MKM Rocketman Suzuki Take Four Podiums at Blackwood.
Jul 2008
Round four of the QRA British Quad Endurance Championship took place on Sunday 6th July at Blackwood in Wales and MKM Rocketman Suzuki achieved podiums in four out of the five classes.
Blackwood, which offers a variety of terrain in the track including a flowing MX section, unfortunately was subject to heavy rains throughout Saturday night and the track was halved in size due to un-ridable conditions. There was also talk of the race being shortened to two hours but it remained the standard three.
In the Pro class, both MKM Rocketman Suzuki riders Steve Atkins and Andrew Davies had good starts, staying in the top 5 for most of the race. Unfortunately Andrew Davies had a bad spill, injuring his back and causing him to retire. In the second half of the race the rain moved in and whilst others seemed to slow down, Atkins revelled in it, moving from 4th to 2nd by the time the three hours were up.
To say Lewis Hill dominated the Expert class would not be much of an exaggeration. From the start Hill had a commanding lead. Even with a slight mishap 2 hours into the race involving another rider hitting Hill from behind, bending up his bodywork and causing him to visit the pits for 5 minutes he still came in 1st place. This has put Lewis in 1st in the Expert class overall.
The Clubman class also allowed MKM Rocketman Suzuki to shine. Josh Chilcott took the lead early in the race and kept his focus throughout allowing him to go home with 1st place. Sam Barratt, who is still only in his first season of racing, is continuing to show improvement. Barratt had managed to make it up to 5th place. However, a technical problem forced him into the pits which meant he finished in 9th.
Liam Ryland continued to show how good his riding and the Suzuki LT-R450 are by again winning the Stock Class. Ryland led from the start and did not look back, even suffering a substantial crash he managed to get the bike back on its wheels and moving again without dropping any places, allowing him to still cross the line in first.
The only class that MKM Rocketman Suzuki did not manage to achieve a podium in this weekend was in the 4x4 class. Simon ‘Porky’ Davies suffered some bad luck with his throttle cable breaking on his first lap. Without a spare handy, the crew in the pits fashioned a make shift set-up. This allowed Davies to ride a few more laps but in the end he had to retire.
Lewis Hill commented after the race, “I’m really pleased, I’ve so far managed a podium in every round. I hope it continues. The track was reduced and was wet and muddy but my Suzuki LT-R450 was fantastic”.
George Cheeseman, Marketing Manager for the Motorcycle and ATV division commented, “This is another set of great results from MKM Rocketman Suzuki, they are showing the Enduro scene what the LT-R450 is capable of. I hope we continue to see results like this for the second half of the Championship”.
MKM Rocketman Suzuki will be racing this weekend at the Bastogne 6 hour Enduro where they will be fielding three teams.
