The next stop on the British Championship calendar was to our team manager Shaun Simpson’s home nation of Scotland for a double header at Duns.
Round six on Saturday would see Oriol qualify third quickest with Max in tenth. Heading into race one, Oriol was fourth off the start and set his sights on the lead with Max managing a top ten start. Oriol made some good passes to put himself into second position behind holeshot man Ben Mustoe and started to apply the pressure. Oriol bided his time and figured his lines and then made the pass happen at the halfway point. Max was also in amongst the action slightly further down the order. Oriol secured the win with Max in thirteenth place.
Race two, Oriol tucked around the first corner off the start to come out nicely in third position with Max starting just a few positions behind him. On the opening lap, Oriol moved into second, putting himself into a position to repeat race one; however, he slipped off in a corner, dropping down to eighth now with work to do. Both started to push forward and by the finish, Oriol had improved to fourth with Max in seventh.
Oriol headed to the podium, joint on points with red plate holder Tommy Searle, but with the #100 having the better second race result, Oriol took second overall. Max finished the first day of the double header tenth overall.
The times in timed qualifying for round seven on Sunday were tight, but Oriol took pole position and Max was just 1.5 seconds off in seventh. Race one, Oriol and Max both had clean starts within the top ten. With rain overnight, the track was in good condition, but both riders had to be smart with where they could set up their passes. Oriol finished third and Max ninth.
Heading into the final race of the weekend, Oriol again had a good start, putting himself into second place with his sights set on another win. Max was again within the top ten, in amongst some good battles. Oriol made a great pass on Charlie Heyman on the second lap and got his head down to pull away from the field, winning by seconds. Max was not so lucky in the final race, as a small issue meant he finished outside the points in twenty-third. 3-1 on the day meant Oriol took the overall, with Max finishing sixteenth overall. Oriol now sits fourth in the series standings, and Max fifteenth, with one round to go.
Oriol: “Overall quite an ok weekend, I won two out of the four motos we did. Second on the first day and first overall on the second day, so it was a consistent weekend, even though in some races I had to come from the back and make some passes. It was really good training for Turkey; the track was rutty and well prepared. Overall good, happy with the team, the results, and now we focus this week on good training and being ready for Turkey this weekend.”
Max: “We started the day not very well with a crash in timed practice. The first race I wasn’t really focused on myself, but in the second race I tried to regroup. I had quite a good race riding-wise, not so much from the start. My starts were terrible all weekend. On the second day, I had a better timed practice; I felt like I rode with more aggression and more like myself. We will try to keep this flow for the weekend in Turkey for the final EMX race – I’m excited.”
Team Manager Shaun Simon: “It was nice to have a British Championship in Scotland again. We were lucky with the weather and the track was in great condition for racing.
Oriol was strong all weekend, his was undoubtedly the fastest rider on track both days but some small uncharacteristic mistakes and a bad start cost him a little. Second overall on Saturday and first overall on Sunday was a positive weekend and nice to see him back on top of the podium. Still some work to do with Oriol to get him back to his 100% self but we are on the right road.
Max did find a click this weekend with his speed, intensity and fitness but the consistency was still off. We need to work on that as this cost him on the overall positions.
We are all looking forward to our last MX2 and EMX250 race of the season this weekend in Turkey. Thanks to the fans and our sponsor’s for their continued support.”
Next Event: 7th September | MXGP | Afyonkarahisar, Turkey
📸 JHMX photography
