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After a
rough crash in Race 1 Paul Holmes took
home second in Race 2
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Duns, Scotland (6/14/2011) - Round 2 of
the ACU GOLDSPEED British Quad Championship was
held at the Duns MX circuit in Scotland last weekend.
With unfortunate rain and poor weather conditions
leading up to the event, the hard packed technical
circuit was very wet meaning goods starts were
a definite key to race success. Paul Holmes started
his British Championship campaign at this 2nd
round with a clear disadvantage as he missed the
1st round due to an unfortunate event clash with
a European Championship round in France.
After making some last minute set-up adjustments
to the HOLMES Racing Laeger Yamaha to suit the
poor circuit conditions, Holmes blew the field
away setting the fastest lap time in qualification
rewarding him with the important 1st choice
of the starting gates for the two 25min + 2
lap races.
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Paul
Holmes takes the Holeshot aboard his Yamaha
YFZ450R ATV |
Race 1:
Holmes left nothing to chance as the gates dropped
when he took a clear Holeshot over the opposition
and stamped his authority, setting a relentless
pace from lap 1. Holmes began to pull out a
gap over Championship points leader Mitchell
and on lap 4 whilst settling into a consistent
pace made a small mistake over a technical ‘whoop’
section. Flung over the bars as the quad went
into a spectacular barrel roll, Holmes found
himself going shoulder first into the ground.
Holmes remounted the quad which had partial
bodywork damage but the pain from his shoulder
meant he was unfortunately forced to sit out
the remainder of the race.
Race 2:
Despite the shoulder pain, Holmes pulled another
amazing Holeshot on board his spare quad and led
the first part of the race with adrenaline taking
over. As the race reached mid point Holmes came
under pressure from MItchell and Watson and had
to give up the places as any battling was out
of the question whilst he tried to ride smooth
to reduce any further damage to his injured shoulder.
Towards the end of the race, Holmes had found
some great lines and began to reel in the lead
pair and on lap 11 out of 13 set his personal
best lap of the race which was less than 1 second
from the fastest of the race set by Mitchell on
lap 3. With 3 laps remaining Holmes capitalised
on a mistake from Watson whilst putting him under
pressure and took over 2nd place where he stayed
until the chequered flag showing enormous amounts
of determination and dedication.
Holmes commented after the weekend’s
action:
“I am happy to have pulled a 2nd place
in the 2nd race as my shoulder was and still
is really hurting me at this point. I was pleased
with my qualifying performance and my mid week
start practice sure has paid off with the 2
great Holeshots! It was a shame to crash in
the 1st race but this is the nature of our sport
and I am thankful for all my top of the line
protective gear especially my Leatt Brace, Leatt
body armour, CTI Knee Braces and Gaerne boots.
I just want to say thanks again to all the team
who helped this weekend and give a huge shout
out to my awesome sponsors who have made all
this possible.”
Holmes Racing would
like to take this opportunity to thank
GR Electrical Services PEP Suspension, Goldspeed
Tires, SHIFT Racing, DWT, Laegers, HINSON, DP
Brakes,Twin Air, Kutvek Kit Graphik, Motion
Pro, RNR, ATVs Only, AXP, BORN, Quad Tech, Renthal,
TPSL, Gaerne, Muk Junkie, Pulse Beats and Lonestar
Racing for their continued support and also
thank and welcome to the team new sponsors DOMA
Exhausts, Drag’on DistributionATV NRG,
Drag’on Tek, MOTUL, ATV World, Action
Cameras, GoPro, SAMCO hoses, Racebikebitz, Pro
Armour, Tire Balls, Leatt, USWE and Elkay Sports.
