Round Two. European Quadcross Championships - Latvia
Massive Crowds Cheer Mitchell’s Latvian Victory

John Mitchell flies in Latvia Massive crowds cheer on John Mitchell Mitchell & Holmes off the start of race 1 Paul Holmes had a superb first race

Team ATV World riders John Mitchell and Paul Holmes travelled to Latvia last weekend for the second round of the European Quadcross Championships. In the scorching heat and seen by one of the biggest crowds so far this year, John ended round two with an incredible 12 point lead.

Qualifying was hard work as the sandy track began to get rough, making it difficult to get a quick lap time. Fortunately the team ATV World Yamaha YFZ450’s new Elka track system shocks were soaking up all the bumps on the track with no difficulties. The ITP Holeshot GNCC tyres were perfect for the conditions as they gave the ground clearance needed for the deep ruts left by the World Sidecars and gave great straight line traction and stability. John Mitchell qualified in second and Paul Holmes in fifth.
In the first race John got a good start behind French Champion Romain Couprie and followed closely until he began loosing engine coolant and had to nurse his quad home in third place. John was then moved to second place after Jeremy Warnia was penalised by 60 seconds for exceeding the noise limit. Paul Holmes had an awesome race as he pushed hard and took fourth place, passing seasoned European pros.

John Mitchell took the holeshot in race two and kept pushing until the end, finishing in front by 1min 49seconds! He was lapping third place and almost lapped second place in the 30 minutes plus race. John commented after the race: “I’m really pleased with my result here today. The support was great from the 11,000 plus crowd, giving me a real boost. I can’t wait for the next round!”

Paul Holmes made a superb comeback after a collision early into race two. He was storming through the pack when disaster struck. He suffered a bent rear sprocket and unfortunately he was too far from the mechanics to repair and his race ended in a DNF. Paul continues to show great promise as one of the UK ’s rising stars.

Both John and Paul were happy with their fitness, which has been an important factor in their success so far this season. Both riders and team ATV World Yamaha were particularly impressed with the track, which was world class, as was the whole venue which even featured a three storey race control building.

John Mitchell is now leading all three championships he is competing in. The European Quadcross Championships, CCM British MMX Quad Championships and IOPD British Quad-X Championship. Next race is round six of the CCM British MMX Quad Championships at Pontrylas in Wales . Hope to see you there!