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Quad: Fantastic Debut Win For Filtec Team KTM UK

In Offroad

28 gennaio 2009

Saturday the saw Filtec Team KTM UK travel to Liverpool for their first competitive outing on the race ready KTM 505 SX, the Liverpool Arena playing host to a Pro Quad class as part of the ACU/FIM sanctioned Future West Promotions British SX Championship.
With a few changes to the team in the off season that saw Paul Holmes, current British Under 21 Champion and 3rd in the ACU British MMX Quad Championship in 2008, joining teen sensation James Hellewell to make the youngest team set up in UK quad racing, team mentor Richard Cole was confident that both riders would put in good performances around the technical and demanding circuit. As the evening drew to a close and the huge crowd of spectators headed homewards, both Paul and James had done themselves and the team proud, James extremely unlucky not to qualify as a result of other riders misfortunes in both heats but still showing fantastic speed and skill, while Paul dominated his qualifying heat and the final to take an amazing debut win for the Filtec Team KTM UK 505 SX.

Qualifying Heats
With series promoter John Hellam and the hardworking crew from Future West Promotions focused on providing a spectacle for the huge crowd of spectators from all four corners of the UK and beyond, specialist track builders Dirt Wurx were drafted in from the USA to design and build a track that would challenge all riders on both two wheels and four, with over two-thousand tons of dirt hauled in and painstakingly crafted in to a technical mixture of whoops, doubles, triples and rhythm sections. After a free practice session to learn the demanding circuit, both Paul and James lined up for the opening heat, with the top three from seven progressing to the final. As the gates dropped the Goldspeed MX-R's hooked up well, Paul taking the holeshot with James settling in to 4th as they headed out on the first of seven laps. With the KTM 505 SX comfortably handling the many challenges around the circuit, both riders settled quickly in to a blistering pace in the early stages, Paul pulling away at the front while James had moved past Liam Cater for 3rd with Josh Chilcott in his sights. As the race progressed Paul continued to pull away from the ensuing pack, taking the chequered flag for a convincing gate to flag win, but unfortunately for James his progress was abruptly halted at the halfway point, Chilcott losing control of his bike and coming across James path while James was airborne and unable to avoid a collision, both riders avoiding serious injury in the collision but unable to take further part in the race and forced to the last chance qualifier.

A second row start as a result of his finishing position in the previous heat left James with a lot of work to do in the LCQ, James rounding the first corner and out on the opening lap at the rear of the field. Quickly finding his rhythm and making the most of the excellent handling of the standard KTM, James began to move his way through the field, Josh Chilcott, James Behan and Brian Kerr all getting a good look at the rear of the KTM as James hunted down Liam Cater in 3rd. Catching Cater with two laps to go and picking his place to pass, James was ready to make his move through the whoop section but missed a gear on approach, the temporary loss of momentum allowing Cater to pull away slightly.
Quickly regaining his composure and dramatically reducing the margin in the closing stages, James continued to push to the chequered flag but time was not on his side, James finishing a respectable 4th but unable to progress to the final despite his valiant efforts.

Final
As the flag dropped for the start of the ten-lap final, Paul once again got fantastic drive of the line to take the holeshot and lead the eight strong field out on the opening lap. With a clear track in front and the WP suspension comfortably smoothing out the challenging terrain, Paul increased his tempo in the early stages of the moto to lead his nearest rival by almost half a lap at the halfway point. Giving an exhibition of quad riding skills and entertaining the huge crowd as he continued at a relentless pace, the Harrowgate native comfortably held the lead to the chequered flag for a dominating flag to flag win, Paul taking the Filtec Team KTM UK 505 SX to a convincing maiden UK victory in only his first supercross event.

Paul Holmes
This has been an amazing event and result for both myself and the team. Unlike some of the other riders competing today, I've never ridden supercross before and to have won my maiden event is a fantastic feeling. The KTM was absolutely fantastic to ride and handled really well, and despite a lack of bike time prior to the event to experiment with the suspension we quickly found a set up that worked. The event organisers and the track builders have done an excellent job, and to ride in front of a crowd like this is absolutely fantastic and hopefully we will see more events like this cater for Quad's in the future. In the meantime I'm really looking forward to the next round at the O2 Arena next Saturday 31st where I'll be aiming for a repeat performance.

James Hellewell
I'm obviously disappointed at not qualifying for the final, but that's racing for you and sometimes things happen which you can't really do much about. On the positive side I know my speed is good and I felt really comfortable on the bike despite not having much bike time recently. The KTM is an absolutely amazing bike to ride, and when described as race ready the phrase "it does exactly what is says on the tin" springs to mind. It's a really fast bike and handles everything that is asked of it, so I'm really looking forward to the O2 Arena next weekend and the remainder of the year ahead.

Richard Cole
This has been a brilliant event in all aspects and the end result has been fantastic for the riders, the team and I would also say the sport. This has been the first outing for the new team on the new bikes, so for Paul to have won as comfortably as he did, in only his first Supercross event, is a testament to the skills and quality of both Paul and the KTM 505 SX. The only change we made to the bikes prior to the event was to slip on some Goldspeed MXF and MXR tyres, so to win our debut race against all the other full race spec machines is no small achievement. I feel really disappointed for James as he is a fantastic rider and has the skills and speed to do well in events like this, but he was really unlucky in both heats at the hands of other riders and didn't get the result he deserved. It's been a great start to the year for the Filtec Team KTM UK team and I'm really looking forward to the next round in London on the 31st and the rest of the season beyond.

Final Results
1. Paul Holmes, KTM ATV
2. Richard Tordoff
3. Oliver Sansom
4. Justin Reid
5. Ben Harman