Jack Chambers
Qualifying 13th
Race 1 11th
Race 2 15th
Overall 13th
Championship Standings: 14th
Bobby Bruce
Qualifying 25th
Race 1 19th
Race 2 17th
Overall 21st
Championship Standings: 26th
Billy Askew
Race 1 16th
Race 2 9th
Overall 11th
Championship Standings: 18th
Harsh conditions would put riders and mechanics through their paces in Agueda, Portugal as extremely wet weather created the ultimate mud-fest for round five of the MXGP World Championship. Despite the tough track conditions with layers of mud and deep ruts, Chambers pushed through from 19th to eventually finish in 11th for race one. A more successful start in the second race saw the American running in 6th before a crash resulted in a long attempt to wrestle his bike out the mud and rejoin the race, finishing in 15th to take 13th overall.
Teammate Bobby Bruce showed great speed throughout the weekend, but the gnarly conditions of the track claimed nearly every rider at some point; after battling alongside teammate Chambers in race two Bruce also suffered the same fate of a fall and was able to continue the race to finish 17th.
In the EMX250 class, Billy Askew had a mid-pack finish in race one, but with a better start and methodical smart riding, he was able to avoid any mishaps to push for 7th before eventually finishing in 9th, suffering from some arm pump. Askew will rejoin his teammates in France at the St Jean d’Angely Circuit.
Jack Chambers – MX2
“This track was gnarly; puddles everywhere and long deep ruts with holes you couldn’t even see at the end of them. I’ve ridden GNCC Cross-country in the States but nothing like this. It was a mud festival; just a matter of survival. I made good progress for eleventh in race one and was running sixth/seventh together with my teammate Bobby in race two with good pace until each of us came unstuck. I had one big crash when I got stuck under the bike and banged my knee but I kept going for fifteenth.”
Bobby Bruce – MX2
“Some small mechanical issues hindered me from 2 good results this weekend in Portugal – the track was brutal so I’m happy to score points in both races. Full focus is now on Spain and France over the coming weeks. Big thanks to the team for their efforts this weekend.”
Billy Askew- EMX250
“Saturday was decent until I crashed and bent the bars so I finished sixteenth. Sunday I got a better start and got up to P7 but then I got a bit of arm-pump. But this is a learning year for me; by next year I should be fighting for podiums.”
Steve Dixon – Team Manager
” Firstly I was really pleased that we had Bobby, Billy and Jack all scoring points and finishing all the races – conditions were some of the worst I’ve seen in my 35 years and many bikes didn’t finish. – A big thank you to the team for getting the bikes over the line, as well as Kawasaki and all our product sponsors for their high quality ensuring we can get the job done. and the clean up which took until Monday night to get everything ready for the short trip to Spain.
Even with the damp weather we had a full awning of over 25 guests which is always great to see. I was impressed with Billy’s speed in the second race, he’s showing he belongs in the top 10 in the EMX250 class. Both Jack and Bobby looked comfortable in 6th and 7th during the second race, a few crashes cost them top ten finishes but valiant efforts from both riders in these conditions.
We now head straight to a new track in the northwest of Spain with Jack and Bobby.
