Reid Moves To 8th In Sunny Somerset

The natural terrain circuit at Asham Woods near Frome provided the venue for the latest round of the 2009 ACU British MMX Quad Championship, Justin Reid and Team Can-Am making the long trip to the Somerset location for the fourth of the nine round series on Sunday the 24th of May.  Showing a true return to form on the Can-Am DS450 Xmx with ever improving results as the season progresses, Justin travelled to the venue aiming for another good performance to improve his position in the series standings, and as the dust settled after a hot days racing Justin had overcome a nasty tumble in practice to finish a fantastic 8th overall on the day, Justin moving to 8th in the series with less than a twenty point deficit to a top five position.

Race One 

Clear blue skies and the hottest day of the year greeted the riders as they took to the circuit for timed qualification, things not going according to plan and Justin faced with last pick of gate after a nasty tumble early in the session prevented him from getting a flying lap.  As the gates dropped for the opening twenty-five minute plus two-lap moto, Justin got a fantastic start from the back row and rounded the hairpin first corner and out on the first lap in 9th.  With the hardpack surface throwing up a huge amount of dust and making visibility difficult, Justin settled in to a quick pace in the opening stages of the moto and gradually increased his tempo as he became acclimatised with the conditions.  Catching up to Lindsey Duke in 8th by the halfway point, Justin applied tremendous pressure as he battled with Lindsey for position, getting the better of Duke with less than ten minutes remaining and holding the position to take the chequered flag after fourteen hot and dusty laps for a fantastic 8th.

Race Two

Once again getting fantastic drive off the line and approaching the first corner inside the top ten, Justin’s hard work getting off the line was quickly negated with two tangled riders blocking his exit from the corner.  Finally getting underway in 25th, Justin set off in pursuit of the leading pack, and using the excellent handling of the PEP suspension and traction from the Carlisle tyres began to scythe his way through the pack, Justin relegating nine riders in the opening three circuits as he shot up to 16th.  With the track coming to him and his skills and fitness now playing a key role, Justin continued to blast his way through the field, gaining another five positions as he entered the second half of the moto, Justin taking the chequered flag for an outstanding 11th after making up fifteen positions in just eight laps!

Reid

‘I might have moved up a few places in the championship here but to be honest I’m sick of having to come from behind and salvage points, especially in conditions like these – I’d just love to get out front from the start and mix it with the guys at the front but I have no one to blame but myself today. I was pushing hard on my first clear lap in qualifying and the back end just came around as I jumped off the drop off at the back of the circuit. I landed pretty sideways and did a sort of unintentional ‘Nac Nac’ but couldn’t ride it out so I had to bail off. Unfortunately I did land quite hard and knocked my head a little so I wasn’t able to post a time. Thankfully there was a couple of hours before the first moto so I was able to get straightened out and start form the second row. The start here is very biased so I slotted in as close as I could to the inside. It paid off and I got a start that would have been decent for a front row position but the dust was so bad that it was really just a case of making a move when you could see that it was safe to do so, it was ridiculous really.

The second moto was pretty much the same only that I got held up in the first corner and had a lot more work to do. The dust wasn’t quite so bad so getting past some guys was a little easier. My Edge RF1 tyres were working absolutely fantastically and I was able to take some creative lines and out manoeuvre some guys in the turns. As I said, I just want to forget about today and look forward to the next race and scoring some real points.’

 

Results

Race One
Winner – Paul Winrow; 2nd – Paul Holmes; 3rd – Mattieu Ternynck; 4th – Joe Maessen; 5th – Leon Beda…8th – Justin Reid

Race Two
Winner – Paul Holmes; 2nd – Jason Macbeth; 3rd – Paul Winrow; 4th – Leon Beda; 5th – Joe Maessen…11th – Justin Reid

Championship Standings (after 4 of 9 rounds)
1st – Paul Winrow 178; 2nd – Paul Holmes 157; 3rd – Jason Macbeth 143; 4th – Leon Beda 114; 5th – Carl Bunce 99…8th Justin Reid 79

Next Race: Sunday 14th June – 2009 QRA ACU British Quad Cross Country Championship (Round 3), Hereford