Top Ten Results Dean Moor - Round Two
Pos_Points___Name
1___211_____James Shaw
2___ 203____Paul Smith
3___ 192____Matthew Williamson
3___ 192____Daniel Parker
5 ___168____Bradley Lofthouse
6___166____David Anthony
6___166____Dean Simes
8___154____Jamie Hallet
9___152____Peter Eccles
10__151_____Paul Neale
Friday 24 April 2009
Kawasaki Masters Round 2 – Dean Moor
Dean Moor - Race Reports by Ryan Voase
The second round of the Kawasaki Masters Championship took place at Dean Moor on April 18 and 19. In perfect sunny conditions, the rolling hills and Lake District setting of the undulating and technical track, were set to witness some spectacular racing.
Saturdays opening races saw round one winner, the so far dominant Paul Smith, take a brace of wins. James Shaw figured highly too with a podium visiting second in race one, followed up by a fighting fifth in the second race of the day. Mathew Williamson improved his points tally with a second and sixth, while Daniel Parker took two third places with his spirited and precise riding technique.
Sunday dawned with competitors wondering if the Championship dominance of Paul Smith would continue. With tension building, the crowd were as eager as the riders themselves to see how this crucial race would unfold.
Paul Neale grabbed the lead out of the gate with Smith in hot pursuit and soon the two were battling in a race of their own. With just two laps to go, Smith took over at the front only to be thwarted by a determined Neale who took his first Kawasaki Masters win. Smith ended a close second and James Shaw claimed the last podium place.
An early race mistake saw “Mr Consistency”, Daniel Parker, take the flag for forth followed by Mathew Williamson in fifth despite riding for half the race on a flat rear tyre!
Race two burst from the starting gate with James Shaw talking the holeshot closely followed by Neale and Smith. As before, it became a two way battle at the front as Neale slipped off and left Shaw battling with Smith for honours.
By half way Smith had made the lead his own and it looked like the Sheffield based rider would be on the top step once more. Then, after an uncharacteristic mistake, Smith tumbled with just two laps left and Shaw pushed through for his first win and the overall win for the weekend.
Smith remounted a rode hard to finish 13th making him second overall and Mathew Williamson stood on the third step of the podium for the last race and the weekend overall.
Quotes:
James Shaw: – "After victory on race one: I am really pleased to finally get the win, it was tough, my hands were sore, but all that’s forgotten now I have won!”
Paul Smith: "I had another good day. I lost the front end in that last race which cost me the overall win."
Mathew Williamson: "I rode from lap two in the first race on Sunday with a flat tyre and still got as fifth, I have to be happy with that”
Paul Neale: "I injured my wrist on the Saturday but when I stated to lead the race the adrenaline kicked in and I held on for the win, what a great race!"
The second round of the Kawasaki Masters Championship took place at Dean Moor on April 18 and 19. In perfect sunny conditions, the rolling hills and Lake District setting of the undulating and technical track, were set to witness some spectacular racing.
Saturdays opening races saw round one winner, the so far dominant Paul Smith, take a brace of wins. James Shaw figured highly too with a podium visiting second in race one, followed up by a fighting fifth in the second race of the day. Mathew Williamson improved his points tally with a second and sixth, while Daniel Parker took two third places with his spirited and precise riding technique.
Sunday dawned with competitors wondering if the Championship dominance of Paul Smith would continue. With tension building, the crowd were as eager as the riders themselves to see how this crucial race would unfold.
Paul Neale grabbed the lead out of the gate with Smith in hot pursuit and soon the two were battling in a race of their own. With just two laps to go, Smith took over at the front only to be thwarted by a determined Neale who took his first Kawasaki Masters win. Smith ended a close second and James Shaw claimed the last podium place.
An early race mistake saw “Mr Consistency”, Daniel Parker, take the flag for forth followed by Mathew Williamson in fifth despite riding for half the race on a flat rear tyre!
Race two burst from the starting gate with James Shaw talking the holeshot closely followed by Neale and Smith. As before, it became a two way battle at the front as Neale slipped off and left Shaw battling with Smith for honours.
By half way Smith had made the lead his own and it looked like the Sheffield based rider would be on the top step once more. Then, after an uncharacteristic mistake, Smith tumbled with just two laps left and Shaw pushed through for his first win and the overall win for the weekend.
Smith remounted a rode hard to finish 13th making him second overall and Mathew Williamson stood on the third step of the podium for the last race and the weekend overall.
Quotes:
James Shaw: – "After victory on race one: I am really pleased to finally get the win, it was tough, my hands were sore, but all that’s forgotten now I have won!”
Paul Smith: "I had another good day. I lost the front end in that last race which cost me the overall win."
Mathew Williamson: "I rode from lap two in the first race on Sunday with a flat tyre and still got as fifth, I have to be happy with that”
Paul Neale: "I injured my wrist on the Saturday but when I stated to lead the race the adrenaline kicked in and I held on for the win, what a great race!"
Sunday 19 April 2009
Rider Report - Paul Neale
Paul Neale was just one of an enthusiastic full entry of riders for the first round of the Kawasaki Masters Championship held at Culham.
As part of our new “Riders Report” feature, we asked Paul about his career so far and his ambitions for the future. Here is what he said:
Paul, tell us about when you very first started out in MX
As part of our new “Riders Report” feature, we asked Paul about his career so far and his ambitions for the future. Here is what he said:
Paul, tell us about when you very first started out in MX
"I think I first rode a bike when I was 6 years old as my dad took me to a motocross meeting and I just wanted to have a go at it. I used to ride a PW50 around the garden for fun and then I got a Kawasaki KX60, which I had to get used to the clutch and gears in the garden also.
I decided to skip the auto class and at 6 years of age I found it really hard to get used to the geared bike, which I used to ride without a seat because I wasn’t tall enough! I then started racing with the Mid Wilts schoolboy club for enjoyment in about 1998."
So how did you fit this in with school work. Did you have an understanding school and how did your parents help with your education?
"I just fitted Motocross in with school by riding and racing at the weekends, which I still do now. I never really have had days off of school to go racing or practicing as you can just go in the holidays, as loads of tracks are now open on Wednesdays and Thursdays which is good. It’s pretty hard to keep up with the school work when doing a lot of two day events, but it hasn’t been that much of a problem since I started racing in 1997"
OK – now tell us about how you progressed. Did you do well right away or was it a lot of hard graft?
"Well when I started racing there was a lot of last placed finishes LOL. I suppose it took me a good couple of years to start finishing in the top 10 at local club meetings… and then a pretty long time until I started winning them.
There was always a group of us that used to go practising at a good track a couple of nights a week after school which had jumps, banked corners and other things which I think helped really well when trying to learn new skills on the bike. Because we had it to ourselves as well I think it helped a lot more as we could just practice certain sections and stuff.
I think I progressed the most when I moved up onto a Big Wheel KX85 as I started getting top 10 finishes at the Nationals, and managed to even win a moto at one of them, which was really good for me at that time."
I decided to skip the auto class and at 6 years of age I found it really hard to get used to the geared bike, which I used to ride without a seat because I wasn’t tall enough! I then started racing with the Mid Wilts schoolboy club for enjoyment in about 1998."
So how did you fit this in with school work. Did you have an understanding school and how did your parents help with your education?
"I just fitted Motocross in with school by riding and racing at the weekends, which I still do now. I never really have had days off of school to go racing or practicing as you can just go in the holidays, as loads of tracks are now open on Wednesdays and Thursdays which is good. It’s pretty hard to keep up with the school work when doing a lot of two day events, but it hasn’t been that much of a problem since I started racing in 1997"
OK – now tell us about how you progressed. Did you do well right away or was it a lot of hard graft?
"Well when I started racing there was a lot of last placed finishes LOL. I suppose it took me a good couple of years to start finishing in the top 10 at local club meetings… and then a pretty long time until I started winning them.
There was always a group of us that used to go practising at a good track a couple of nights a week after school which had jumps, banked corners and other things which I think helped really well when trying to learn new skills on the bike. Because we had it to ourselves as well I think it helped a lot more as we could just practice certain sections and stuff.
I think I progressed the most when I moved up onto a Big Wheel KX85 as I started getting top 10 finishes at the Nationals, and managed to even win a moto at one of them, which was really good for me at that time."
Now give a us a quick run down of the classes of racing and the clubs you have raced for...
"I have raced for a number of clubs series since I started riding and these include Mid Wilts schoolboy scramble club, Corsham SSC, Severn Valley SSC, and the BSMA Nationals. I then switched to the AMCA in 2007 with the Dursley club. I am currently in the Stroud and District club doing the AMCA championship and also the British Masters."
Tell us something about the support you get from your family Paul.
"None of my family have ever ridden or raced motocross before. I am the first, but they all give me loads of support. Both my parents come every weekend no matter what and also my brother and sister come to watch regularly. Also recently, my Brother in law has started racing, so he now comes with us to a lot of the races which is good."
"I have raced for a number of clubs series since I started riding and these include Mid Wilts schoolboy scramble club, Corsham SSC, Severn Valley SSC, and the BSMA Nationals. I then switched to the AMCA in 2007 with the Dursley club. I am currently in the Stroud and District club doing the AMCA championship and also the British Masters."
Tell us something about the support you get from your family Paul.
"None of my family have ever ridden or raced motocross before. I am the first, but they all give me loads of support. Both my parents come every weekend no matter what and also my brother and sister come to watch regularly. Also recently, my Brother in law has started racing, so he now comes with us to a lot of the races which is good."
What about your current sponsors, why they are with you, how did you get these sponsors?
"This year had been good for me as I have managed to receive a lot of help and support from many sponsors. These include Thornbury MX, SixSixOne, Proppa.com, Ultimate Windows and Jeremy Bingham Personal Training.
All of these companies and people help me out loads which I am grateful for as it helps in many ways throughout the season and also financially as motocross is an expensive sport.
If anyone would like to help me out in the future I would appreciate it loads and they can contact me on Neale_599@hotmail.com."
Finally let's talk about two more things:
"This year had been good for me as I have managed to receive a lot of help and support from many sponsors. These include Thornbury MX, SixSixOne, Proppa.com, Ultimate Windows and Jeremy Bingham Personal Training.
All of these companies and people help me out loads which I am grateful for as it helps in many ways throughout the season and also financially as motocross is an expensive sport.
If anyone would like to help me out in the future I would appreciate it loads and they can contact me on Neale_599@hotmail.com."
Finally let's talk about two more things:
- Firstly, talk us through your recent injury
"This was just a small thing that should have never of really happened. I went practicing in the school holidays just before the season was about to start and cased a double jump as the take off was a bit slippery and ended up braking both of my legs.
It wasn’t very pleasant at all but I still went and watched the races every weekend and found I learnt a lot of things when watching other riders. It also made me realise how much fun it is and when I started racing again I enjoyed it a lot more. At first I was trying a bit too hard and kept crashing but managed to ride pretty well as the season ended."
- Now give us a few words on your ambitions as a rider and a person. What do you want to achieve on and off the bike.
"My goals for this year are to win the Kawasaki Masters and do as well as I can in the AMCA championship, as it will be my first year doing it.
In the future I would like to be a top championship rider hopefully putting myself in a position where I can get picked for the Great Britain IMBA team. This would be a good experience for me and I think I could do this if I keep trying to improve all the time and I hope to keep riding for as long as possible as it’s the sport that I enjoy the most, by far!
Finally, I would just like to say a big thank you for everyone that has helped me out over the years and see you at the races!!!"
"This was just a small thing that should have never of really happened. I went practicing in the school holidays just before the season was about to start and cased a double jump as the take off was a bit slippery and ended up braking both of my legs.
It wasn’t very pleasant at all but I still went and watched the races every weekend and found I learnt a lot of things when watching other riders. It also made me realise how much fun it is and when I started racing again I enjoyed it a lot more. At first I was trying a bit too hard and kept crashing but managed to ride pretty well as the season ended."
- Now give us a few words on your ambitions as a rider and a person. What do you want to achieve on and off the bike.
"My goals for this year are to win the Kawasaki Masters and do as well as I can in the AMCA championship, as it will be my first year doing it.
In the future I would like to be a top championship rider hopefully putting myself in a position where I can get picked for the Great Britain IMBA team. This would be a good experience for me and I think I could do this if I keep trying to improve all the time and I hope to keep riding for as long as possible as it’s the sport that I enjoy the most, by far!
Finally, I would just like to say a big thank you for everyone that has helped me out over the years and see you at the races!!!"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)