Last Sunday the Chambers Racing Husqvarna team travelled to the spectacular Cusses Gorse course for round three of this years shortened MX Nationals with all five of their Pro riders in attendance.
Tom Grimshaw was this events, team top scorer, with a fourth overall in the pro-MX2’s. He had a great start in race one and kept a strong fast pace throughout the race for second rider home, but after being taken out on the first lap of race two Tom had to fight his way through the pack and ending his race in seventh place, just missing out on a podium position.
Jake Millward, like a lot of the other riders at the meeting, struggled with race bike setup, and this put him on the back foot come the races. Although he still finished eighth overall, he felt this was below where he should have finished.
The teams other MX1 rider, Aaron McCarroll after two good race starts suffered from several mistakes which saw him at the rear end of the pack, though he did score valuable championship points in both races.
Ben Franklin is still suffering from an injury he sustained at the end of last year but despite that, he finished ninth in the pro-MX2’s.
Jay Hague, the team’s third pro MX2 rider, crashed to the back of the pack in race one but fought his way back to eleventh place by the end of the race. He gated well in race two but slipped down the field till on lap six he pulled out of the race.
Tom Grimshaw – Pro MX2
“I got to the front in the first race and just rode my own lines with good speed and brought it home second of the MX2 riders, but in the second race I got taken down in the first lap and I had to come all the way forward from almost last. I had to fight my way through the other riders, many of them on MX1 machines, to seventh in the end. It was a battle all the way. The result isn’t too bad but it’s a little disappointing when a podium was on the cards after the first race. I am disappointed, but it is what it is.”
Jake Millward – Pro MX1
“I have struggled all day with bike setup. I have never felt so uncomfortable on a bike and was just riding around not feeling my usual self. I just couldn’t attack things as I felt as I wasn’t sure what the bike would do. We have to just go back to the drawing board and sort out the suspension to get back to where I know I should be in the races. That’s the most annoying bit as I know I should be up the front battling for a top third or fourth place finishes but not eighth or ninth. But we are still here in one piece and still smiling and we are going back to the bike setting we used last year and work from there with more and more testing before the next event.”
Aaron McCarroll – Pro MX1
“I had two reasonable starts but in the first race, I got collected on one of the turns by a couple of riders and went down and combined with a couple of other mistakes and a fall that sort of ruined that race. I thought I was riding well and maintaining a good pace in the second race, but a couple of mistakes cost me a higher place finish.”
Ben Franklin – Pro MX2
“I just made the best of a bad situation today. The wrist I broke last year has been giving me some grief and causing some problems. I haven’t been out training this week to give it a chance to heal. The first race I got tagged a couple of times and went down, but I thought I was driving OK and in the second I was riding a good steady pace. A hard landing from those big jumps with a hurt wrist isn’t good.”
Jay Hague – Pro MX2
“Like a lot of the other riders here today I just struggled all day with bike setup and was very uncomfortable on the bike.”