 |
Richard
Tordoff
|
Cypress, CA (4/28/2008)
- The Filtec GYTR Team Yamaha team travelled across
the Irish Sea at the weekend, the spectacular
Desertmartin Grand Prix Motocross Circuit the
venue for round two of the 2008 ACU British MMX
Quad Championship on Saturday the 26th of April.
After a fantastic start to the season with a 2nd
overall at the opening round, Richard Tordoff
made the trip from Elland hoping for similar results,
and as the team packed up after a fantastic days
racing, the Filtec GYTR Team Yamaha rider had
bravely battled through a back injury sustained
early in the final moto to narrowly miss out on
another overall podium finish, Ricky tying for
3rd on points but losing out on the second race
finish rule while safely maintaining his 2nd position
in the British Championship standings.
Race One
With the overnight and early morning rain showers
making way for glorious sunshine as practice
commenced, the sandy Desertmartin circuit was
in ideal condition for racing. Securing a front
row start after posting 11th fastest time in
timed practice around the challenging Porters
Pit circuit, Ricky got good drive off the line
and powered the Filtec GYTR Team Yamaha YFZ450
around the sweeping first corner and out on
to the opening lap in 9th position. A small
mistake on the second circulation of the one
mile sand based track saw Ricky drop back to
10th, but quickly settling in to a rhythm and
using the excellent handling of the Lonestar
/ Ohlins TTX suspension, Ricky started to make
his way back up the leaderboard, regaining 9th
after passing Ricky Toye on lap four.
With the Goldspeed SC tyres
working well in the loose surface, Mark Watson
on the Anderson ATV Suzuki, Johnny Kelly on
the Eglinton Timber Products Honda and Leon
Beda on the 131 Racing Yamaha were all demoted
in successive laps as the race approached half
distance. Now running in 6th and with a clear
track in front, Ricky pushed hard over the next
three laps to close the gap to the Lamos Yamaha
of Simon Hammersley, catching and passing Hammersley
for 5th on lap ten. Continuing to scythe his
way through the back markers in pursuit of the
rider in fourth, Ricky gradually closed the
gap over the remaining four laps, but unfortunately
time was not on his side, Ricky taking the chequered
flag after fourteen laps for a well deserved
5th position.
Race Two
 |
Richard
Tordoff
|
The Goldspeed SC tyres dug deep
on the start as the gates dropped for moto two,
the SCT tuned YFZ motor pulling strongly off
the line and propelling Ricky around the first
corner in a fantastic 3rd. Setting a blistering
pace over the opening three laps, Ricky quickly
closed the gap to Paul Winrow on the Winrow
Honda UK Racing TRX and was well poised to challenge
for 2nd when a hard landing in the whoops section
of the circuit jarred his back and forced Ricky
to ease off. Unable to stand on his footpegs
as a result of the pain, Ricky tried in vain
to fend of the challenge of the ensuing riders,
dropping back to 7th as the race entered the
second half. With the initial pain starting
to subside and the Lonestar / Ohlins TTX combination
smoothing out the bumps, Ricky was able to gradually
increase his pace over the remaining seven laps
of the race, passing Chris North on the ATV
UK Racing Honda on lap eight for 6th place,
Ricky riding through the pain barrier and easily
holding this position to the chequered flag
to tie on points for 3rd overall, only missing
out on the final step of the podium as a result
of a lower second race finish.
Ricky Tordoff
“ It’s been a frustrating day really
even though the end result has been good. Richard
and Ian did a great job with the bike again
and it was working a treat, but I struggled
a bit to get in to a good rhythm in practice
and didn’t put in the best qualifying
lap. It’s an awesome circuit and there
are loads of areas where you can make up time
but the slightest mistake and you can lose a
lot of time as well. I changed on to the Goldspeed
SC tyres after practice and they suited me better
in the ruts that the sidecar guys had made.
It took me a few laps to get settled down in
the first moto but I was able to make up quite
a few places and was happy with 5th. The second
race I felt really strong and was catching Paul
until I got a bad kick of the top of the whoops
and jarred my back on landing. I wasn’t
able to stand on the footpegs for a couple of
laps so I couldn’t push as hard, but after
a while the pain subsided enough for me to get
back up to pace and salvage 6th. It would have
been nice to have finished on the podium but
the main thing is that I have maintained my
2nd position in the Championship and can still
challenge Paul.
The next round is in Dean Moor
and it’s a track which I really like and
have done well on in the past so I’m looking
forward to it.”
ATV
Race Results |
| Race
One |
Race
Two |
- Paul Winrow
- Wayne Tyson
- Paul Holmes
- Stefan Murphy
- Ricky Tordoff
|
- John Mitchell
- Paul Winrow
- Mark Watson
- Carl Bunce
- Paul Holmes
- Ricky Tordoff
|
|
| Championship
Standings (after 2 of 8 rounds) |
- Paul Winrow 97
- Ricky Tordoff 73
- Paul Holmes 54
- Mark Watson 51
- David Hammersley 50
|
About Yamaha:
Yamaha ATVs and SxS vehicles are designed, engineered
and built tough! Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A.
headquarters are located in Cypress, California.
For more information on Yamaha, visit yamaha-motor.com.
www.yamaha-motor.com
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