Two for One for Moggstar KTM
May 31, 2007
The past bank holiday weekend was as mixed for Moggstar KTM as it was for the rest of the country. While track conditions on the opposite sides of the country were certainly a lot better than what can be said for those wishing to spend their bank holiday in the sun, the team itself has had to take a hard hit. Jim Murro will unfortunately remain out of action for the remainder of the season due to a knee injury, which has been operated upon this past week. The remainder of the team split in two to partake in round two of the British Motocross Masters in Cumbria on the weekend, and the fourth round of the CCM MMX British Under 21 Championship in Somerset on Monday.
Youth riders Tom Watts and a recovered Gavin Foulston made the long trek to Dean Moor in Cumbria to represent the team in the Youth 125 class. Both had a good weekend after qualifying in second and fourth respectively. Tom was able to continuously improve on his racing throughout the two days. Seventh out of the start in his first race, he was able to add another two positions within a lap and capitalise on a mistake by William Foster to undo a drop in positions and end in sixth. In the second race Tom was the leader for several laps before Lewis King caught up and made a pass for the lead stick and hold. Tom ended in second. Sunday's final race saw Tom remain in second throughout for a second overall on the round.
Gavin made up for a mid-pack start in his first race, advancing steadily from thirteenth to ninth, battling with Mark Dean and Lewis King along the way. His second race start put him into the top five, but a crash in the latter half of the race relegated him to the low teens. He recovered several positions a lap for the remainder to end in thirteenth. Gavin's Sunday race was a top five performance throughout. Starting in fifth, he advanced to fourth after a crash by Jack Hawes in front of him left the field wide open for him. A solid ride in fourth to the end was the result. Gavin ended eighth overall for the round.
Gavin then took the long journey back down the M6 and M5 to Frome, where he joined Ratsep brothers Priit and Kristjan in the Under 21 class at the fourth round of the CCM British MMX Championship. The morning's qualifying practice on the picturesque circuit had Priit score the highest of the three in fourteenth, with Kristjan in seventeenth and Gavin in thirty-first.
The first race was to be a challenge for Priit after a top-fifteen start out of the gate, closely followed by brother Kristjan. While Kristjan settled into a rhythm that left him in the just outside the top fifteen throughout, Priit suffered a crash while battling with Kevin Wells, setting him back by five positions. Undaunted, Priit raced around the track at a furious pace to advance in positions to end in eleventh. Gavin's start out of the gate left him in second-last, but nonetheless he advanced to twenty-sixth by mid-race, and was able to pip Ben Field to the post for twenty-fifth.
Priit faced yet another challenge in the second race. This time battling Joe Dark, he had to see his top ten position disappear as he went to ground. Restarting in twenty-fifth, he once again passed rivals where he could, gaining positions two at a time to the halfway point, where the field spread out too much to make any more gains. A solid thirteenth was the result both for the race and the day. Kristjan suffered the same fate as his brother. A start in eighteenth became a race towards the front where he was put under pressure by Ross Hill. A crash together with Alex Snow returned him to twenty-first, where Kristjan was able to retake some gains and end in seventeenth. An eighteenth place overall was the end result for him. Gavin's start in twenty-seventh was an improvement on the first race, and he soldiered on throughout the race to end in twenty-second behind Stuart Houlston. Unfortunately Gavin was not able to score points to classify for an overall position on the day.
Moggstar KTM will next race at the fourth round of the Maxxis British Motocross Championship at Langrish in Hampshire this coming weekend.
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