The first round of the British Quad MX championship got underway at the Whiteway Barton track in Devon, England. Qualifying saw a few different faces running up front from the previously dominant pairing of Paul Winrow and John Mitchell. The top 5 spots in qualifying were held by Jason Macbeth (Honda), John Mitchell (ATV World/Yamaha), Joe Maessen (Team Yamaha/GYTR), Leon Beda (Team Yamaha/GYTR), and back from a year of injury from Northern Ireland- Justin Reid. Winrow was struggling with bike set up and qualified back in 9th place. A lot of teams turned up with new bikes and were running new equipment that they had not had a lot of time testing.
Race 1.
When the gate dropped in Race 1, one team dominated the holeshot- the Factory Team Yamaha GYTR riders of Joe Maessen and Leon Beda came around the 1st turn in their SCT tuned Yamaha YFZ450’s. The Yamaha riders held down the top spots till around the half way point when Anderson Suzuki rider Ricky Tordoff past Beda for 2nd place. Other riders struggling to come to terms with the track and the blistering pace laid down by the front runners. John Mitchell was back in the mid pack eventually finishing in 22nd place and Paul Winrow in 17th position. It looked like it was going to be a Yamaha 1 and 3 until the last turn when a lapper got in the way of Leon Beda and Jason Macbeth was able to sneak through for the last podium position.
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