Geartec Husqvarna’s Elliot Banks-Browne used the support of the local crowd to full effect at Blaxhall to continue his fabulous run of form with second overall in Round 3 of the Maxxis British Motocross Championships on Sunday.
With plenty of pre event publicity for the local riders, all eyes were on the battle at the head of the field between Elliott and red plate holder Jake Nicholl’s both of whom who had the home crowd on side.
All pre-race expectations were met from the outset of Moto 1 with Nicholls and EBB heading the field from the start and battling for the lead. Mid race though a rock came up and hit Elliott’s clutch lever resulting in a loss of hydraulic fluid and the use of the clutch for the remainder of the race. Having to cruise round for the rest of the Moto a 3rd place finish was a good opener.
A second race holeshot delighted the crowd and after three laps, Elliott and Nicholls had pulled a big lead over their rivals. Fifteen minutes in and Elliott hit the proverbial wall but brought his Husqvarna home for third and second place overall.
Elliott still lies in 4th in the Championships standing’s, but having pulled points in on his second and third placed competitors Evgeny Bobryshev and Graeme Irwin.
Paul Mason – Team Manager
“It was another good weekend for us. We are getting stronger and stronger every meeting, we just need to build on the intensity which is all we are lacking. With such a strong line up there is a GP intensity at the front of the field which hasn’t been there before and we just need to build on that. The bikes are good, Elliott’s looking good on it, so we are really pleased. At the start of the season I put Elliott within the top five and he’s running at the front now and getting better every week so we are very happy with that. So now we just need to keep him fit, keep everything going, and keep pushing forward.”
Elliot Banks-Browne
“Blaxhall went well, 2nd overall so that was good. We went there to get on the podium. It would have been good to get on the top step, but under the circumstances that’s all we could do. There was obviously a lot of pressure on myself and Jake going into the race, publicity was high and it pumped the weekend up, so for us to go 1-2 on the day was awesome for the local crowd.
“I felt good in both races, I got off to a good start in second in the first race, and I felt I had it to battle for the win until a rock hit my clutch and I had to just bring it home. In the second race I got 15 minutes or so in and just died, I had no energy and just felt I had nothing more to give, and I had to do the same as Moto 1 and went into survival mode. I came home in third and I knew that’s what I needed to do to get second overall. I am not sure what it is, but over the last two weeks I have struggled like this, I am not sure if I have a virus or what, but I wake up in the morning and feel super tired, but all in all we got the job done and got second and I can’t complain at that. The only person I lost points too was Jake and gained on everyone else, so I am happy with that and on to Desertmartin now.
“The support me and Jake had was insane, just riding round on the siting lap you could hear everyone screaming and shouting for you. When you’re racing it’s hard to see that, but on some corners you could definitely hear the fans. It’s great for the sport to have such a good turnout, especially locally, so thank you to all of those who showed up and supported us.“
Having won the opening round of the Bridgestone British Masters, Elliott heads to Wroxton this coming weekend looking to extend his championship lead before his MX Nationals campaign continues at Preston Docks the week after.
