake in the opening practice ended up with a broken thumb. It’s all sorted now so I’ll just rest it, train hard in the gym and come back stronger and hungrier.”
Steve Dixon – Team Manager
“We were looking forward to a nice dry GP for a change, as the last 3 have been wet. It seems it wasn’t meant to be as some rain came in which made it difficult working throughout the weekend.
“Both were riding well on a difficult track to come through, but small mistakes are costly at this level. Both are pushing towards the top ten, it’s very competitive and the highest it’s been for a long time which you can see by multiple winners and the close points at the sharp end.
“It’s good that both riders came home with points, Jack unfortunately came together with another rider in the second race meaning he had to ride with a broken front brake. Bobbys speed is increasing every week and we’ll be sure to see him in the top ten soon.
“We’re all wishing for a speedy recovery for Billy, who unfortunately took a small crash in the opening practice that left him with a broken thumb. He had surgery with 3 pins in the end of his thumb, so he will be sidelined for a short while. A shout-out to Tom Hughes, Bobby’s new mechanic who stepped up to the plate on a difficult wet weekend. Looking forward to Latvia this weekend.”
Jack Chambers (MX2)
Qualifying 11th
Race 1 12th
Race 2 16th
Overall 14th
Championship Standings: 15th
Bobby Bruce (MX2)
Qualifying 15th
Race 1 28th
Race 2 15th
Overall 18th
Championship Standings: 22nd
Words by DRT Kawasaki – Images by Ray Archer
