Foxhills - Race Report
They don’t come any more impressive than Foxhills, and when the 1.4km track played host to the forth round of the Kawasaki Masters the prospect of riding on such an auspicious track was no doubt daunting.
That said, the KX250F mounted riders pushed nerves aside for the qualifying session which witnessed James Shaw at the top of the sheet with an impressive 3min 15 sec lap, some four seconds ahead of Paul Smith in second. Daniel Parker, Mathew Williamson and David Anthony followed with Bradley Lofthouse and Jamie Hallet in sixth and seventh places respectively. Paul Neale was clearly not 100% in the groove as his eighth place showed, but nobody would bet against him in the races proper.
Race one bore this out with an impressive display by Neale leading for all but one of the laps. Canny Paul Smith was hard on his heels for second and James Shaw on the last podium step after being second for much of the race.
In the second moto Smith made good and won having led for the final six of the eight laps. Paul Neale was just behind him and Shaw now third, but none the less impressive.
The third race was won in determined style by Paul Smith. No one even got a sniff of the lead as he dominated from lap one until lap seven, a magnificent ride and a marker for the final race of the day. Following him past the checkered flag James Shaw and Mathew Williamson were pleased to be up at the pointy end. Not so perhaps for Paul Neale who realised that he needed to keep in the points to stand a chance of vying with Smith for overall championship honours.
Neale did better in the final race, finishing a creditable third but his nemesis, Smith was there, two steps further up the paddy by race end. Between them Shaw was a comfortable second and Williamson, quietly racking up points, a menacing forth.
