News
Paul Holmes dominates British Championship Opening Round
posted Apr 17, 2012Tags: Racing, General News All Article Tags
Holmes Racing’s Paul Holmes showed exceptional speed and style to win the opening round of the 2012
ACU British Quad-X Championship opening round at Mepal MX park this past weekend. Less than 1 week
after Paul claimed 4th overall at the European Championship round in Holland, Paul and the team worked
hard to get prepared for the much anticipated Championship opener.
Round 1, Mepal MX Park, England (16/04/12)
The deep relentless sand track of Mepal saw a mixture of hailstones and sunshine through the windy race day. With the
familiar format of a practice session followed by a timed qualification session, Paul learnt the track quickly and efficiently
made the final adjustments to his set-up before going straight to the top of the timing screens. Paul posted the quickest
time of the day, keeping his 100% 1st place record going from his 2011 season.
Race 1: A mid pack start turned into a nightmare first corner for Holmes as he tangled with another rider resulting in a huge
high-sided style crash Holmes was thrown of his quad and onto the deep sand track dodging the following pack. Holmes
quickly untangled his quad and got it back onto its wheels before setting off after the pack almost 50 seconds behind the
lead group. With only a bent clutch lever after the big crash, Holmes rode smart and very strong to find some exceptional
lines through the treacherous sandy ruts. Picking his way through the full pack of 34 quads to find himself in 6th at the
midpoint of the 25min + 2 lap race. Holmes continued his form, never giving up and it paid off as he managed to pick
through the final few riders and take over the lead just 7 corners from the finish flag. Holmes took the win of the race to
the excitement of the crowd and crossed the line a very ecstatic racer.
Race 2: Hoping to make the second race slightly easier for himself, Holmes took a clean start and grabbed a clear
holeshot over the pack and never looked back. Holmes put in a handful of brilliant laps gapping the field by 10 seconds
in the opening 4 lap and held that same lead until he took the chequered flag and another clear win.
With a great start to the season taking a maximum of 80 points, Holmes now sits 8 points clear of his nearest rival.
Holmes commented after the days racing action; “I am ecstatic with today’s result, I exceeded my own expectations and
have really done myself and the team proud. I am happy with my qualification and raw speed and also my current fitness
levels are showing through in the long tough races which is a great feeling. The team and I have worked exceptionally hard
over the last 4 days since the European opener on improving the set-up of the quad and without that I don’t think these
results would have been possible. I would like to take this opportunity to give a huge shout out to the team and brilliantly
supportive sponsors and supporters who have made this effort possible. A personal thank you has to go to Wayne, Jaime
and the boys at the PEP Suspension HQ for helping me with the mid week set-up adjustments. I will be rolling this
momentum into the short break I now have before heading to Germany for the 2nd round of the European Championships.
