Team ATV World Yamaha Back To Winning Ways

2008 ACU British MMX Quad Championship
Round Two – Desertmartin

John Mitchell on his 2008 YFZ450 Paul Holmes finished 2nd overall after an impressive two races. Sean Goss riding well in race two.. John Mitchell won race two with a massive gap of 1min 40sec! John's win puts him back in the title race!

Team ATV World Yamaha got back to winning ways this weekend with some impressive riding and solid results. Having made a difficult start to the championship in the first round, John Mitchell and Paul Holmes displayed true champion determination as they scored vital points at the Desertmartin track, John winning race two by a record beating 1min 40 and Paul finishing in second overall!

John Mitchell qualified strongly in second place with Paul a close fifth giving them both good start positions for race one. Paul was eighth off the line around the first corner. He then began catching and passing up to third place. John struggled off the line, getting bogged down and found himself in last place. He then had to stop to make an emergency wiring repair after a freak incident by which a stone broke his kill switch where it was connected to the quad and switched off the engine! Paul finished comfortably in third, just behind Wayne Tyson and Paul Winrow. John managed to rewire his quad to get the engine started and completed the race in 15th.

After some minor adjustments to his quad set-up, John started race two determined to get his championship back on track. Battling with Paul Winrow for the Holeshot, John quickly pulled into the lead and created an incredible 1min 40 sec gap from second place rider Paul Winrow. John lapped up to seventh place and had closed in all over the back of Ricky Tordoff.

Paul Holmes had another superb ride and took fifth place, finishing second overall on the day. This takes Paul into third place overall in the championships and he now leads the Under 21 Championship.

ATV World Yamaha team manager Martin Fletcher

On Paul Homes: “Paul Holmes is having an incredible third season racing quads. Very rarely do you see such young talent able to take on the big boys and beat them week in, week out. Paul goes from strength to strength and has not only done well in the British but is leading the Under 21 and leading the IOPD championship too.”

On John Mitchell: “I have never seen a rock break a kill switch like that, it’s just terrible luck. As for John’s second race today, it was unbelievable! As far as records go, John’s 1min 40sec lead is a record beater! He won here in 2007, again over Paul Winrow only this time his lead was three times bigger than last year. John is back to his winning ways.”

On the ATV World Yamaha YFZ450: The ATV World Yamaha YFZ450 has performed well in these tough conditions. The new Duncan Racing Engine kit has increased the bikes overall performance from 2007. Elka have developed the new Elka Factory Shocks that works better than ever! The all new Goldspeed MXF tyres have given the ATV World riders an added edge in cornering and braking.

There was mixed success for other ATV World sponsored riders with Sean Goss having an up and down day. He showed his capabilities and race pace with a solid performance in race two. Dean Thompson and Josh Barrett rode in the British Supports and showed excellent potential for the future with mature riding and fantastic skill.

With both John and Paul leaving Desertmartin with strong results, they move back into contention for the championship. Round three of the 2008 ACU British MMX Quad Championship is on the 18 th May at Dean Moor, Cumbria. Hope to see you there.

Thanks again for all the support from sponsors who along with their outstanding products have helped develop the team race quads for the 2008 season. Finally, best wishes to Tom Woolanan who had a huge spill and spent his 18 th Birthday in Belfast Royal infirmary.