The Motocenter “Zelta Zirgs” circuit hosts the eleventh round of the FIM Motocross World Championship, with the fastest MXGP and MX2 riders from around the globe ready to duel on the fast, sandy racetrack. The long trip to northeastern Europe means not as many Brits have made the journey over; nonetheless, Saturday is done and dusted here in Latvia, so let’s take a look at how the Brits fared on day one.
Words by Edward Heather – Feature Image by MRT Beta
MRT Racing Team Beta’s Ben Watson secured a top-10 finish in the MXGP qualification race, coming home in 9th place. It was a steady start to the day for Watson, who appeared to struggle with pace during the two practice sessions. However, he began just inside the top 15 and manoeuvred his way up to 9th place in the opening laps. Watson then moved into 8th before being shuffled back to his eventual finishing position. A positive start for the Brit, who favours sandy terrain—hopefully a sign of strong results to come in tomorrow’s main races.
Chambers Racing’s Adam Sterry started strong in the opening practice session, securing 10th place. Although he struggled to match that pace in the second session, Sterry showed strong speed in the qualification race—despite a 21st-place finish that didn’t quite reflect his performance. The #811’s lap times were competitive with the group of riders ahead of him, and with a better start in tomorrow’s races, Sterry could still piece together a solid weekend here in Latvia.
In EMX250, only three Brits have geared up to race: Billy Askew, Ollie Colmer and James Barker. Askew secured a spot in the races by qualifying in 21st, with Colmer narrowly behind him in 22nd (just 0.072 of a second slower). James Barker unfortunately did not qualify for the races.
Race 1 did not go so well for either Askew or Colmer. Askew got a good start and was running in 10th position before colliding with another rider, which resulted in a broken footpeg and, ultimately, a DNF. The silver lining in the Dirt Store Triumph pilot’s misfortune is that he escaped injury in the collision and will be back behind the gate for Race 2 tomorrow.
Chambers Racing’s Ollie Colmer gated poorly and crossed the line in 35th at the end of the opening lap. He began slicing his way through the field and, by lap seven, had worked his way up to 26th—only to crash on the following lap, dropping him back to 35th. In typical Colmer fashion, he kept charging and took the chequered flag in 31st. Much like his teammate, Colmer showed impressive speed in the first practice session, placing 9th—his first time breaking into the top 10 in any session this season.
Lastly, in EMX125, Hayden Statt was the only Brit to make the trip, and his day started strongly with a 6th-place finish in his qualifying group. Race 1 didn’t bring much luck, however; Statt gated well outside the top 20 and clawed his way into 20th by lap three, before a series of crashes dropped him all the way back to 37th. He managed to regroup and continued to battle to the end, eventually crossing the line in 35th. His lap times after the crashes were comparable to—and in many cases quicker than—a large portion of the riders ahead of him, but the time lost in the incidents proved too much to recover from.
