2011 Supermoto of Nations – Team GB (almost) Reign in Spain
Under cloudless skies the 6th Supermoto of Nations took place at the awesome Motorland race complex in Aragon Spain. Against all the odds Team GB achieved their best ever result finishing 2nd behind the favorites France. The Junior under 21 team also put in a strong performance winning the B final to qualify for the main race.
The Rock Oil Motorbike Oil supported British team (Team GB) was as strong as possible but with only British rider currently contesting the GP’s, Wigan’s Matt Winstanley (SHR Honda), Team Manager David Dearden knew that it was going to be a tough task for his other two riders, Cumbrian Chris Hodgson (Skyzone KTM) and Barnsley veteran James Addy (MWR KTM). Hodgson & Addy are placed one and two in both domestic championships but competing on the world scene is a different ball game, the tracks are tougher with more off-road bias, the races twice as long and the competition much much harder. Probably the biggest hurdle is the different tyres used Goldentyre are the control tyre for World events, whilst Michelin are used exclusively in the UK.
The under 21’s also looked strong on paper, Swanley’s Ben Robb (Drilltec KTM) and Lee Williams from Bootle (DCR KTM) are both 3rd in their respective British Championships and making his Nations debut was 16 year old Malachi Mitchell-Thomas (SHR Honda), the youngest British rider to compete at this event. Their first objective was to qualify for the main event, a goal that had eluded the Juniors in 2010.
Timed practice on Saturday determined the grid positions for the qualifying races later that afternoon and gave the riders a chance to get to grips with the technical track. Featuring a long off road section and tarmac whoops and table top, the circuit was unlike anything we have in the UK. Things went well for most of the British riders in their respective sessions; Matt was 4th, Chris 10th and James 16th although the latter was struggling to get his new KTM handling. The Juniors did equally well with Ben 10th, Lee 18th and Mal an impressive 13th.
The qualification races see all 25 teams send their number 1 rider out in race 1, number 2 in race 2 and number 3 in race 3. The two best scores count towards the overall qualification position. Race 1 had Matt Winstanley running in 5th until a slow fall in the dirt relegated him to 7th before he fought back to 6th. Ben Robb did a great job for the Juniors holding 10th for most of the race he got passed on the last lap to finish a great 11th. Race 2 and it was Chris Hodgson and Lee Williams chance to shine. Chris was also brought off in the first lap carnage but he got his head down and battled through the field to finish a fine 11th. Passing was proving very difficult on this technical track. Lee Williams made a great start hitting 5th on lap 1 eventually hanging on to finish a creditable 14th. Race 3 brought James Addy to the track, his team had completely rebuilt his suspension so he was entering the unknown, a great start saw him hit 10th place but yet another slow speed fall relegated him to 15th. He then put in a fantastic effort to pass 8 riders to end up in a brilliant 7th place. Malachi also had the British curse; he got rammed in the dirt on lap 1 and ended up dead last, ¾ of a lap down on the field. The 16 year old from Bolton then produced the ride of the day to reach 13th place and a few raised eyebrows amongst the British contingent.
Confidence was high in the Team GB camp as it seemed that both teams would qualify well but the strength in depth of the large field made working out actual positions quite hard. When the final positions came though it was a disappointment to find the seniors in 8th and the Juniors failing to qualify automatically in 16th place. All was not lost though as the winner of Sundays B final took the last place on the grid. The Juniors had it all to do.
If anything the weather on Sunday was even better, cloudless skies with a light breeze, the B final saw the 8 non-qualified teams line all 3 riders on the grid, the best two scores to count. Team Managers can place the riders on any of the 3 allocated grids; David Dearden put Robb on 2, Mitchell-Thomas on 10 and Lee Williams on 18. Robb got a great start before being overhauled by the Finnish Junior rider. With 5 laps to go Britain was level pegging with Finland but with the Finnish rider leading the race they would get the overall on the tie-breaker, Ben moved over to give the faster Malachi space to pass and he duly set about passing the Brazilian GP rider Fonseca to hit second spot. Ben made it absolutely certain on the last lap with a fantastic pass to take third and Lee Williams had a great ride from the back to get 8th. The Juniors had won one of the most exciting Supermoto races anyone could recall & spirits were sky high.
The first race consisted of Riders 1 & 2 from each country so Winstanley, Hodgson, Robb and Williams lined up. Both teams had inside rows on the grid which was the worst position to get through turn 1 and into the dirt safely. Winstanley had a solid race to fourth spot and Hodgson battled well from 24th on the grid to finish a strong 12th. The Juniors fared much worse though, mid-race saw Robb and Williams running well inside the top 20 before Robb lost the front end and then Williams was taken out by another competitor. Robb remounted to 26th but Lee had to retire with a damaged radiator.
Overall Great Britain was 3rd with the Junior team 15th.
Race two had Riders 2 and 3 take to the track, Hodgson was placed on grid 8 and Addy 24, Williams on 16 and Mitchell-Thomas on 32. As the riders came under the starters orders further drama occurred, Lee Williams was taken from the grid with a loose silencer, damaged in his first race crash it had broken during the warm up lap. Instead of going to the pit lane for repairs Lee went back to the team truck to repair the bike thereby forfeiting his race. From the start Hodgson was on the pace briefly holding third before settling in to run with the world’s best in a great 5th place. Addy also had a fantastic start; the gritty Yorkshireman was involved in a 6 bike scrap for the entire 19 laps, constantly passing and being passed he finished 13th, totally exhausted but thoroughly exhilarated. Young Mitchell-Thomas continued to impress starting on the last grid position he fought tooth and nail to a brilliant 16th with a faster lap time than either of his senior colleagues. The overall standings saw Team GB move up to second place behind France and in front of Finland.
The final Race had Riders 1 and 3 from each team. Winstanley was on grid 8, Addy 24, Mitchell-Thomas 16 and Robb 32. More drama as Addy was refused entry to the grid. His mechanics had put the tyre homologation sticker on the wrong side of the tyre, with all his allocation of 8 stickers used he couldn’t put another on. The rigid officials wouldn’t bend and so the wheel was removed and the tyre turned on the rim whilst the grid was being formed. With seconds to spare he was ready, surely not in the best frame of mind to race! On the warm up lap Robb also appeared to have a problem, he came close to the pit wall where one of the mechanics lent over and pointed to the fuel tap which was turned half off. Ben quickly turned it on and carried on. The race itself was intense, with the British supporters willing the team on. The riders were anxious to press hard but knew one fall could destroy all hopes of a podium finish.
Winstanley was coolness personified holding a strong third place he sensibly yielded to the hard charging Hermunen and came home in an untroubled 4th. All eyes were now on Addy; the Yorkshireman was again battling hard in a big group of riders but held it together to cross the line in 12th. Great Britain had done it, a historic second place behind the impressive French team of Chereyre, Bidart and Boris Chambon and in front of the flying Finn’s. The Juniors had taken 14th place overall at least for a few minutes anyway, as the official results came out they showed Ben Robb had been excluded for outside assistance but in the euphoria of the occasion no one noticed until after the 30 minute protest period had elapsed.
In the end it was one of the best days in British Supermoto racing for many years, all the riders, mechanics and organisers put on a professional effort, the riders gave it their all and lady luck shone as well. Supermoto at its best is an exciting intoxicating sport, spectacular and colourful; The 2011 Supermoto of Nations was certainly all of that and more.
Fittingly the last words come from James Addy during the press conference “chuffing ‘eck that was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life and tomorrow morning I’ll be mending a roof in Barnsley. I can’t wait for next year!” he said to a bemused gathering of press and TV
Watch out for Team GB in Portimao, Portugal in 2012!
