Race Report: Ken Hall International MX Trophy

The track was in perfect condition on Monday morning and with our 2 riders, James Harrison and Josh Coleman, taking part in the main Ken Hall solo race, the team were excited to get going.

Qualifying went amazingly, with James holding pole position for a lot of the session, only to get pushed into second place by current British MX2 champion, Steven Lenoir, late on. The margin that James lost pole position by was only 1/100^th of a second, beating GP regulars Tanel Leok and Jake Nicholls in the process. Josh had a good qualifying too in with a host of top Pro’s and ended up an impressive 15^th.

The excitement for race 1 to kick off was immense, as James looked to turn his qualifying time into a top race result. But, unfortunately, James got off the start really badly (best ask him the details J) and was actually in 35^th/last place going into the first corner! Josh got a good start in around 12^th place and was faring well early on. James had his work cut out and he came through the field at an amazing pace, passing 10 riders on lap one, then setting about some of the top 10 a few laps in. He passed the group of top 10 British MX2 riders including Lewis Tombs, Jordan Booker and Liam Knight around half distance and got into 5^th place. Running the same times as 4^th place former GP winner Tanel Leok late in the race, there wasn’t enough time to catch Leok, but 5^th place was awesome from last. Josh had a great race into 12^th place but just lost the tow off the group in front of him mid race to halt his progress.

So race 2 was set up to be a storming affair. James got a brilliant start and held a tight line going round the first corner to take the holeshot award, though race 1 winner Jake Shipton swept the first corner and flew around James dropping into turn 2 for the lead. Josh also had a great start, lying 9^th on lap 1. James rounded lap 1 still in second place ahead of Tanel Leok, Jake Nicholls and Steven Lenoir, but on lap 2, the rear spindle worked loose causing some traction issues and James was passed by Lenoir and Leok. Jake Nicholls fell on lap 1, so it was his turn to play catch up. Josh was having a storming ride in 9^th still until Nicholls came past, then a fall later on pushed Josh back to 13^th at the finish. James held a comfortable 4^th until the end, for a brilliant 4^th overall, ahead of GP rider Jake Nicholls who currently lies 3^rd in the British Championship. Josh’s 13^th place finish gave him a fantastic 11^th overall.

Lee Webber “It's always special to be racing at The Ken Hall, it's our big local event and we have a lot of fans, friends and family there to support us. James had an awesome ride and was so close to pole position in qualifying. He did great with 4th overall but it could have been so much more too. Josh rode out of his skin for 11th overall in a stacked class of Pro's. Felt very proud of both our riders and the whole team this weekend”

James Harrison “Monday was a really fun day for the Ken Hall Trophy meeting, it was really good to take part in a local race and have some fun with the local sponsors. I think my riding was pretty decent, I made a few silly mistakes but I really enjoyed the weekend, it was also really good practice for the final Maxxis round at Foxhill on Sept 18^th”

Josh Coleman “I had a really good days racing! I've been looking forward to riding this track for a while now, especially after having a great ride there on a 125cc 2 years ago. I enjoyed every minute of the racing and definitely was the most fun I’ve had all season. It was a good experience to be able to mix it up with the MX1 guys as well and now I just need to carry on where I left off for this weekend at Hawkstone Park. It was a very successful day for me and the whole team”