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KTM UK's
Mark Watson took first place in Moto
1 but was experienced a broken axle
right before the finish in Moto 2 putting
an end to taking an almost sure overall
victory at Dean Moor MX
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Whitehaven, England (8/4/2011) -
Team KTM UK rider Mark Watson
was dramatically denied an almost certain overall
victory at round four of the 2011 GOLDSPEED ACU
British Quad Championship this past weekend, a
broken axle while leading the final heat of the
day after dominating the opening moto cruelly
robbing Watson in front of his home crowd.
Promoted by the NETT Iveston & Satley MCC
at the spectacular Dean Moor Motocross Park
in his native Cumbria on Sunday the 24th of
July, Watson’s outstanding performance
as he strode to make it a hat-trick in succession
of British Overall wins at the venue, having
won there in 2009 and 2010, kept the large crowd
of spectators well entertained with a result
that extended his advantage over 3rd in the
series while still remaining in touch with the
number one spot.
With clear skies and an excellently prepared
circuit as action got underway with timed practice
and qualification, Watson took P2 in qualifying
just five one-hundredths of a second of pole
to secure a good pick of gate on the long run
to the first corner.
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Watson took
the holeshot by almost two ATV lengths
aboard his KTM 450SX
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Getting excellent drive from the GOLDSPEED
tires as the first of the two scheduled motos
got underway, Watson lead the field by almost
two clear bike-lengths to sweep around the first
corner in a cloud of dust for the first of sixteen
laps. With the PEP / Lonestar suspension combination
working perfectly to tame the challenging circuit
and maximize the power from the Team KTM UK
450 SX, Watson set a blistering pace from the
outset to take the fastest racing lap of the
weekend by almost half a second as he pulled
away from the ensuing pack. Maintaining consistent
lap-times as the race progressed, Watson built
up a fifteen second lead in the opening half
of the race before easing off in the closing
laps such was his advantage, taking a gate to
flag victory with a twelve second winning margin
for his maiden British Championship moto win
on the KTM 450 SX.
Slotting in to 2nd place as the final race
of the day got underway, Watson quickly adapted
to the heavily watered and slick surface conditions
and began to increase his pace with the track
coming to him, closing in on the leader before
taking the position with a quarter of the twenty-five
minute plus two-lap race having passed. Gradually
pulling away and opening up an almost two second
advantage in just three laps, Watson was well
placed for a maximum but unfortunately luck
was against him, a nasty kicker on the lip of
a drop-off pitching his bike out of shape on
take-off and the subsequent awkward landing
breaking the rear axle, Watson unable to continue
and forced to retire from the remainder of the
race.
“I can’t help but feel disappointed
at where I finished today, as I was in with
a great chance of taking the overall win before
the axle broke. It’s just one of those
things that can happen to anyone and is all
part of racing I suppose, but it’s still
a bitter pill to swallow. The Team KTM UK 450
SX has been working really well all weekend
and we got a really good set-up dialed in, and
in the first race I got a really good jump on
the gate and just rode my own race without any
dramas. In the second heat I was happy to gate
2nd and was able to make the pass for the lead
on lap 5 and started to pull a gap, but unfortunately
it wasn’t meant to be and these situations
just have to be put behind you and move on.
It’s been great to take my first British
Championship race win on the KTM 450 SX and
I think we’ve shown just how competitive
the production based KTM is against the Hybrid
bikes, so I’m really looking forward to
the next round at Langrish at the end of August
where I’ll be aiming for the top step
again”.
Mark would like
to thank the following sponsors for their continued
and much appreciated help and support –
KTM UK, GOLDSPEED, Fox, Born Energy, T.O.P Performance
Training, FMF, Motul, DWT, PEP, Berkshire Cycles,
Muc-Off, D.I.D, AXP, CP Pistons, Baldwin, Silentsport,
Lonestar, Quadtech, Precision, DP Brakes, Twin
Air, Renthal. SSi, Jakto, Pennine Environmental
Services, G-Force Suspension, One23mx.com, Hudgill
Caravan Park, Idol Speed, Motion Pro, FRO Systems,
Mojo, Samco Sport
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Goldspeed ACU British Quad Championship
- Round 4 - Dean Moor
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| Race 1 |
|
| Position |
Rider |
| 1 |
MARK WATSON Team KTM UK |
| 2 |
John Mitchell |
| 3 |
Paul Holmes |
| 4 |
Davy DeCuyper |
| 5 |
Stefan Murphy |
| 6 |
Paul Winrow |
| 15.. |
JAMES HELLEWELL Team KTM UK |
| Race 2 |
|
| Position |
Rider |
| 1 |
John Mitchell |
| 2 |
Paul Holmes |
| 3 |
David Wray |
| 4 |
Stefan Murphy |
| 5 |
Carl Bunce |
| 6 |
Justin Reid |
| Goldspeed
ACU British Quad Championship
- ATV Pro Points |
| Position |
Rider |
Points |
| 1 |
John Mitchell |
191 |
| 2 |
MARK WATSON Team KTM UK |
124 |
| 3 |
David Wray |
118 |
| 4 |
Carl Bunce |
114 |
| 5 |
Paul Holmes |
109 |
| 6 |
Giles Davis |
100 |
| 7 |
JAMES HELLEWELL Team KTM UK |
95 |
| 8 |
Justin Reid |
94 |
