This past weekend the 3 Flo Madison Crescent Yamaha bLU cRU team set off to the brand new venue of Monster Mountain, just outside Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales for the long awaited second round of the Michelin MX Nationals. A huge amount of effort and investment had gone into the new track and venue and with perfect blue skies all weekend it looked more like a track in southern California, than on top of a slag heap in Wales!
Unfortunately Hudson Roper’s weekend on the new track only lasted three laps after a huge crash on the ‘dragon’s back’ section resulting in a broken collarbone and mild concussion. So it was left to Ollie Bubb and Arthur Moore to represent the team over the two days on what turned out to be a very tough, technical and demanding track. Ollie struggled with the conditions after not getting his usual good starts and came home ninth overall in the youth 125cc class. Arthur was looking good for second overall but a hard crash with four corners to go in moto three dented his chances of that and with a DNF he ended up sixth overall.
Ollie Bubb – #44 – YZ125
“I struggled out there. The track was really tough and cut up badly and I couldn’t get any flow going all weekend. My starts weren’t great and I just didn’t feel comfortable or good on the bike. We’ve got Hawkstone Park up next for the next round of the Revo British championship so I want to get back to feeling good on the bike again for that and get my starts dialled back in. I’m still fifth in both championships so that’s good but I want to make sure I stay in that top five and finish as high up in the championship as I can by the end of the season.”
Results
Moto 1 – 10th
Moto 2 – 8th
Moto 3 – 6th
Moto 4 – 7th
Overall – 9th
Championship – 5th
Arthur Moore – #67 – YZ85
“I don’t think I’ve ever ridden a track like this before. The jumps are huge and it’s fast and long and the ruts were so deep so it was tough against the big wheels. I’m not racing them in the championship though but it’s good to race with them because it makes you work harder. I’m upset that I crashed in the third moto because I was in second in the race and had a chance of second overall. My lap times were good and I felt good on my YZ85 which is getting better all time. I wanted to go out and get some points in the last moto so I was happy with a third because I didn’t feel good after my crash. I’m looking forward to Hawkstone because my lap times are getting better all the time.”
Results
Moto 1 – 3rd
Moto 2 – 4th
Moto 3 – DNF
Moto 4 – 3rd
Overall – 6th
Championship – 3rd
Jeff Perrett – Team Principal
“That was a real test for the lads out there. It was hot and one of the most technical tracks we’ve seen in a while. The ruts were deep and it was choppy with a lot that can catch riders out, like it obviously did with Hudson. That was a big crash and a hard hit. I saw it all the way and he went from flying through the air at about 40 mph to virtually stopping dead. To be fair he’s probably lucky he’s only broken his collarbone. Hopefully he’ll be back for the next MX Nationals round but it’s looking unlikely he’ll make the next two Revo British championship rounds.
“Ollie was definitely finding it tough out there and his starts didn’t help. He’s been getting good starts for the best part but not today, hopefully he’ll get them going again next time out. He knows there’s work to do, especially on this type of condition and we know we need to keep improving the bike for him. He always looks smooth and in control and we don’t want him not to, but we need to find some more speed and belief to get him battling for those top spots and fighting in the top five.
“I thought Arthur rode great. He was tentative going into the first corner, maybe because his size compared to most of the others and the big wheeled riders but once he got round the first corner he made a lot of passes in all the races and his lap times were good. Shame he crashed in the third moto because his confidence was definitely building but what I’m finding very quickly with Arthur is he’s a trier and fighter as he proved by going out in the last moto after a big off. To then get a third in that shows his determination and heart and that can take you far. He’s looking more and more comfortable on the YZ85 every time I see him ride so I’m excited about what we can both achieve in the class over the next few years.”
