Neville Bradshaw narrowly misses podium on return from injury

Samsung Yamaha were back to full strength over the weekend, as the second half of the British Championship series kicked off at the famous Foxhills circuit. The spectacular track was in prime condition and the large crowd that gathered witnessed some hot race action on a warm muggy day.

With the welcome return of Neville Bradshaw after injury, he looked like we was back to his best in the offset, qualifying in second in Q1 and in the super pole managed to get fourth best pick on the start gate. Sunny Thompson qualified in 17^th and in MX1 Ben LaMay made super pole by qualifying in sixth and gained a couple of places in super pole by posting fourth fastest in a quality field of riders.

MX2

The MX2 class kicked off the days proceedings and as they dropped down into the valley first time round, Bradshaw made use of a good start and was in second chasing Jake Nicholls for the lead for the early laps and in turn had Scott Elderfield for company. As the race progressed only a few seconds covered the leading trio and Bradshaw and Elderfield trades places on several occasions and the Samsung Yamaha finished a fine third. A little further down the order and just inside the points, Sunny Thompson added four points to his season tally in 17^th.

Sunny crashed on the opening lap in race two and was way down on the pack, but up front Bradshaw was running top five in the early exchanges and moved past Pocock into fourth with the leaders not too far ahead. Bradshaw was putting in some strong lap times and halfway through made a pass on Elderfield into third, which he made his own at the flag. Thompson this time could not make the points finishing in 24^th.

Bradshaw needed a solid last race to make sure of a podium and was down in 10^th on the opening lap, with work to do and was making steady progress picking up a place a lap in the early laps and soon into fifth and looking good enough for second overall until the last lap he was taken down by Elderfield putting the Samsung Yamaha on the floor. He recovered to finish 10^th at the flag for fourth overall, good but disappointing in Bradshaw’s eyes.

MX1

Ben LaMay was in ninth in race one from the off and was looking solid moving up the order on the first couple of laps into seventh but then made hard work for himself getting past another rider for much of the race which allowed the leaders to pull out a gap and by the time LaMay made his move with three laps to go it was too late to make anymore progress and finished sixth.

Race two the Samsung Yamaha crashed on the first corner and was a country mile behind the pack and with the shorter races it was always going to be hard to pull through the pack but try he did and managed to scrape a couple of points in 19^th. The final race of the day saw LaMay just inside the top ten and as they came round the opening lap he caught the back end of Brad Anderson and LaMay went down, twisting his bars in the process. After getting them straightened out, again he was way down on the pack and like the previous race he could only race back to an eventual 19th.

Mixed weekend for Samsung Yamaha at Red Bull Pro Nationals

Pontrilas near Hereford was the venue brought forward by a few weeks for round six of the Red Bull Pro Nationals over the weekend and it was a disappointing day for Ben LaMay, after several weeks of strong showings, while Sunny Thompson kept up a 100% podium success in the Rookie class.

Sunny Thompson was third fastest in qualifying and in the Red Bull Pro MX1 class Ben LaMay was fifth. The organisers prepped the hillside circuit immaculately, but the recent dry weather could not prevent dust on the Saturday race program, while welcome overnight rain produced a more tricky race circuit with plenty of ruts and lines to choose from come Sunday.

Pro MX1

LaMay had been in strong form coming into this round and it was a poor start in race one that did not help his cause as he was buried in the middle of the pack on the opening few laps, struggling to find a good rhythm. Slowly but surely he worked his way through passing some quality names in the strong field but did manage to get up to finish as sixth best MX1 rider come race end.

Race two and this time an even poorer start from LaMay, with lots of work to do. With series leader Anderson out front it was going to be a monumental race from LaMay to regain any of the points he lost from Anderson in race one but this was a tough race from the Samsung Yamaha rider and again like race one pulled through the field, not as fast or as far as he would have liked to finish an eventual eighth in his class.

All is still to play for and LaMay still has three rounds to close back up the 34-point deficit he has on Brad Anderson.

Rookies

This was the fifth round of the series for the Rookies as they missed a round at Silverstone but it did not stop 15 year old Sunny Thompson romping onto yet another podium. Saturday racing went well, scoring a respectable first race win, then backing it up with two solid fifth place finishes and to finish off his weekend he finished strongly on Sunday in the tougher conditions with a second and a third good enough for second overall and to keep his stranglehold on the series standings with a 34 point lead with three rounds remaining.

Other News

After an impressive first season on UK soil in the MX1 class, Roy Emberson has inked a deal to keep American Ben LaMay for another season, and with a season of experience under his belt and more knowledge of the circuits, LaMay could be a force to be reckoned come 2011. Neville Bradshaw will be making a welcome return to racing for the next round of the British Championship at Foxhills near Swindon on July 25th, where Samsung Yamaha will be back to full strength and a circuit LaMay has taken a liking to already this year.

Samsung Yamaha riders rewarded with more podium success in Whitby

The fifth round of the Red Bull Pro Nationals headed to picturesque Whitby over the weekend, and perfect weather drew a sizable crowd to witness some fast, close and exciting racing and Samsung Yamaha riders Ben LaMay and Sunny Thompson both getting on to the podium, both taking race wins.

LaMay once again showed his raw speed by posting another pole position, clearly showing he’s adapted well to the British culture in his first season, and his all out style is suited to the British circuits. In the Rookie class, Thompson was third fastest in qualifying.

No representation for Samsung Yamaha in the MX2 class this time out, as last years champion Neville Bradshaw is out for around five weeks due to the T7 vertebrae he broke at Lyng, while still recovering from his shoulder injury and will be back again when he’s 100% fit.

Red Bull Pro Nationals MX1

After dominating the previous round a week earlier at Silverstone and in touching distance of Brad Andersons lead, LaMay needed a good start but crashed very early on in the opening race and was right at the back of the field. It did not take long for the Samsung Yamaha to start ripping back up through the field and he came home a very respectable fifth place finish, salvaging some decent points in the process.

After the disappointment of the race one crash, LaMay took charge of race two from the opening lap and took control of the race and was never headed throughout to claim a well deserved race win, clawing back some points he lost to Anderson in the opening moto.

Red Bull Rookies

Sunny Thompson came into round five laying second in the standings wanting to come away from the weekend one place better. His intentions were clear on day one where the racing was very close, losing the first race by less than two seconds. He backed up his first race effort with a race win next time out. The final race of the day was another second place finish for Sunny this time by the narrowest of margins only a second separating the leaders over the line. The Rookies contest for the overall on the Sunday with two races and in their first race of the day, the Samsung Yamaha finished third, while the final race of the day Thompson managed another runner up place which was good enough to secure the overall win and take over the points lead going into the next round.

Both Samsung Yamaha riders look forward to their next outing on weekend July 10/11^th which again is the Red Bull Pro Nationals at Pontrilas near Hereford, which has been brought forward on the schedule and both riders will be looking for solid performances on current form.