Canada Heights lies near the Dartford crossing off the M25 motorway, and for John Banks Honda-supported rider Lewis Tombs, the second round of the Maxxis British Motocross Championship this past weekend was virtually a home race.
Qualifying in the morning set the tone for Tombs. Qualifying in twelfth during the morning’s session, he qualified for the super-pole, in which he improved on his result to go to the start in eleventh.
Tombs’s first race got off to a great start. Around the corner in fourth, Tombs attempted to keep his spot, but he found himself progressively pushed back to ninth, where he settled into a steady rhythm all the way to the end. The second race ended before it really started. A big crash early on cost Tombs his clutch lever, followed soon after by his front brake as well. Without a front brake, there was not much else to do other than return to the paddock and regroup. The third race went off without a hitch again. Although Tombs found himself crowded out on the start, he still found himself just outside the top ten. Steady progress was cut short after the race was red-flagged, leaving Tombs in eleventh, and thirteenth on the day.
Said Lewis Tombs after the race: “I enjoy racing this track. I made it to the super-pole today for the first time, so that was quite exciting. I didn’t improve on my lap time but still ended up in eleventh, so that was good. In the first race I had a mega start, nearly got the holeshot but got pushed out a bit. I was in fourth, lost a few places, was riding good before I lost a few more places and ended up in ninth, which I was pleased about. In the second race, I had another good start, then had a big crash. I went over the bars and snapped the clutch and brake levers, went back to the pits and got ready for the third race. I didn’t have such a good start in the last race, got boxed out of it. I made a few passes quickly, got to about eleventh and then the race got red-flagged.”
