The team arrived at Hawkstone Friday for the penultimate rounds of the combined Dirt Store British Championship and Motul Fastest 40 British Championship. In an unprecedented move to see the best riders in the country compete at both championships, the promoters had decided to run together in a tough season due to rider injuries in both race series.
The practice was challenging, with Martin putting in his fastest lap from the start, for what ended up being 9th gate pick. Tom pushed through, putting his quickest lap towards the end of the session to finish 8th in qualifying.
Tom Grimshaw: “Hawkstone is one of those tracks where I can have a really good day or a terrible one, fortunately, this was a good one! I was happy with my qualifying, I was a second short of the top 4, though happy with the 8th gate pick. I managed to get great starts in both races, in race 1 I was in the top 5 finishing 7th at the flag, and I held 4th position for the first third of race 2. I was unfortunate as I hit a bit of a wall mid-race after going at the front runner pace and a group of riders managed to pass me who were very close by. I wasn’t happy with that, but I learnt something from it. I rode out the rest of the race at a good pace, losing a place towards the end to Carlton Husband where I finished 8th and tied on points for the overall to finish 8th. I’d like to thank the team and everyone in my corner for helping me develop over the season, the Honda CRF450R performed so well in both races, it shows the work I’ve been putting into starts this weekend and I’m pleased with the bike”.
Martin Barr: “It was a tough weekend, the hardest I’ve had this season for one reason or another. Qualifying started with P9, the track was fast and not rutted, though I knew it would rough up throughout the day, so I wasn’t overly concerned with my gate pick. I got an okay start in the first race and soon worked my way up to 6th feeling comfortable. The breather pipe split in the last quarter of the race, fuel was going in my face, and I swallowed some. This put me off my rhythm and I crashed whilst trying to be sick. It was a battle to finish the race, though I managed to come home 9th in race 1. I was feeling rough in between the races and had a bad headache. I tried my best, though my concentration was suffering, I managed to go out in race 2 and make the best of a tough situation, finishing 10th and 10th overall in the Apico MX1 Class of the Motul Fastest 40 and DirtStore British Motocross Championships. It hurts as I was 3rd in both Championships before the weekend and have dropped to 6th in the DirtStore British Motocross Championship and 4th in the Motul British Championship. We’ll regroup now and try to get points back in the last few races of the season. The Honda CRF450R didn’t miss a beat and performed really well, I’ve had such a great season with the bike and I’m thankful for the effort the team put in to support me competing at the top level of British Motocross”.
Dylan Brown: “I was pleased for Tom, he had excellent starts in both races showing that the Honda CRF450R is more than capable of competing straight out of the gate with the likes of Jeffrey Herlings and his factory machine. Tom’s progress has been steady throughout the season as he’s settled into the team. He’s gelling with the bike, and this showed over the weekend.
“Martin Barr had the toughest meeting of the season, where he was unlucky with his breather pipe splitting and ingesting fuel mid-race 1. Martin crashed due to being unable to concentrate and this affected his whole weekend. Hats off to him as it could have been a lot worse, to finish top 10 after everything was not a bad result at all.
“We now look to the last round of the Motul Fastest 40, which incorporates the RedBull Pro Stroke element of the Apico 2 Stroke Festival in a couple of weeks. Thanks to the team and sponsors for their continued support throughout the 2024 season”.
Words and Images by Apico Honda
