Two good results firm up youth championship for Moggstar KTM
April 24, 2007
Sunny and hot conditions welcomed the Moggstar KTM youth squad to Culham in Oxfordshire this past weekend. Gavin Foulston and Tom Watts were to compete in the 125 Premier, Callan Cooper in the Junior class. Saturday qualifying started promptly at 9am with the Junior class, where Callan qualified in second behind Jack Heath. 125 Premier qualifying started shortly after noon, and Gavin and Tom qualified in sixth and seventh, a mere forty milliseconds apart.
Callan had a very good weekend. After a start in sixth in his first race, he moved to third in the second lap. A last-lap move by Jack Heath moved Callan back one position. In his second race of the day, Callan was in second around the first corner and throughout the race kept his position. Again a last minute push by Ben Watson dropped Callan by one position to end in third.
Callan's Sunday started off on a slightly muted note. A mid-pack start turned into a top ten position in the second lap and a seventh by mid-race. Callan ended the race in fifth after continuing to work hard to gain places in the remaining time. The final race of the day started in fourth and Callan's hard work paid off with a second place and the same overall for the round. Callan remains in second in the championship.
Gavin's weekend after qualifying had the makings of a solid race. Gavin made a strong recovery in his first race after a crash that left him in the back of the pack. By the third lap Gavin was back in thirty-second, by the eighth he had caught up to Tom. Gavin ended the race in twenty-third after making a move on Tom and Matthew Nash in the last few laps.
Unfortunately, timing delays meant a delay of Saturday's second race to Sunday morning. This race was cut short for Gavin after a mid-pack start ended in disaster in the first lap. The choppy up-hill approach to the
start corner spat Gavin off his bike and he required medical assistance for a chipped bone in his elbow. Understandably, Gavin did not start the remaining two races. He ended thirty-eighth in the round and now stands twenty-second in the championship. He is expected to remain out of action for at least five weeks. The team wishes him a quick recovery and return.
Tom had a slow start to the weekend. While his first race started off in fourth around the first corner and he battled with Jack Hawes for much of the next five laps, a crash sent him back to thirtieth. However, Tom was
able to recover to twenty-fifth, meeting with Gavin along the way. Sunday's first race, the delayed second Saturday race, saw Tom grab the holeshot. The track had been watered earlier in the morning and was still slick in places. A crash in the third lap set Tom back several positions, but he nonetheless battled hard with Jamie Sandham to return to eleventh and finish there.
The second race holeshot was Tom's again, but strong riders such as Alex Rockwell, Lewis King and Mel Pocock forced him back. He remained on strong pace behind Aaron Smith and ended in fifth. Tom's final race of the day was also solid. A start in the top ten remained a solid ride in eleventh throughout. If the race had been longer, Tom would probably have been able to reel in Jamie Sandham a mere three seconds ahead of him. Tom ended the round just outside the top ten and is seventh in the championship.
Moggstar KTM will next race at Blaxhall Pits for round three of the CCM British MMX Championship, while the next round of the BYMX Championship will be held on the weekend of 19/20 May at Brampton in Cumbria.
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