The Bank Holiday weekend saw the Apico Honda team head south for the second round of the Dirt Store British Motocross Championship, held at the popular Canada Heights venue in Kent.
Known for well-attended British Championship rounds, Canada Heights had the added draw of Jeffrey Herlings competing in MX1 to bring in the crowds. Qualifying went well with Martin timing things right and putting in 4th quickest on the first lap of the session. Tom managed to find his fastest lap towards the end of qualifying to achieve the 10th gate pick.
Martin Barr: “After tagging onto the back of Conrad Mews in qualifying and seeing some of his lines I managed to put in a quick lap that was good enough for P4. The start will be crucial and I’m looking forward to the racing”.
Tom Grimshaw: “Qualifying was not bad, P10 in the end. I was falling down the order a little, so we made some adjustments to the bike. I then went out and put in a fast lap. It’s not the best or worst position to be in, there are a few gates to choose from and I’m looking forward to the racing”.
Race 1: It was a case of 2 extremes – Martin managed to fire his Honda CRF450R out of the gate with Herlings and Mews into 3rd, whereas Tom who had swapped to his spare race bike and DNF’d the race around the first corner due to a broken fuse. Although that was the end of Tom’s race, Martin managed to put on a great display pushing on to the halfway point where a few mistakes were made, and he lost his rhythm resulting in Trystan Purdon passing him. Martin managed to keep his flow going until the end to finish 4th in the MX1 class.
Race 2: Tom had a much better start, taking the outside and pushing right upfront into the top 3 down the straight before being pushed by the pack a little wide to 5th on the opening lap. Martin didn’t have the best start, hitting a bump out of the gate causing him to lose drive and vital milliseconds up the start straight. Martin was inside the top 10 and went about passing a couple of riders before spending most of the race in a battle with Tristan Purdon and Jason Meara. Martin finally managed to pass Meara towards the end of the race to finish 6th. Tom felt a little tight after missing the first race and struggled to get used to the rough track. Regardless, Tom rode well, keeping on the race pace and battling with Sam Nunn before crossing the line in 9th place.
Dylan Brown: “The team had a weekend of highs and lows, Martin had a great start in the first race upfront of the MX1 pack in the top 3 for the duration, eventually finishing 4th. Tom was unlucky and a blown fuse cost him that race. Things seemed a little more even in the second race, where Tom was inside the top 10 with Martin, without track time from race 1 making it difficult for Tom. He managed to maintain his position and finish 9th. Tom is now 11th in MX1 for the series.
“In Martin’s second race, he kept the pressure on Jason Meara for more than half the distance before managing a pass on a tight track. Unfortunately, after the pass, there were only a couple of laps left and Martin was unable to capitalise on the riders in front so he finished 6th. That meant he achieved 4th overall for the round and moved to 4th in the MX1 Championship.
“We’re currently preparing for the Motul Fastest 40 at Landrake this weekend as the season moves to the busy period. Thank you, as always to the people and sponsors behind the scenes that help to make things happen for the team.”
Words and Images by Apico Honda
