Blue Chargers at Red Bull  (Jun 14, 2011)

Pic: Christian Lyth and fellow TM rider Jason Martin go 1-2 at Whitby and In the Open Junior Championship standings.

Round 3 of the hugely successful Red Bull Pro National series took place this past weekend at the incredible Skelder Bank circuit overlooking the historical coastal town of Whitby in Yorkshire, the TM UK team were once again there in force fielding a six man squad competing in the 125cc and Open 2-Stroke championships in both Junior and Expert classes and the Pro National Championship over the course of the 2 day event. Coping admirably with the hectic race schedule the TM UK team staff members and riders worked hard and together went on to achieve yet further advances in the rankings of numerous championship classes competed in.

Here is a brief summary of the weekend's action for the TM UK riders.

With the Open 2-Stroke races taking place on Saturday it was up to team the TM UK members of Stuart Edmonds, Jim Davies and Ryan Pottenger in the expert class and Christian Lyth in the Junior class to do battle for the honours. With the weather holding the track was in fine fettle and with a three race program to be completed it was down to work for the team and the mornings qualifying session saw the riders posting their times after the 5 minutes free practice time had elapsed. Stuart Edmonds on his TM 250cc machine set the second fastest time with Jim Davies on his TM 250cc machine going 4th, Ryan Pottenger set the 14th fastest time on his TM 300cc machine and Junior class rider Christian Lyth on his TM 250cc machine sat in 17th place overall, 3rd in the Junior class.

After three incredible races the TM riders results were as follows.

Stuart finished the day with 2nd overall and climbed onto the second step of the podium after taking a 3rd in race one, a 2nd in race two and a convincing win in race three, in some rather damper conditions!, finishing ahead of his nearest rival by 58.88 seconds, Stuart now sits in second place in the overall championship standings only 21 points shy of the top spot and for sure will be looking at taking this year's title. Jim finished 4th overall on the day just missing out on the last step of the podium by a few points after battling hard in all three moto's to take a 4th place in race one, a 5th place in race two and a 3rd place in race three, Jim now resides in 4th place in the overall championship standings, only 8 points off third place. Ryan had a 'wildcard' entry for this round and finished the day with a 12th place in race one, a 14th place in race two and a retirement from race three in the early stages as the result of a deflating tyre which was not helping in the now wet conditions. In the Junior Open class it was up to teenager Christian Lyth to fly the TM blue flag on his TM 250cc machine and fly he did, after a puncture in race one cost him a class victory and later in the day the overall result, young Christian bounced back and went on to take a podium placing with second overall in the Junior class. Christian finished the day with a 3rd in race one, a 4th in race two and a convincing class win in race three, Christian now sits in 2nd place in the championship standings and is going from strength to strength as he masters the big open class machine.

With Sunday's race schedule being even more hectic for the TM UK team as both the 125cc 2-Stroke pilots and Pro National series pilots took to the circuit today it was heads down and on with business as the practice and qualifying session begun. The TM 2-Stroke riders of Jim Davies, Ryan Pottenger, Chas Statt and Christian Lyth took to the tacky track first for qualifying on their TM 125cc machines and it was the 2009 125cc Champion Jim who topped the TM team riders

setting the 5th fastest time, just behind Jim in 6th place was 2010 Junior class Champion Chas, Christian sat in 10th overall and first in the junior class by over 2 seconds with Ryan in 11th place.

With yet another three race format to work through it was going to be a busy day once more and with only a short turnaround time it was soon time for the exciting 125cc machines to start their day. Jim finished the day with a podium placing and second overall in the expert class after taking a convincing win in race one, a 3rd in race two and a comfortable second in race three in the now wet conditions, Jim now sits in 3rd place in the overall championship standings tied on points with 2nd place. Chas finished the day with a 6th place in race one and a 4th place in race two after just being pipped by team-mate Jim, an 8th place in race three after contact in the early laps left Chas with work to do to come through the field in the mud to take 6th overall on the day, Chas now finds himself in 7th place in the championship standing on 129 points with his next three rivals all tied on 150 points. Ryan finished the day with a 9th place in race one, an 11th place in race two and a 10th place in race three for 9th overall on the day, Ryan now sits in 9th place in the championship standings. Once more it was up to Christian Lyth to battle in the Junior class on his TM machine and although he had some small niggles throughout the day he stayed strong and finished the day with 2nd place in race one, a 14th in race 2 and a 3rd in race three, this gave Christian 5th overall for the day and he now resides in 7th place in the championship standings.

In the Red Bull Pro National Class it was Stuart Edmonds on his TM 250Fi MX2 machine and an injured Ashley Greedy on his TM 450Fi MX1 machine that were to do battle in the combined MX1 and MX2 field, Stuart posted the 7th fastest time in the MX2 class whilst a struggling Ashley could only muster 13th place in the MX1 class. After the two 25 minute + 2 lap races this is how the TM UK team MX1 and MX2 riders faired.

Stuart mistimed his launch from the gate for race one and his anticipation did little to help, this left Stuart with work to do not only to battle through his MX2 class rivals but also the more powerful MX1 class machinery, however Stuart fought hard for the 25 minutes and found himself in 7th place in class as he passed the chequered flag with further MX2 class rider in his sights but with no time to work. The start of race two was no better for Stuart as the wayward Suzuki of Kayne Lamont slewed sideways in the now wet conditions and the inevitable contact hampered his run to the first turn once more. Working hard Stuart battled through the pack in the more slippery conditions with a little more ease and as the timer counted down to the flag he sat in the 6th place, once again with his MX2 rivals ahead Stuart could do no more with the time now elapsed and 5th was to be his final result of the weekend, Stuart took 5th overall on the day and now sits in 4th place in the overall championship standings only 1 point off third. Ashley who is still recovering from injury and awaiting further treatment struggled through the day to take two solid finishes and took 10th place in race one and a 12th place in race two in the MX1 class, Ashley now sits in 20th place in the overall championship standing after only competing in one round of the series this year.

Congratulations to TM dealer Dunfermline Motorcylces sponsored rider, Jason Martin who took the victory on his TM 300cc machine in the Open 2-Stroke Junior class and now heads the championship standings after three rounds. Also a big well done to Aaron Read on completing his three scheduled races in the Open 2-Stroke Juniors taking an 11th in race one and 9th places in races two and three for 10th overall on the day. Well done.

A big thank you to all our sponsors and supporters.

Thanks Team TM UK.

http://www.tmukonline.net/Page/73/sponsors-and-partners.html


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