De Dycker and Searle rule in Ireland

CAS Honda rider Ken De Dycker took a positive step towards the defence of his MX1 British crown as he closed in on current series leader Billy MacKenzie - De Groot Kawasaki, with two moto wins at the fifth round of the series held in Northern Ireland.  The 2007 Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship moved past the halfway point with some fantastic racing in both classes at the superb Desertmartin circuit.

Teenage sensation Tommy Searle - KTM UK strengthened his position at the top of the MX2 standings by taking the overall win just ahead of Tom Church - Molson Kawasaki, as Church's team mate Gareth Swanepoel suffered a disastrous day with a 18-8 showing. Mike Brown - CAS Honda now moves ahead of Swanepoel in the series, to become Searle's nearest challenger.

Local favourite Gordon Crockard - PAR Honda played his part in entertaining his home fans with a third and second place over the two races. Poor qualification by Crockard did not help his starts, with the Ulsterman having to come through the pack on both occasions to earn his runners up spot overall. Whilst De Dycker dominated the second moto from the front, Crockard was by far the quickest rider on the track with lap times two seconds faster than his Honda counterpart.

The last three laps of the second MX1 encounter saw some of the best racing seen this season, with Crockard, MacKenzie, Brad Anderson - Pioneer Yamaha and James Noble -Multitek Honda all fighting it out for the overall runners up spot, with all four tied on a virtual fifty points apiece at this late stage in the day.

Another local rider, this time in the form of Martin Barr - Bike It Yamaha, endured a mixed day. Barr qualified fastest in the MX2 class and then took second position in the opening moto, but was taken down on the second corner of race two. Martin was forced to visit the work area to straighten a bent gear lever, but went out of the race later on as his gearbox seized as the full extent of the crash damage became apparent.

Sean Hamblin - Swift Suzuki saw his championship hopes fade as he lost vital ground to his rivals as he crashed out of the first moto and took no further part in the day. Reigning MX2 champion Carl Nunn - Bike It Yamaha continued his return to form with a second race win and third overall. Stephen Sword - Molson Kawasaki made a welcome return to the series after his long term injury, and recorded two top ten finishes to confirm he is back on the road to full recovery.


The next round of the series takes place at Whitby, North Yorkshire on Sunday 8th July 2007, please visit the all new official championship website - www.mxgb.co.uk - for further details.

MX1 Moto One: 1: De Dycker 2: Anderson 3: Crockard 4: MacKenzie 5: Noble
MX1 Moto Two: 1: De Dycker 2: Crockard 3: Noble 4: MacKenzie 5: Rose
MX1 Overall: 1: De Dycker 60 2: Crockard 52 3: Noble 46
Championship to date: 1: Mackenzie 260 2: De Dycker 247 3: Crockard 230

MX2 Moto One: 1: Searle 2: Barr 3: Church 4: Dougan 5: Brown
MX2 Moto Two: 1: Nunn 2: Church 3: Campano 4: Searle 5: Simpson
MX2 Overall: 1: Searle 53 2: Church 52 3: Nunn 49
Championship to date: 1: Searle 253 2: Brown 216 3: Swanepoel 210