Pocock on four wins in a row and Barr on a frustrating weekend
Mel Pocock made it two Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship
MX2 overall victories on the bounce at Hawkstone Park on Sunday to
close the gap to the series leader to just 15 points with two rounds to
go.
His latest win means he’s now topped the podium at his last four races – that’s
Maxxis rounds at Hawkstone and Duns, EMX250 at Lommel and the MX Nationals at
Canada Heights.
On a wet, overcast day Mel qualified third before gating near the front in race one.
He moved into second on lap four and stayed there until the flag.
Another good start followed in moto two but this time he was able to work his way
to the front and open up a three-second gap on his FC 250.
His team-mate Martin Barr had a much tougher time after crashing in the first turn
of race one and injuring his hand. All the way back in 32nd after the opening lap, he
fought up to 12th before gritting his teeth for fifth in race two to take seventh on the
day.
Mark Yates (Team Principal)
“It’s been a brilliant day for Mel and to come away with another first overall – that’s
four in a row for him – is absolutely fantastic. Two British, one MX Nationals and an
EMX250 is an incredible achievement.
“I’m very pleased for Mel. He’s full of confidence and it’s the best thing that could
have happened to him going into Switzerland next week where we’ll be really
pushing to regain the lead in the European championship.
“Martin’s struggled a bit today with his starts yet again which has impeded his
performance. He’s had to work really hard to get the 12th in race one and fifth
second time out.
“Overall I’m really pleased for the team. We expected to do well this weekend and
it’s just great to finish on top of the podium for the second round in a row.
“It’s also closed the fight for the championship right up as Mel’s taken 22 points
out of Conrad Mewse’s lead and pulled back 12 points on Josh Gilbert in second.”
Mel Pocock – 1st (2-1)
“How cool is that? Four wins in a row! I’m just really, really happy. I’m still chasing
my dream of winning a British championship – for a time I thought it would never
happen and even an overall round win felt so far away after my hand injury.
“Thanks to everyone at REVO Husqvarna – they’ve given me an outstanding bike.
I’m now in the chase to win two championships – and I want both of them!”
Martin Barr – 7th (12-5)
“It’s frustrating. It’s just one thing after another. I don’t know what it is – I haven’t
changed anything so it’s a tough one.
“The day started off all right. I was happy enough with fourth in qualifying and in
the first race I got a pretty decent start but the first corner was so soft and my front
end dug in right behind someone and I went down and got ran over.
“My bike landed on top of me and burnt my arm and hit my hand hard. I was under
it for a good 25 seconds so by the time I got up I was away dead last. I’m not one to
give in and I just fought until the end and worked my way back up to 12th.
“I knew race two was going to be tough with the condition my body was in but I never gave up and eventually ended up fifth and I think I was the fastest rider on the
track for the last 10 minutes. It was a very frustrating race because I couldn’t push
the way I wanted to because I couldn’t hold on.”
Words: Sean Lawless
Pic: Revo Husqvarna
