Mistakes cost Proppa.com KTM hotly contested RedBull podium‏

Summer has truly arrived in the United Kingdom, and with the gorgeous barbecue weather continuing, Proppa.com KTM was looking forward to the second round of the Red Bull Pro Nationals at Landrake in Cornwall.



High winds on both days made things slightly more challenging, but
it didn't stop Liam Garland from making a good impression on Saturday
morning as he qualified fifth in the Elite Rookies class. All gremlins
from the previous week forgotten, he put in equally sparkling results
in the first race, ending sixth, and improved on that result in the
second race with a fantastic second place that had him his usual
smiling self again. The tough final race on Saturday afternoon in the
setting sun and on hard-packed earth put him back in seventh.





On Sunday morning all riders were faced with a rather wet track
after watering on Saturday evening was unexpectedly supplemented by
heavy rain showers throughout the night. The resulting deep ruts were
tough for the younger riders, Garland included; all good work on
Saturday was undone by a bent front disc in the first race,
contributing to Garland's miserable ending in twenty-ninth. The second
race looked to be a return to Saturday form with Garland in the top ten
for much of the race, but a second front disc problem slowed him down
sufficiently to drop him to eleventh at the chequered flag and just
inside the top ten in ninth overall on the weekend.





For Pro Nationals riders Martin Barr and Nathan Parker, things
didn't look all that great on Sunday morning either. Although
qualifying in the slick dirt was not a problem for Barr with a fourth
overall, Parker had a somewhat harder time getting a decent time,
eventually qualifying in twelfth.





Both riders had a nightmare of a first race. Although Barr got off
to a fantastic start and was well on his way to a podium, two crashes
put paid to that dream and left him hanging on to his seventh place by
seconds. Parker on the other hand continued to struggle getting into a
race rhythm and left it too late to be able to make real race progress,
ending eleventh.





In the second race, both hoped for an improvement; Parker's wish
was answered, Barr's was not. Going over the bars on a rutted downhill
was the last thing that Barr expected to happen whilst in third; the
cost of this mistake was five positions and a large measure of pride,
leaving Barr riding to a seventh-place finish and an embarrassing
sixth-place class overall. In contrast, Parker found himself in the
running for an odds-on podium, but a small mistake in the last lap and
the inability to find a line past rival Alex Snow earlier in the race
dropped him to sixth place and an eighth overall in the class on the
day.





Team principal Steve Turner commented: "We've had a disappointing
weekend. We went backwards and we need to collect ourselves and get
stuck in over the next three weeks to get some hard work done before we
go to Desertmartin. Liam had a bit of an up-and-down weekend. He had a
pretty good day on Saturday, but on Sunday bent the front disc in both
races and ended up a bit banged up. The fighting for positions is good
for him though, he's getting his confidence back up. In the Pro
Nationals the only good thing really was Nathan's second race."





Nathan Parker: "In qualifying this morning I struggled with the
track and it was really busy out there. Because the MX2 boys go out
first, I was pegged 34th, so it didn't really give me a good gate pick.
In the first race I stalled the bike just as I was getting into a good
rhythm, so I tensed up and ended up with arm pump and ended up 11th in
MX1, which I'm disappointed with. In the second race, I got a really
good start and I was away in the top three for the first few laps. I
felt comfortable and then started to make a few mistakes. I tensed up a
bit, but I need to make my passes a bit sooner. Even though I could've
ended up 4th, I got stuck behind a couple of people and ended up in
6th, which is a good result, but it could've gone a lot better."





Martin Barr: "I was 4th in qualifying which I was pretty happy
about because the track was pretty wet and sloppy. In the first race I
felt comfortable running behind Anderson, Sword and Whatley. The
front-end washed out twice and I ended up 7th, and I was really
disappointed with that. In the second race I was running at a good pace
and started to catch Anderson and Sword. Coming down the hill the
front-end washed out again. It's happened three times today, and it's
frustrating, I just don't know what's up with that. I ended up 7th
again in the second race, so it's been a bad weekend for me."





Liam Garland: "Saturday was my best day, qualified well in fifth,
my speed was good and I felt good. In the first race I had a good
start, faded towards the end but it's hard to ride when I get tight,
and I lost a few positions. The second race was good, I got the hole
shot and ended 2nd. In the third it didn't go so well. Sunday wasn't
such a good day. The track was really wet for the first race, I was
going well in fourth, I crashed and bent the disc, and ended up scoring
only two points in that one. In the second race I had a bad start, but
I was inside the top ten. I did something to the brake again and
finished 11th. It should be better at the next round."