Jake Shipton (Crescent Yamaha) – who won the famous Patchquick Trophy for the third time wednesday evening – raced to a career-first Maxxis podium finish in the MX1 class at Desertmartin on Sunday.
Jake started the day well in Northern Ireland at round five of the Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship supported by Pro Clean with a fighting fourth in qualification, ending the session just over three-and-a-half seconds down on pole position. After getting a good jump out of the gate in the opening 25-minute plus two lap moto he moved up to third and was looking strong until he was forced to pull to the side of the track to remove a stone from his front sprocket.
The delay cost him valuable time but despite having to discard his goggles he was still able to bring it home in fourth.
Another good start in race two saw him circulating as high as second before a crash dropped him down the order but, recovering quickly, his second fourth-placed finish of the day was good enough for him to take third overall.
“I’m happy but I’m also a bit upset because I threw second away,” he said. “I was happy with qualifying – normally that’s my weak point, pushing for a fast lap – so fourth was a great result for me and a good start for the day.
“The bike was mega and I’m believing in myself. In the second race I was catching Tommy [Searle]. I went in there with a different mindset. My result at Blaxhall helped massively – I’ve been building all season and now I feel that I should be up there.”
Competing in the MX2 class, his team-mate Martin Barr narrowly missed out on a top-three finish at his home round at the infamously tough sand circuit.
Heading into his home round. Martin’s expectations were high and the veteran Irishman posted a solid time for fifth fastest in qualification and was running third in the opening moto when he lost his back brake and was forced to let the leaders go.
A poor start in race two put him in 10th after the opening lap and despite battling his way up to fourth at the flag it wasn’t enough to get on the overall podium and he finished three points shy of the box.
“I’m a bit disappointed not to make the podium but having said that it wasn’t a bad day,” he said. “It would have been sweet to get on the podium at my home race but it was still good to get two solid results and now I’m looking forward to the final three rounds.
“I’m the old boy of the class at 31 and still running at the front which is something that I’m very proud of. I’ve still got that fire in my belly and I’ll keep working hard at it.”
Picture © Nuno Laranjeira
