United Kingdom
(8/18/2010) - This
past weekend saw Mark Watson and the D3 DWT Motoworks
KTM Team travel North of the border to Fife, Quad
Racing Scotland hosting rounds four and five of
the 2010 GOLDSPEED ACU British Quad Championship
on Saturday the 14th and Sunday the 15th of August.
With glorious sunshine over the entire weekend
at the Comerton Farm venue near Leuchars, the
deep sand circuit proved to be a tough test for
all riders with some fantastic racing over two
days.
Travelling to the meeting on a high after taking
the overall win at his native Cumbrian Dean
Moor circuit at the beginning of the month and
reducing the deficit to the top spot to twelve
points, Watson approached the meeting focused
on a good result to further reduce the deficit,
and despite a somewhat frustrating weekend strewn
with bad luck and injury that threatened to
upset his game plan, Watson had fought valiantly
to overcome the many difficulties to sit 3rd
in the series with two rounds remaining.
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Mark Watson claimed
5th place in his fist outing of the
day after struggling with suspension
setup on the rough course
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As the first of the three scheduled twenty-minute plus two-lap motos got underway
on Saturday, Watson struggled of the line gating
just outside the top-ten and with a lot of work
to do to get to the front, but setting a frantic
pace from the outset he began to move through
the pack, moving up to 6th by the end of the third
circuit and reeling in the riders in front. As
the race approached the halfway point Watson was
slowly closing the gap to 5th, his pace slowed
somewhat by a less than ideal suspension set-up
in the rough conditions, moving up a position
with four laps to go but unable to improve any
further, taking the chequered after twenty-five
brutal minutes in 5th.
A few adjustments to the set-up in the interval
to the second heat saw Watson take to the line
with confidence, but any chance of getting away
at the front were dealt an early blow, another
rider collecting Watson around the first corner
and taking a nasty spill. Dropping to dead last
as he got underway, Watson set off at a blistering
pace almost half a lap behind the leaders and
immediately began to scythe his way through
the field, making up thirteen places in the
opening two laps and running 15th. Maintaining
his relentless pursuit as the race approached
the ten-minute mark, Watson had charged up the
board another seven spots for 8th before slotting
in to 6th with four laps remaining. Closing
in on the battling duo in front with the two-lap
board ready to be shown, Watson was well placed
to improve his position when disaster struck,
a broken tie rod calling an early end to his
race with a forced retirement. With the final
heat of the day cancelled due to a lack of time
after a delay earlier in the day, Watson had
to settle for 11th overall and dropped back
a spot in the series to 3rd.
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Mark Watson claimed
3rd place on Sunday's first race of
the day which would set him up for good
position & mindset for the rest
of the day
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Eager to improve on his previous days result, Sunday’s action did not get
off to a good start when his race bike suspension
failed during practice, forcing him to use his
spare bike for remainder of the day. An excellent
start to the opening race of the three heat program
saw Watson get superb drive off the line and round
the first corner in 2nd before surging in to the
lead on the next straight. Circulating at a furious
pace at the front of the field and pulling away
from the ensuing pack, Watson maintained the position
until the ten-minute mark, the suspension fade
that he had experienced the previous day returning
and preventing him from riding at full race pace.
Dropping back to 3rd as he battled in a three
way tussle for 2nd place, Watson regained 2nd
with three laps to go and held position until
the final lap, taking 3rd at the chequered flag
for another well deserved podium finish.
Changing his suspension settings between motos
to try to cure the problem in the previous heat,
Watson once again got fantastic drive of the
line and slotted in to 2nd as the field headed
out on the first of twelve laps. Dicing for
the lead with two other riders for the first
half of the race, a slight mistake saw Watson
drop back to 3rd as the race approached half
distance but still in touch with the leading
duo, but the return of the fading suspension
was to remove any chances of a possible win,
Watson forced to ease his pace as a result.
Dropping back to 8th as he continued to circulate
as fast as he could, Watson rode with determination
that he would not lose any further positions,
coming under intense pressure but resisting
the numerous challenges over the next five laps,
taking the chequered flag for a hard earned
8th.
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Mark Watson claimed
5th place in his last race of the weekend
which would allow him to keep his 3rd
place in the points chase for 2010
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As the gates dropped for the last outing of the day, Watson got a poor start by
his standards and gated mid-pack in a cloud of
dust, but quickly settling in to a fast pace around
the heavily roughed up circuit and began to rise
through the ranks. Climbing to 7th with three
laps gone in the reduced fifteen minute plus two-lap
moto, Watson continued to chase down the leading
group, slotting in to 6th as the race entered
the second half, but with time running out and
suffering severely from the effects of an injured
back sustained in the previous days racing, Watson
settled for 6th place at the flag, taking 5th
overall and maintaining his 3rd place in the series.
Commenting after the meeting, a clearly disappointed
Watson said “it’s been a frustrating
weekend and definitely not the result that I
had hoped for. The circuit here is really deep
sand and it gets really rough, and for some
reason we struggled to get a good set up with
the suspension fading after ten-minutes and
not coming back. We tried lots of different
settings but just couldn’t get it to work
the way I wanted, and with the poor starts on
Saturday I left myself with a lot of ground
to cover. The broken tie rod was probably a
result of damage in the first corner tangle
and is one of those things that cannot be factored
in, but I got better starts on Sunday and know
that with the right set-up I could have been
on the top step. Given the problems that we
have had and the fact that I was riding injured
on Sunday, I’m still in contention with
the leaders with the double-header at Culham
in September still to come in September. In
the meantime I’ll be making my first appearance
at Pont De Vaux this coming weekend and am really
looking forward to racing and the unique challenges
that the legendary race provides”.
Thanks to D3
KTM, Bandtmotorsalvage, MWC Ltd, DWT, Motoworks,
Berkshire Cycles, PG Tuning, DID, Rock Oil,
Muc-off, Quadtech, Goldspeed, Troylee, Alpinestars,
Shoei, Walsh, SFS, Silentsport, PEP Suspension,
SSI Decals, CP Pistons, AXP, Hinson, Goldfren,
FW Carbon, G-force Suspension, Rath Racing.
| 2010
Goldspeed ACU British Quad Championship
Saturday ATV Results |
