Barnes Finishes Top Ten At Cosford
Words – Kieran Quinn, Photos - Pete Cobbe

Sunday the 6th of June saw Tony Nash and the dedicated QRA team promote the second round of the 2010 QRA ACU British Quad Cross Country Championship, the re-worked Cosford venue on the outskirts of Rugby providing a challenging test for the large entry of riders taking part in the seven-round series.

With fellow team-mate Justin Reid sidelined due to the fractured wrists sustained at Desertmartin a month earlier, Beverley Barnes stepped up to the plate to fly the flag for the Justwin Racing Team, and after a hectic three hours racing Barnes had once again proved that she has earned her enviable position as the only lady to be promoted to the Expert Class, Barnes putting in yet another fantastic display in spite of a problematic start to take a superb 8th on the day.

Rounding the first corner in 6th as the field charged out on the opening lap, Barnes began to immediately move through on the whoop section of the meticulously laid out track, only to have her progress cut short, a broken chain costing valuable time as she pushed the bike back to the pits to effect a repair. Working furiously to get underway but having dropped two laps to the leaders, Barnes set off at a blistering pace only to get caught out by a nasty kicker on the first full lap of the circuit and took a spectacular spill from her machine. Quickly dusting herself off but with no major damage to bike or rider, Barnes set off once again to make up positions, gradually increasing her pace as the track came to her and posting 3rd fastest lap time in the Expert class, bringing the Justwin Racing Can-Am home in 8th and moving to 7th in the series with just five points the gap to 4th. Slightly battered and bruised after the event, Barnes commented “things certainly didn’t go as planned this weekend, but given the circumstances I’m still upbeat about the final result and scoring good points. It was all a little hectic before the race as we had a problem with a flat battery which wouldn’t charge, then when we got that sorted the bike wouldn’t run properly, but we traced the problem to a loose battery terminal and made it to the line in the nick of time. When the chain broke I was lucky enough to be right beside the pits and was able to push the bike back in, but with losing twenty minutes I realise now that I was pushing a little too hard on what was effectively my first sighting lap, and got caught out in a really fast part of the circuit. When I got going again I found it a little difficult to find my rhythm as I was out on my own, but as some of the Pro Class riders began to come through I was able to pick my pace up and was able to stick with them with lap times consistently in the top three, so I’m really happy with that. I’d obviously have liked to have taken more points, but there are still five rounds to go and only fifteen points between the top seven places, so I’ll be focusing on the next meeting and know that a podium finish is within reach”.

 

Results 

Expert Class
1st – Brendan Retter, 2nd – Paul Harkness, 3rd – Antony Barrett, 4th – Nathan Palmer, 5th – Ricky Roberts…8th – Beverley Barnes Justwin Racing Can-Am

Championship Standings after Round 2 (of 7)

Pro Class
1st – Paul Winrow 50, 2nd – Ridian Wilford 38, 3rd – David Baldwin 34, 4th – Steve Atkins 32, 5th – Chris Cooper 30…16th – Justin Reid 8

Expert Class
1st – Paul Harkness 44, 2nd – Brendan Retter 40, 3rd – Antony Barrett 40, 4th – Sam Barrett 34, 5th – Val Bell 33…7th – Beverley Barnes 29

 

Next Race: Sunday 27th June 2010, GOLDSPEED ACU British Quad Championship Round 3, Wrangway Motocross Circuit, Nr Wellington, Somerset.