The historic Foxhill track was the host for round two of the ACU British Motocross Championship this past weekend. Following a sunny spell in the lead up to the Easter weekend, the hard, chalky soil was watered heavily overnight on Saturday, leading to some challenging track conditions in the morning qualifying sessions as the Phoenix Even Strokes riders set about building on the positives from the first round at Culham.
MX2 was up first, with Carlton Husband qualifying 13th and Sam Atkinson 16th respectively. In MX1 Petar Petrov, battling illness, produced his quickest lap of the day to qualify in seventh, whilst Jason Meara qualified 19th.
As the midday sun shone down into the Foxhill valley the riders lined up for race one in the MX2 class. Carlton struggled to get a good start, before taking some smart racing lines on lap one to progress up into the top 10. Following some intense battles he would finish 9th. Sam struggled to find his rhythm before finishing in 16th. Both riders would finish the day strongly, however, with both Sam and Carlton getting solid starts in race two. Carlton would finish seventh for 8th overall whilst Sam would continue to grow from his race one finish to claim a strong 10th in race two, and 12th overall.
In the MX1 class Jason Meara would have a tough day, going 19-22 for 21st overall. He has another race on Easter Monday, which will allow him to continue testing the bike and making refinements to his set-up.
To round out the day Peter Petrov was looking to build upon his good qualifying performance but a bad start in race one would leave the Bulgarian fighting from the back of the field in 30th place. With the track drying and becoming one-lined it would prove difficult to pass, but despite this Petar would regroup and charge back to finish 12th. A strong showing considering he was battling arm pump for much of the race. In race two Petar would turn the first corner inside the top 10 following a much better start, but on a developing track a few line choice errors would drop him to 18th. Petar found his rhythm though and would go on to claim 12th in race two, for 13th overall.
Phoenix Even Strokes Kawasaki now head to Cadders Hill, Lyng, on Sunday 8th May for the third stop of the 2022 ACU British Motocross Championship.
MX2 Rider – Sam Atkinson #127: “It was a really good weekend and I’m pleased to continue making improvements as I get more experience in the MX2 class. My starts were good and I enjoyed the battles in race one. Race two was even better as I was running inside the top 10 so there are plenty of positives to take from this weekend and I’m looking forward to the next race.”
MX2 Rider – Cartlon Husband #6: “I struggled to get a clean lap in the morning session and finished 13th in qualifying. Race one I didn’t get a great jump, but managed to cut to the inside and climb back into the top 10. I struggled to find my rhythm but started clicking the laps off and eventually finished in ninth. In race two I got a much better start and was running top five around the first lap, my speed was good and considering that Foxhill is a track I always struggle at I’m happy to take away solid points.”
MX1 Rider – Jason Meara #10: “Today wasn’t great, I just struggled all day to get to grips with the track. My starts were good but too many mistakes during the races cost me the results I wanted. Tomorrow we are racing back in Ireland and testing a few changes to the bike so we’ll be ready to turn it around at Landrake in a few weeks.”
MX1 Rider – Petar Petrov #152: “It was a weekend to forget for me, I struggled with the track and I just didn’t have the speed. I’ve been feeling good throughout the lead up to this race so it’s frustrating, but my fitness is improving with more bike time and I’m feeling much better on the bike. I think it was just one of those days! 12th overall isn’t where we want to be, but the team did a great job all weekend. We’re going to get back to work and be ready to go for Lyng.”
