Yet more snow at British under21’s
April 07, 2008
The second round of the MMX under 21’s championship took place at Whiteway Barton, Devon, and as the riders arrived on Sunday they were greeted with snow, which was sure to make the visibility difficult for the riders.
As the qualifying session began the conditions had eased of a bit, and the track was in perfect condition after the open group had completed there qualifying session. Kristian Whatley was the man who would set the quickest lap time by just over half a second from the current series leader Alex Snow.
As the gate dropped in the opening race, it was KTM UK’s Alex Snow who grabbed the holeshot, but was soon overhauled by Daniel Preston. Whatley was in third, followed by Joe Dark and Ashley Greedy. This is how it stayed until lap four when Snow made the move along the straight after the ski jump to move into the lead. The following lap Whatley would pass Preston in the same place and would set on catching Snow. Greedy meanwhile had moved into fourth but dropped his PAR Homes Honda machine and got going again in 7th. On lap eight Whatley had moved to within feet of Snow and took the wide line around the first corner, got the drive and over took Snow on the pit board straight. Whatley would then put in some fast laps and pull away. On the final lap Snow had a rear wheel puncture and would come under increasing pressure from Preston, Greedy and Dark but would just about hold on.
In the second race it was the L.P.E Kawasaki rider Jamie Smith that would grab the holeshot, but was soon over taken by James Dodd who was flying and began to pull away. Snow was in third, with Matthew Moffat fourth, and the Nigel Arnold pairing of Luke Remmer and Kristian Whatley. Dodd’s race though was soon over when he had to pull out due to a rear wheel puncture. Jamie Smith would inherit the lead and was soon under pressure from Snow and Whatley. Moffat was lying in fourth but would soon be overtaken by Shane Carless. Smith would come under increasing pressure from Snow and Whatley throughout the race but would hold on to take the victory from Snow, and Whatley. Whatley would take the Overall by one point ahead of the current series leader Snow. Jamie Smith took third overall on the day.
I caught up with Whatley at the end of the day to get his views on his performance and the track.
How did you feel out there today and surely this has given you a confidence boost for the Maxxis round next weekend at Waggadon farm? Yeh I felt strong out there today and the bike was awesome. My confidence on the bike is growing every meeting and I am looking forward to next weekend.
How did you find the track today? It was a very stony track, and due to the sunny conditions the track was very dusty making visibility difficult but it was the same for everyone.
Report and images by MOTO reporter Stuart Cawse
Send this article to a friend
