Desertmartin Delight For Anderson ATV Suzuki

Saturday the 26th of April saw the Anderson ATV Suzuki Team travel across the Irish Seafor the second round of the 2008 ACU British MMX Quad Championship, the fantasticGrand Prix circuit at Desertmartin the venue for some spectacular racing throughout theday. After a mixed bag of fortunes from the opening round for team mates Carl Bunceand Mark Watson, both riders were keen to put on a good display around the challengingPorter’s Pit circuit, and as the team packed up for the homeward journey after a franticdays racing, the smile on team manager Paul Anderson’s face was plain for all to see,
Mark and Carl bringing the Anderson ATV Suzuki LTR450’s home for 3rd and 4th in the
second moto, Carl taking a superb 5th overall while Mark’s 10th overall was enough tohold on to 4th in the Championship standings with 3rd position within his grasp.

Desertmartin Delight For Anderson ATV Suzuki

Saturday the 26th of April saw the Anderson ATV Suzuki Team travel across the Irish Seafor the second round of the 2008 ACU British MMX Quad Championship, the fantasticGrand Prix circuit at Desertmartin the venue for some spectacular racing throughout theday. After a mixed bag of fortunes from the opening round for team mates Carl Bunceand Mark Watson, both riders were keen to put on a good display around the challengingPorter’s Pit circuit, and as the team packed up for the homeward journey after a franticdays racing, the smile on team manager Paul Anderson’s face was plain for all to see,
Mark and Carl bringing the Anderson ATV Suzuki LTR450’s home for 3rd and 4th in the
second moto, Carl taking a superb 5th overall while Mark’s 10th overall was enough tohold on to 4th in the Championship standings with 3rd position within his grasp.

Race One

The opening race saw bothriders with mixed fortunes.
Having never ridden a quadin sand before and havingnever been to Desertmartin,
Mark still posted a lap timegood enough for a front rowstart in 14th, while team mateCarl struggled to get in aflying lap and was forced tostart from the second row in

22nd. Eager to prove that theopening round result was not

just a flash in the pan, Mark got tremendous drive off the line and headed out on theopening lap in 6th place before moving up to 5th on the second circuit. Embroiled in a five
way tussle for 2nd place, a slight mistake two laps later dropped him back to 6th but still
well in touch with the lead
group, but unfortunately forMark this promising startwas negated with the onsetof severe arm-pump, Markforced to ease of the pace ashe struggled in the roughconditions and unable to
fend of the ensuing riders tofinish just outside the pointsin 21st. Carl, however, wason a mission. Completingthe first lap in 21st place,
Carl quickly put theexcellent handling of the Walsh / PEP suspension to good use and started to scythe hisway through the field, making up eight places for 13th in the first half of the twenty-five

minute plus one lap moto. With the Maxxis tyres giving tremendous grip in the loose“Desert” sand, Carl was able to maintain his amazing advance up the leader board as therace progressed, the 22 year old from Reading taking the chequered flag after fourteenlaps for a fantastic 11th position.

Race Two

With a few minor tweaks to
the suspension set up in theinterval to the second and
final race of the day, bothriders got good drive off theline, Mark slotting in to 7th
while Carl had rocketed to
14th. Over the next couple oflaps the two riders set ablistering pace and quicklymoved up the leader board,
Mark’s pace taking him upthree places to 4th, while Carl

had completely blitzed the opposition and had slotted in to 5th, an amazing nine place

advance in only three laps! As the race approached the half way point, both Mark and

Carl had moved up another spot for 3rd and 4th respectively, and continuing to maintain a

steady rhythm for the

remainder of the race, Mark

took the chequered flag after

fourteen gruelling laps of

the one mile Porters Pit

circuit for a superb 3rd place

and maintaining his 4th place

in the Championship, while

Carl had bounced back to

true form with an awe

inspiring ride, Carl finishing

the race in 4th and taking 5th

overall on the day.

Carl Bunce

“ It’s been a really good day for the team andI’m happy to have finished 5th overall. I
struggled in practice to get a good lap, I justcouldn’t get in to it and had to start from thesecond row, but we changed the front tyres toMaxxis MX and they worked better for the
races. Paul and the guys did another brilliantjob and the bike handled really well andallowed me to work my way through the field

quickly despite a poor start in the first race. I got a better start in the second race and

made up a lot of places in the opening laps and just held on comfortably for 4th at the flag.
I’m really happy with my fitness and speed and am looking forward to the next round atDean Moor on the 18th of May.”

Mark Watson

“ I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I’m reallydisappointed about the result in the first race.
I got really bad arm pump after four or fivelaps and it was all I could do to hold on. I’ve
never ridden this track or this type of sandysurface on a quad before and I’m still learningabout bike set up, and Desertmartin is the typeof circuit where set up is critical. We changedthe tyres between races and made a few smallchanges to the settings on the suspension and steering damper and it made anunbelievable difference in the second race. I’m really happy with the second moto resultand it’s good to show that the result from the first round wasn’t just a flash in the pan andthat my pace and fitness is good.”

Results

Race One

Winner – Paul Winrow; 2nd – Wayne Tyson; 3rd – Paul Holmes; 4th – Stefan Murphy;
5th – Ricky Tordoff…11th – Carl Bunce…21st – Mark Watson

Race Two
Winner – John Mitchell; 2nd – Paul Winrow; 3rd – Mark Watson; 4th – Carl Bunce;
5th – Paul Holmes

Championship Standings (after 2 of 8 rounds)

1st – Paul Winrow 97; 2nd – Ricky Tordoff 73; 3rd – Paul Holmes 54;
4th – Mark Watson 51; 5th – David Hammersley 50…16th – Carl Bunce 28