British Masters - Round 5, Landrake  (Jul 7, 2010)

Round 5 of the British Masters series took place this past weekend at the awesome Landrake circuit and the Team TM UK riders of Stuart Edmonds and Jim Davies were there competing in both the Pro MX2 and Pro MX1 classes. In MX2 Stuart rode TM Racing's incredible new 250cc Fi 4 stroke machine whilst Jim rode his legendary TM 125cc 2 stroke machine, in MX1 Stuart rode his TM 450cc 4 stroke and Jim piloted his TM 250 2 stroke machine. It was to be a very busy day for both the riders and the team personnel with two riders competing in two classes, both riding different machines.

Qualifying got off to an early start with the MX2 class first out onto the freshly watered and graded track, Stuart soon got to grips with the conditions and set himself up with a time that would see him end the session with the 7th fastest time, only just over 2 seconds from pole. Jim on his 125cc was working hard but the sticky conditions did not suit the little 2 stroke so well and 16th position was as high as Jim could climb the timing chart. MX1 qualifying was immediately after MX2 so it was a quick change of machine and goggles and back onto track for the TM duo, Stuart again managed to set the 7th fastest time whilst Jim improved on his MX2 position by posting the 12th fastest time on his 250cc 2 stroke MX1 machine.

The start of the first MX2 race was not good for either Stuart or Jim, an errant rider swerving across the start straight collided with Stuart and Jim was also forced into taking evasive action, this relegated both of the TM riders to the tail end of the field. However, as gritty and determined as ever both riders made the best of a bad situation and began to work their way through the pack, working hard for the entire race, and with the TM 250fi looking incredibly quick, Stuart found himself in 7th place at the chequered flag with 6th in his sights, Jim rode superbly on his 125cc machine and finished in 12th place in front of AMCA and European champion Lee Dunham on his 250cc 4 stroke machine.

The start of race two again left Stuart with work to do after the constant drizzle left Stuart with little drive from his gate pick, however the little 4 stroke TM soon bit into the mud and launched Stuart into the first turn where he manoeuvred his way half way through the pack. Jim got off to a flying start on the 125cc machine and soon found himself inside the top ten with Stuart still in arrears, Jim's charge was sadly soon to be halted by a fallen rider, with no escape from the rut Jim was sat in he was forced to collide with the stricken machine and was ejected from his own. Remounting as soon as the traffic had cleared Jim now found himself at the rear of the pack and with a sizeable gap, there was lots of work to be done but as ever Jim soldiered on and beagn to make ground on his competitors. Stuart was also on a charge and had worked himself and his TM into 5th place, with the 4th placed rider looking to be next on the hit list and with Stuart closing in it all came to an abrupt end as his chain de-railed from its sprockets, after losing too much time remounting the chain a dejected Stuart rode his machine back to the pits and retired. Jim was still full gas on the 125cc machine and as the last MX2 race of the day came to its conclusion Jim had worked through the field from last to an amazing 15th place on his howling 125cc machine, taking 10th overall in the MX2 class.

MX1 race one saw both TM riders get away cleanly with Stuart running top ten and with Jim just outside it was time to get to work once more. Stuart powered the 450cc TM around the circuit and began to eat his way into his competitors, pushing hard as the laps counted down Stuart disposed of May, Lewis and Blizzard and soon found himself hunting down Lamay, with only 6 seconds separating the two riders and with Stuart gaining lap by lap the race ended and 6th place was to be Stuart first MX1 race result. Jim battled on and eventually finished in 11th place only 3 second in arrears of Moffat in10th.

Race two's start again witnessed the TM duo in the thick of the action in turn one, Stuart found himself and his TM being attacked from another rider damaging the TM's silencer in the process, luckily the damage was superficial and Stuart continued on regardless, Jim was also the victim of another riders mistake and was forced into yet another collision that left Jim with work to do. With the 450cc TM on song Stuart was coping with slippery conditions admirably and was making ground at will, again disposing of May and Blizzard and eventually catching and passing Whatley to take 5th position the gap to 4th place was to now too large to overcome and 5th was to be Stuart final race result of the day and 6th overall in the MX1 class. Jim was still attacking hard on the TM 250cc 2 stroke machine and was rewarded for his efforts with another 11th place in the MX1 class and 10th overall for the day.

The next outing for Team TM UK will be the Red Bull Pro Nationals and 2 Stroke Championships this weekend at Pontrilas.

TM UK would like to thank all of its sponsors and supporters and also a big thankyou to Steve Knight from Kleenrite Professional Cleaning Services for standing in as Jim's mechanic at the weekend.

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