IMBA MX2 France R3

Written by MIKE WOOD Tuesday, 19 July 2011 00:00

Allaire in France was the venue for round three of the 2011 IMBA MX2 European Championship,and although persistent rain was to eventually create quagmire conditions,the team representing the AMCA were to produce another top quality,determined performance with only an incredibly unlucky spate of punctures preventing them from recording more podium glory!.

Talking of punctures,Brit Carl Benjamin endured a total of four deflating moments,even including a front wheel flat on his motorhome before he had even arrived at the circuit,that’s unlucky!!.Anyway despite those problems,Carl displayed great character to eventually still finish in 9th overall.Top Brit once again was Shane Holmes in a great 4th with Jack Taylor 5th,Scott Mathia 8th,Scott Williams 10th and Tom Neesam 16th.

Despite that rain,conditions were still surprisingly good for the opening IMBA race of the day and it was Taylor who grabbed a great holeshot.Mixing it at the front,Jack though was to fall just two laps from home,thus dropping back to finish 6th.The British flag in this clash was though still proudly flying high as Holmes got home in a superb 2nd with Benjamin 3rd.This was a memorable effort by the Dursley MXC clubman after picking up one of his punctures as early as lap two!!.In his usual determined,no-fuss manner,Scott Williams took 9th just ahead of Scott Mathia 10th with Tom Neesam 16th.Taking the win in moto one was the immaculate Dutchman Rene Albers.

In another tale of the punctures,both Benjamin and Mathia were victims in moto two but it did not prevent the super British duo from producing top quality rides,incredibly still somehow getting home in a brilliant 4th and 5th spot respectively.With Holmes 8th,Taylor 9th and Williams 10th this was to be another very points productive race for team AMCA.Earlier in the clash,Neesam had made a great start,gating in 6th and looking strong before unfortunately falling and slipping back to 15th.

Late on Saturday evening and with the rain still falling,it was time for the final French moto,an IMBA first contested under floodlights.On a rutted,difficult,very heavy circuit and with both Holmes and Benjamin eyeing up potential podium placings,who would take the honours?.Well.it was Taylor who grabbed a brilliant holeshot to lead the muddy pack as Holmes gated in 4th with Benjamin down the leaderboard in 10th.Determined to grab a piece of that podium glory,Benjamin quickly moved through to 5th and was even closing hard on the leading quartet only to you’ve guessed it,then pick up another front wheel puncture!!.Wisely deciding to settle for 5th,it then got horribly worse for Carl,forced to retire in the closing stages when his engine overheated!!.So it was to be no podium for our lads although in the final moto as Albers scorched to his third win of the evening,Taylor finished in style with a fantastic 2nd,Holmes taking 5th,Mathia 9th,Williams 10th and Neesam 14th.With Championship leader Ronnie van Rooji a surprise non-starter at Allaire due to a dispute with his home Dutch Federation,it means that both Holmes and Taylor have moved up the title standings to hold 2nd and 3rd places respectively.

In front of a massive crowd,estimated at well over ten thousand spectators,the French action was concluded at around  1am on Sunday morning with a gigantic fireworks display.All that remained was for Team GB to endure the long journey back to LeHavre and a very bumpy ferry crossing  to the UK!!.

This was another great team effort and a big thank-you to Mike Truman and the gang for their time spent relentlessly washing bikes for the AMCA lads between each IMBA race.

RESULTS

MOTO ONE(TOP TEN) 1 Rene Albers(Holland) 2 Shane Holmes(GB) 3 Carl Benjamin(GB) 4 John Cuppen(Holland) 5 Andy Baumgartner(Switzerland) 6 Jack Taylor(GB) 7 Josef Mnuk(Czech Republic) 8 Hugues Rio(France) 9 Scott Williams(GB) 10 Scott Mathia(GB) Other Brit placing 16 Tom Neesam.

MOTO TWO 1 Albers 2 Baumgartner 3 Cuppen 4 Benjamin 5 Mathia 6 Mnuk 7 Rio 8 Holmes 9 Taylor 10 Williams Other Brit placing 15 Neesam.

MOTO THREE 1 Albers 2 Taylor 3 Cuppen 4 Baumgartner 5 Holmes 6 Mnuk 7 Rio 8 Dennis van Rooji(Holland) 9 Mathia 10 Williams Other Brit placing 14 Neesam.

OVERALL 1 Albers 180 points 2 Cuppen 147 3 Baumgartner 146 4 Holmes 138 5 Taylor 134 6 Mnuk 127 7 Rio 121 8 Mathia 117 9 Benjamin 114 10 Wiliams 107 16 Neesam 78.

LEADING CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS 1 Albers 490 points 2 Holmes 406 3 Taylor 393 4 Mnuk 365 5 Benjamin 358 6 Ronnie van Rooji 344 7 Mathia 328 8 Cuppen 318 9 Roman Mnuk 291 10 Williams 281.Other Brit 16 Neesam 229.

Mike Wood (www.moto-action.co.uk)