Holmes And Hellewell Top Brits In Denmark

Team KTM UK's Paul Holmes and James Hellewell returned home from Denmark as the top British finishers at round three of the 2009 GOLDSPEED EMX Quad European Championship at the weekend, Hellewell scoring his best result to date with an outstanding top ten overall finish while Holmes continued his impressive 100% record of overall wins with a 2-1-3 scorecard for his 3rd overall from three starts and extending his lead in the series by a further thirteen points.

Hosted by the Midtsjaellands Sports Motorklub near Slagelse city some sixty miles from the nations capital, Copenhagen, the challenging sandy one-mile circuit provided spectacular racing throughout the day for the thousands of spectators in attendance.

Returning to European Quad racing action after a seven week break from the previous round, it was business as usual for Holmes as he took a 2-1-3 scorecard for the overall win, Holmes' final moto effort to blast through to 3rd from a first corner 25th keeping the thousands of spectators well entertained. "It's been a fantastic weekend and to extend my lead by another thirteen points has been amazing" commented an ecstatic Holmes after the race. "The circuit got really rough and deeply rutted as the day progressed, but the KTM 505 SX handled perfectly and I couldn't have asked for a better result. I had a good battle with Stefan in the opening race, but just as I was ready to pass for the lead he stopped in a deeply rutted corner after pulling his kill-switch cord out and I was stuck behind allowing Joe past. I was beginning to catch up to Joe again, but my cord pulled out and stopped the bike, and in a reverse of fortunes it was Stefan who was stuck behind me, but it was still good to finish 2nd and take the fastest lap of the weekend. In the last race I got a really bad jump on the gate and was almost last around the first corner, but it was a lot of fun and I was able to work my way through the pack quite quickly for 3rd. I've got a pretty hectic schedule of racing for the next couple of months, but with the bike working so well it's going to be a lot of fun and I'm confident that we can keep on winning."

In a fantastic weekend for Team KTM UK, James Hellewell also put in a superb performance to show that he can run with the best, Hellewell scoring 8-11-13 and taking a fantastic 9th overall as he worked his way through from mid-pack starts in each moto. Jumping a meteoric twelve positions to 14th in the series after an outstanding day, a clearly delighted Hellewell commented "today has been awesome and I had a lot of fun. I wouldn't say I'm the biggest fan of sand based tracks, but the KTM worked so well as the track got rougher that I had a blast. The first corner here is a complete u-turn and is really tight, so with starting from the second row I took no chances as I knew that I would be able to work my way through. It's fantastic to get a top ten finish and is just the boost that I need after a few set-backs in the opening rounds, so I'm really looking forward to Latvia in a few weeks where I'll be aiming for top ten again."

" The guys have done a fantastic job today and it's been a fantastic result for KTM and Team KTM UK" said a smiling Richard Cole as the team packed up in preparation for the long trip home, " I couldn't ask any more of our two riders. Paul's consistency all year has been impressive and his last race was a joy to watch as he worked his way up from 25th at one point, and James continues to improve all the time as he gains more experience and at last has gotten the results that he has worked so hard for and deserves. As this weekend has proved, the KTM 505 SX is a fantastic bike and is more than a match for any bike out there, it's no co-incidence that five out of the top nine places were taken by KTM riders, including three in the top five."

With half of the six-round series now run, Holmes outstanding consistency with nine from nine moto podium appearances has extended his lead to forty-seven points over fellow KTM rider Stefan Schreiber, with Joe Maessen a further nine points adrift. The series now heads to the spectacular Grand Prix circuit at Kegums, Latvia on the 8th and 9th of August.

Overall Results
1st - Paul Holmes GB Team KTM UK - 2,1,3 - 67 points
2nd - Jan Vlaeymans BEL W-Tec - 7,2,1 -61 pts
3rd - Joe Maessen NED Yamaha - 1,9,2 - 59 pts
4th - Stefan Schreiber GER KTM - 3,4,5 - 54 pts
5th - Tobias Bergstrom SVE KTM - 6,8,7 - 42 pts
9th - James Hellewell GB Team KTM UK - 8,11,13 - 31 pts

Championship Standings (after 3 of 6 rounds)
1st - Paul Holmes GB Team KTM UK 211
2nd - Stefan Schreiber GER KTM 164
3rd - Joe Maessen NED Yamaha 155
4th - Jan Vleymans BEL W-Tec 106
5th - Ingo Ten Vregelaar NED Yamaha 100
14th - James Hellewell GB Team KTM UK 50