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McLaughlin Finishes 2nd In Pro Class GBXC round 1 (Mar 1, 2010)
Philip McLaughlin continued his impressive form at the opening round of the GBXC Championships with a brilliant hard fought 2nd place aboard the 450cc TM.
Young Irishman Philip's impressive form continued as he headed an all star cast of top British Enduro and MX riders at the weekends opening cross country series, held at the excellent Coney Green Farm venue. With the exception of David Knight the huge Pro/Experts field included all of the top names: Sagar, Wakely, Evans, Woods, Braybrook, Bolter, etc.
Sat ready for the 13.15 start of the 2.30 hr race, the rain clouds gathered. Off the line as is customary the 2 strokes of Braybrook, Fraser and Wood led the charge. Philip was 6th to the first hill and worked his way to first place by the middle of lap one, Philip then tensed and was passed by Evans.
Philip remained in 2nd for 3 laps and was then relegated to 6th as Sagar, Wakely and Ridgway slipped past. the 450cc TM was first to pit on the 1.10 mark and Philip pushed hard in the rain to retake Ridgway and Wakely for 3rd place, a position he maintained to the end of the race cut short by 30 minutes to preserve the course. Greg Evans had crossed the line first but was disqualified for failing to stop his engine during refueliing, leaving Sagar as the winner and McLaughlin in 2nd, a well deserved and a very impressive result.
Philip McLaughlin: " I had a good start, about 6th, quarter way round the first lap i was leading and got nervous, my arms pumped up so i had to slow down and i was passed by 4-6 riders. Following the pit stop i regained my composure and my speed so i picked off positions one by one. I am really pleased with the result and my bike was awesome."
Nick Craigie "Electraction TM" team manager:
We had looked at a top 5 as being an achievable and good result. To finish second is a brilliant result and Philip has shown that he can run with the top boys and that all his hard work is paying dividends. The bike is also working well and Philip says that it is easy to ride and fast.