Walker 3rd at BSEC Rd 5 & 6
10th April 2012
After dominating the Under 23 class at the previous round Jonny was less fortunate at the latest event. Set in the heart of Wales this course had everything to test the riders, from an MX track to off cambered fields, wood sections and even some good old fashioned Welsh bogs. The weather would be cold with showers making the track quite slippy at times but overall in very good condition.
Jonny started in a reasonably confident mood, despite suffering most of the week with a cold he set 2nd fastest time just 2 seconds behind the leader on the opening lap, followed by an overall position on lap 2 and now leading the Under23 class. But the 3rd test would be disastrous when he slid outside the tapes, not a big mistake but unfortunately some fencing wire hidden in the long grass hooked around his footrest stopping him dead and launching him clean over the handlebars. This cost him over 30 seconds and effectively put him out of the chase for first. The top 3 under 23 riders were only separated by a few seconds each lap, a deficit of over 30 seconds was just too much with only 5 tests remaining and with his weakened body from the effects of a cold he just could no longer fight with the front runners and simply salvaged 3rd place.
Day 2 and feeling much stronger Jonny started again his fight with Alex Rockwell and Danny McCanny, Rockwell was just too strong on Sunday and controlled the race at the front, but Jonny battled hard with McCanny trading positions, going into the final test just 3 seconds after 1 hours racing separated the pair, but this time McCanny would take the advantage on the final lap and again Jonny would have to settle for 3rd.
Jonny Walker SHR KORR KTM 300 EXC “To be honest i’m disappointed in this weekend, the course was great and should have suited me, but I simply had no power in my body and just could not ride at the speed I wanted, I just didn’t feel comfortable or confident and with a little bad luck on Saturday it cost me any chance of beating Danny or Rocky on Day 1, both Danny and Rocky were going very well and of course I need to be in perfect condition to battle with them”
Julian Stevens Team Manager “After walking the course Friday I was optimistic that Jonny could make a very good result as the circuit looked more traditional cross-country than MX style, in the first few tests he was looking favourite until he got tangled in some wire. If you look at all the class results it was the riders with most MX experience who did the best, these sprint enduro’s are very fast, mostly single lines and everyone is just riding in the same ruts, the same lines, those who can ride best the braking and acceleration bumps perform the best, if you look at the test times even though the tests are long, all the top riders are so close together, its very competitive and you need to have everything dialed in perfect and be consistent to win, its good training and great racing. Another good ride from our Under 19 junior rider James Dent who continues to improve each week on his little KTM 4 stroke, taking another well earned 3rd place and most importantly closing the gap on the riders in front and extends his lead in the Under 19 SE1 class.”
