MxLarge Story
Pocock misfortune in Maxxis British MX2 Championship
News Wednesday 10th October 2012
Not everything can be perfect in Motocross. For Mel Pocock the last round of the Maxxis British Motocross Championship was far from the day he would have hoped. Tension was at an all time high at the hillside track of Little Silver, Exter. Usually seen at the beginning of the season, the fast and technical track saw the Championship come together for an epic finale.
In the first MX2 start it was the two contenders Mel Pocock and Elliot Banks-Browne who took to do battle. The pressure was on for both riders as every action was vital to the outcome of the day. A stone smashed the front sprocket and broke the crancase the gearbox which left Mel Pocock having to retire from the race. Despite going into race 1 with a 16 point lead the DNF dropped the undeserving rider back to a 9 point deficit.
In MX1 despite losing the Championship Shaun showed his best performance all year, and in the first race Shaun stormed through and overtook Strijbos toward the end of the race, Taking the first moto win.
In the second race for Mel it was everything to play for as he needed to break the top 20 overall to make it into the mixed race at the end of the day. Mel steered the Cosworth powered Monser Energy Bike It Yamaha round the track, constantly battling with rival Elliot Banks-Browne. A small Mistake by Elliot cost him some places as the electric start jammed, and was caused to bump start his machine. This left Mel to take the moto win and Elliot now had a 1 point deficit.
In what some would argue as a bad way to end a championship, the top 20 MX1 and top 20 MX2 boys lined up alongside eachother in what would be a furious battle for an MX2 title and MX1 Overall. With an immense amount of pressure things took a twisted turn of fate as the start was red flagged – turning Elliots last place start into a holeshot. This caused Mel Pocock, alongside some bar banging in the third corner after being hit by Strijbos Mel went from 6th to 13th and a tough job to catch up. Pounding in lap after lap Mel worked his way closer to the front but a traffic jam caused by MX1 title holder Kevin Strijbos made it even more difficult for Mel to pass. Shaun Simpson was on a flyer and stormed into the lead and left the rest of the pack far behind. Despite his best efforts Mel was unable to pass EBB and couldn't take the MX2 title. Shaun took the MX1 overall to finish his British Championship season.
The Team would like to congratulate both Mel and Shaun on their runner up positions in the ACU British Motocross championship for 2012 and the extreme effort and hard work everyone has put in.
Shaun Simpson:
'It's been a great way to end my season, I would have liked to have been closer to Strijbos and battled for the Championship today but I showed that I had good speed and determination to pull off the win today and at least stand on the top of the podium for one time this season. I took some great starts today and rode calculated the whole time. I enjoyed the track and was just pumped to put on a good show at what is my last championship race this season."
Steve Dixon:
"It's been a great season for the team despite the injuries with Zach having 2 podiums at the US Supercross and 3 podiums apon his return from injury, plus 2 wins in the British races he competed in. Arnaud won the major pre-season internationals and had a podium in the last round of the GP which was filled by two of our riders. Shaun finished the season on high winning the last British round and then of course the highlight of the year was Mel winning the European champinship with 6 out of 7 wins.
Unfortunately my fears of the mixed British race at the last round came true. I proposed to the ACU that the last round should not be mixed as there is to many variables going on. For me it would have been nice to see a battle in the last race between Elliot and Mel to win the title, this did not happen as other factor came into play, but either Mel or Elliot were worthy champions so congratulations to Elliot who actually became the third generation in the Banks family to win a british title.
Once again many thanks to our great sponsors, roll on 2013 in which is going to be an exciting year in the MX2 World championships"
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In MX1 despite losing the Championship Shaun showed his best performance all year, and in the first race Shaun stormed through and overtook Strijbos toward the end of the race, Taking the first moto win.
In the second race for Mel it was everything to play for as he needed to break the top 20 overall to make it into the mixed race at the end of the day. Mel steered the Cosworth powered Monser Energy Bike It Yamaha round the track, constantly battling with rival Elliot Banks-Browne. A small Mistake by Elliot cost him some places as the electric start jammed, and was caused to bump start his machine. This left Mel to take the moto win and Elliot now had a 1 point deficit.
In what some would argue as a bad way to end a championship, the top 20 MX1 and top 20 MX2 boys lined up alongside eachother in what would be a furious battle for an MX2 title and MX1 Overall. With an immense amount of pressure things took a twisted turn of fate as the start was red flagged – turning Elliots last place start into a holeshot. This caused Mel Pocock, alongside some bar banging in the third corner after being hit by Strijbos Mel went from 6th to 13th and a tough job to catch up. Pounding in lap after lap Mel worked his way closer to the front but a traffic jam caused by MX1 title holder Kevin Strijbos made it even more difficult for Mel to pass. Shaun Simpson was on a flyer and stormed into the lead and left the rest of the pack far behind. Despite his best efforts Mel was unable to pass EBB and couldn't take the MX2 title. Shaun took the MX1 overall to finish his British Championship season.
The Team would like to congratulate both Mel and Shaun on their runner up positions in the ACU British Motocross championship for 2012 and the extreme effort and hard work everyone has put in.
Shaun Simpson:
'It's been a great way to end my season, I would have liked to have been closer to Strijbos and battled for the Championship today but I showed that I had good speed and determination to pull off the win today and at least stand on the top of the podium for one time this season. I took some great starts today and rode calculated the whole time. I enjoyed the track and was just pumped to put on a good show at what is my last championship race this season."
Steve Dixon:
"It's been a great season for the team despite the injuries with Zach having 2 podiums at the US Supercross and 3 podiums apon his return from injury, plus 2 wins in the British races he competed in. Arnaud won the major pre-season internationals and had a podium in the last round of the GP which was filled by two of our riders. Shaun finished the season on high winning the last British round and then of course the highlight of the year was Mel winning the European champinship with 6 out of 7 wins.
Unfortunately my fears of the mixed British race at the last round came true. I proposed to the ACU that the last round should not be mixed as there is to many variables going on. For me it would have been nice to see a battle in the last race between Elliot and Mel to win the title, this did not happen as other factor came into play, but either Mel or Elliot were worthy champions so congratulations to Elliot who actually became the third generation in the Banks family to win a british title.
Once again many thanks to our great sponsors, roll on 2013 in which is going to be an exciting year in the MX2 World championships"























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