The final round of the Dirtstore ACU British Motocross championship ended at the sandy track of Preston Docks at the weekend with the Gabriel SS24 KTM on the cusp of a double podium finish.
Their MX2 rider Cas Valk came into the final round with the red plate, 1 point ahead of second place Tommy Searle. Committed to bringing home the title Cas gave everything to secure the championship. He qualified first in timed practice but didn’t get the best of starts in race one. He had to come though but with good lap times and lines he managed to get right on the back of Tommy and take the lead on lap 8 right to the chequered flag! Now with a 4 point lead going into race two Cas knew it was all on the last race. He shot out of the start and quickly got in the lead, he controlled the race and gapped the field to cross the line with a perfect 1-1 scorecard for the overall and the 2024 MX2 British title along with it!
Cas: “Perfect weekend in Preston docks after going P1 in practice I had 2 good races and went 1-1 to take the championship as well! Really happy with this weekend and motivated for the last race of the year this weekend to finish on a high!”
A day of 3’s for Josh Gilbert in MX1 as he was looking to wrap up third in the championship. He qualified third behind Herlings on pole and Mewse in second. He had unusually bad starts in both races and had to come through the field. In race one he started in 6th and got up to third but in race two he had to come through from 14th. Fighting an issue with his goggles early on it took Josh a few laps to find his flow, he got up to 5th and was attacking Purdon for 4th when he ran out of film. He made the decision to abandon his goggles and give it one last attempt to make the pass. With Bruce falling out of third and 2 laps to go Josh found himself battling for third in the race and on the podium, as well as in the championship. He made the pass happen on the final lap, giving it his all. Coming away with a 3-3 scorecard for third overall on the day and in the championship.
Josh: “I really enjoyed Preston Docks, the crew did an amazing job of the track and I loved racing it. I made it hard work for myself with 2 bad starts but came through well to come away with 3-3 for third overall. This season hasn’t gone to plan at all with 2 tough injuries meaning I missed a round of the British I’m pumped to still have got third in the championship too! Just one more round to go for 2024. Thanks to the team for their hard work this season!”
Team Manager Shaun Simpson: “MX2 British Champion! Couldn’t have hoped for a better day, Cas brought the fire and controlled the day in MX2. He was fitter, stronger and faster than the competition at this round and to get the title was the icing on the cake.
“Josh completed the job at hand too. Strong in qualifying and battled hard all day to get the result he deserved going 3-3 and 3rd in the Championship. Jeffrey and Conrad were running MXGP winning pace all season so we have to be proud of what Josh has done considering missing one round with due to injury.
“Big thanks to Simon Gabriel for his belief in myself, Cas and Josh this season.
“On to the final round of MXGP/EMX this weekend in Spain!”
Words by Gabriel SS24 KTM – Images courtesy of JHMX Photography
