Apico Husqvarna had their last official race of the season at the 38th Weston Beach Race down on the Somerset coast. This would mark the teams 5th year competing at the event and Apico’s 6th year attending and raising money for charity. As the season finale, the weather was not going to put a dampener on the spirits and the last outing in 2021.
Apico Factory Racing had the Apico Hydration Station down on the promenade in conjunction with Ice Valley, where people could donate to Air Ambulance UK in memory of Jude Morris. The team setup certainly looked factory on the day with 4 awnings incorporating the Hydration Station and displaying the Husqvarna machinery of Stuart Edmonds on the FC450, Matt Burrows switching to the FC350 and Jamie Law on his TC250.
All the bikes were prepped with the usual beach race must-haves including oversized fuel tanks, O-ring chains, steel sprockets, filter and radiator covers to name a few of the products that help to finish one of the toughest endurance races the U.K. has to offer.
Jamie Law, 25 Husqvarna TC250 MX2 7th Overall
“After a different start, where we had to run to our bikes, I managed to get down to the gates inside the first 20 riders. I fell at the first dune after getting caught in an early pile-up. It felt like there were hundreds of riders in front of me at the end of the straight. I pushed on and cleared the larger dunes, then coming back through the smaller dunes I got a bit impatient and took a fresh line that buried the bike and it took more time and energy to get it out than I would have spent by waiting. Just in case that was a fluke, I made the same mistake again on the next lap! I settled into the race by lap 4 finding my flow and getting my head down to make up positions to finish 7th at the line. I was happy enough with the result after not feeling 100% leading up to the event. That said, with the mistakes I made during the race it could have been a lot worse. I’d like to thank all of the team and my family along with my sponsors for another great season”.
Matt Burrows, 25 Husqvarna FC250 MX2 8th Overall
“I’ve never known a Weston like it, I made a mistake at the first dune and fell off before getting straight back on and getting down the straight in the first 50 – 100 riders, the place was like a war zone! Jamie was stuck on the first lap and I went past him and then caught and passed my brother down the straight on the second lap to get into the top 35 riders. From this point, I made up positions and by lap 6 I was settled into the top 10. I’ve ridden a few Weston Beach Races and I’ve never known the weather to be as unpredictable and rain as heavy. I took my first pitstop of two at the 1.20hr mark. I pitted again whilst in 6th place with 38 minutes to go and had to change my goggles and refuel my bike as my pit crew had abandoned me! I’d also used all of the material on my front brakes and had to push the piston open and not use it. This is when Jamie caught and passed me along with another rider and I managed to finish 8th overall”.
Stuart Edmonds, 162 Husqvarna FC450 MX1 9th Overall
“I’d managed to get well placed out of parc fermé and clear the first dune for 5th down the start straight. I went through the big dunes without issues and it was when I hit the small corner dune I was caught out and lost some time. I managed to get into my flow again on lap 2, though it was when I came down one of the larger dunes I hit a bike in front, falling off and someone ran over my leg. The first couple of laps were absolute carnage. I got into a rhythm and started to make positions before pitting on the hour inside the top ten. That didn’t go to plan initially as I couldn’t find my pit crew! The second hour was hard with a couple of crashes, I managed to catch up with Carlton Husband and then crashed again. At the 2 hr point, I’d managed to pass my teammate Matt, though then lost the position after another big crash. I then managed to ride out the rest of the race sore and with a battered bike finishing 9th at the flag. I’d like to thank all my sponsors and the team for their help in preparing for this insane event”.
Dylan: Another year, another Weston! It’s good to be back with the team and the Apico Hydration Station. This year we changed things slightly and raised money for Air Ambulances U.K. in memory of Jude Morris. This charity still helps GWAAC, which we’ve collected for the previous 5 Westons, amongst other Air Ambulance charities. I have to take my hat off to Mark Morris and the people involved in raising money for Jude Morris, which must be close to the £70,000 milestone now, I hope the charity auctions and other efforts to raise funds in Jude’s name help to hit the £101k, eventually.
Racing was business as usual for the now seasoned Apico Husqvarna Weston competitors of Jamie Law, Matt Burrows and Stuart Edmonds. Jamie had it all to do on the 2 stroke, after a tough start he showed the grit and determination we’ve come to expect from his performances this year bringing it home in 7th position, the highest place of our riders. Matt led the team for most of the race. He’s competed in this event more than the others and has had some impressive results over the years. It was business as usual for him as he had a pretty much problem-free race until losing his front brake at the end, coming home in 8th. Stuart had a tough race too, with a few crashes and getting run over, he still managed to push on to bring his Husqvarna FC450 home in 9th for a 7,8,9 place finish for the team.
I’d like to thank Anna, the sponsors, riders, mechanics, media team and families for all helping this season. We’ve had some of the best results of recent years and that’s down to the hard work and dedication of the team. We’ve all gone that extra mile to make sure we have done our best. We now look to 2022 and hope to improve further on our achievements to date.