This weekend saw the Chambers Racing team head to FatCat Moto Parc for the opening round of the Michelin MX Nationals.
The sandy circuit was in good condition, under the spring sunshine. The weekend started with the qualifying sessions and in Fastest 40, Tom Grimshaw finished the session 7th fastest in the MX2 ahead of Alfie Jones in 9th place. In the MX1 class Glenn McCormick finished the session 17th fastest ahead of Ben Putnam in 18th. Meanwhile in the Youth 250 class Harvey Cashmore was 9thfastest.
In the opening Fastest 40 race, Tom Grimshaw started just outside the top 10 of the race, while Alfie, Glenn and Ben all struggled with bad starts. Tom soon worked hard to settle into a rhythm that would see him finish the race in 16thand as the 4th placed MX2 rider. Alfie recovered from his bad start to break inside the top 10 of the MX2 and continued to move forward to claim 8th at the flag. In the MX1 class Glenn rode a solid race to claim 15th at the finish, while Ben was forced to retire from the race.
The second race of the Fastest 40 Tom, Alfie and Glenn all started around the top 20, while Ben suffered another bad start. On the second lap Alfie suffered some bad luck when he collided with a MX1 rider, and their bikes became locked together for a period. After settling into the race Tom began to push forward into the top 5, before claiming another 4th place finish at the flag and 4th overall on the weekend. Glenn rode a strong race to claim 9th place and 11th overall for the weekend. After the early race crash, Alfie recovered to finish in 12th place in the MX2 class and 10th overall. Unfortunately, it was more bad luck for Putnam as he suffered another DNF.
In the Youth 250 class Harvey Cashmore started the weekend off well with two 6th place finishes in the opening two motos on the Saturday. On the Sunday Harvey rode well once again to claim 6th and 9th finished to claim 7th overall at the opening round of the championship.
Tom Grimshaw – Two 4th place for 4th overall this weekend, which I’m happy about considering how rough the track was . I normally struggle coming to FatCat so to get two 4th I’m really happy with that as we head into some of my favourite tracks. The riding was good this weekend and I just kept it solid as riders got tired including myself, but I managed to keep it together and claim some positions at the end.
Alfie Jones – It’s been a good weekend, I managed to come away with 10thoverall after finishing 8th in the first race and 12th in the second race after being tangled with another rider. I’m happy to finally break the top 10 and I will keep building from here.
Glenn McCormick – I’ve come away with a 15th and a 9th today which is better than last weekend so I’m pretty happy to come away with 11th overall in a tough class on a tough track. It’s definitely something to keep building on and moving forward over the next few rounds.
Ben Putnam – It’s been a weekend to forget really, it was consistently bad, two bad starts followed by two DNF’s so just a bad weekend and one to forget quickly and move on from.
Harvey Cashmore – it was a good weekend, just suffered with some bad starts in the races. On the Saturday I had two 6th place finishes and then on the Sunday I got a good start in the first race but suffered some arm pump and then in the last race in finished 9th and 7th overall, so it was a good weekend.
Photo Credit – Architech Media