Rose just misses podium in 4^th overall

Report by Steve Turner

Published 13^th April 2009

The first round of the 2009 MX3 / EMX2 World Championship took place at Hawkstone Park on the 11^th and 12^th April as part of the Handlebar Festival weekend laid on by Gareth Hockey and his RHL team. They had obviously put a lot of work in and the results were impressive including the track which was in perfect condition. The only disappointment was the lack of spectators which made the effort to attend the event, missing out on some fantastic racing and the chance to see some of the stars of the future such as Roczen, Herlings and Charlier.

Qualifying

After recovering from his dislocated ankle Jordan was impressive in qualifying, posting the fastest time in the two free practice sessions before settling for 3^rd quickest in the timed session behind Brad Anderson and Matevz Irt. Nez also looked good as he picked up 8^th fastest in what was to prove a quality field.

Race 1

Nez had a nightmare, stalling his bike before the start and unable to kick it up until about 30 seconds after the rest had left the gate. Jordan chose the wrong size rear sprocket and paid for it with a poor start by his standards in around 12^th as they exited the woods. He soon made his way up to the top six but couldn’t find a way past Belgian Jan Lauryssen and instead found himself being swallowed up by the charging Julien Vanni the eventual overall GP victor. After stuggling to find his rhythm in the mid part of the race he suddenly sprang back to life as he was passed by early faller Anderson and as he tracked the Durham charger for the rest of the race he managed to make up a couple of places including Lauryssen to eventually cross the line in 6^th.. Nez found it hard to make much of an impression but dug deep to finish the race in 19^th.

Race 2

Jordan had a great start in 3^rd just behind Jamie Law and immediatley made a pass on the Cumbrian to move into 2^nd behind Anderson. They were soon joined by Vanni and it wasn’t long before the Frenchman passed the two Brits and made a bid to build a race winning gap. Jordan was unable to go with the front two and instead found himself fending off the attentions of Antti Pyrhonen. Jordan pushed hard for the whole race eventually dropping Pyrhonen and finishing in a deserved 3^rd for 4^th overall.

Nez fared better than in race one starting in the top ten and after battling with the likes of Cristophe Martin and Alex Salvini he finished the race in a 15^th for 17^th overall.