Last weekend in the MXGP of France, Bike It Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team rider Jack Chambers again had to progress from mid-pack starts to convert his initial seventeenth into his eventual thirteenth by half-distance in race one. Rain returned for race two but the American advanced from fifteenth to eleventh through the early stages before a couple of incidents left him fourteenth at the finish. He is now fifteenth in the MX2 championship points.

On the Saturday in France, Chambers had posted an impressive twelfth-fastest time in a dry Timed Practice but the American from the "Sunshine State" Florida was clearly not comfortable in the damp greasy conditions which greeted the riders in Qualifying as he finished fifteenth after being pushed off-track at turn one by an errant rival. Kawasaki-mounted French youngster Quentin Marc Prugnières qualified sixth.

"Another muddy race. We hoped the rain would hold off, but it came just before our Qualifying. We get those mid-afternoon storms back home in Florida too, but we don't have these hills and dirt. Anyway, I earnt a decent gate-pick for the GP motos; hopefully tomorrow will be dry."

On the Saturday at the Spanish GP a week earlier, Chambers rocketed out of the start in the qualifier, to run inside the top-ten until an incident with another rider on the opening lap saw him fall. Remounting around twentieth the young American rode a strong race from there to advance back to fourteenth at the finish.

"I got a decent start,” Chambers said in on the Saturday in Spain. “Around seventh to ninth - in quali but those first few laps are always hectic; I got close to another rider on the first lap, had a little fall, scraped my elbow again and that put me back to twentieth. I felt really solid with my racing but that fall on the first lap cost me. I need good laps at the beginning tomorrow and we can have two good motos. I like the track; it's super cool and very technical in many ways, not just the soil. The bumps quickly got square-edged and choppy, and the shadows played a factor too with the sunlight flickering through the trees."

Sunday in Lugo, Spain, Chambers showed good pace but could not convert their speed into top-ten placings as minor incidents cost him in both motos for the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship. Chambers posted good laps to advance from twentieth to fourteenth in race one but a fall on the first lap of race two left him trailing the field by nearly minute and the young American had to be content with twenty-third at the finish after a gruelling chase.

A week previous Chambers displayed top-ten pace in the Portuguese mud but had little reward at the end of the day in the fifth round of the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship at Agueda.

Chambers had to come from nineteenth on the first lap of race one as he displayed persistence in atrocious weather with mud, rain and ruts to advance to eleventh. He was looking good for his best result of the season in race two as he held a secure seventh place early on but a nasty crash which left him trapped under his own bike did not deter him from rejoining the race for a fifteenth-placed finish which secured thirteenth overall. He is now fourteenth in the series standings.

"This track was gnarly; puddles everywhere and long deep ruts with holes you couldn't even see at the end of them. I've ridden GNCC Cross-country in the States but nothing like this. It was a mud festival, just a matter of survival. I made good progress for eleventh in race one and was running sixth/seventh together with my teammate Bobby in race two with good pace until each of us came unstuck. I had one big crash when I got stuck under the bike and banged my knee, but I kept going for fifteenth."

Now onto Germany for another round of the 2024 MX2 championship and hopefully, the talented American can find some form and build points as he tries to climb up the MX2 championship points.

Pascal Haudiquert words and image