Parker proves podium potential for Boost Energy KTM

Only
days after the appointment of Boost Energy as title sponsor, the newly
named Boost Energy KTM team showed off its star potential again at the
fourth round of the Red Bull Pro Nationals at Canada Heights in Kent.






The morning's qualifying session went well for the team; rider Martin
Barr scored pole from the outset with a time that no-one was able to
better throughout the entire session. Team-mate Nathan Parker qualified
fifth for the MX1 class. The first race saw a change in the waiting
zone; the format for gate positions changed from the previously used
MX2, then MX1 format to an alternating format, which gave the team's
riders a good chance at getting the gate pick they wanted.






Barr put this to the test soon after with an astonishing holeshot
around the tight 180 degree start turn, leading the way for the rest of
the pack. He was forced to relinquish his lead to rival Brad Anderson
several laps later, but continued to push hard until disaster struck.
Two-thirds into the race, a throttle malfunction forced Barr to pull
back, costing him his hard-fought second place, and progressively
slipping backwards through the pack to the bitter end in fifteenth
place.






The second race saw Barr get around the first corner in second
behind Anderson, a position he defended from MX2 rivals Elliott
Banks-Browne and Neville Bradshaw. The resulting second place combined
with the first race position gave Barr an overall seventh place on the
day, but with Anderson taking two wins the gap between the two has
widened to fifty-six points.






For Parker, the day turned out to be the best he has had all year.
Although he got off to a slow start in fifth, he soon worked his way to
third, and in the closing laps of the race progressed to second place,
leaving nearest rival Josh Waterman far behind in the process. The
second race did not progress as smoothly as the first, but a solid
performance throughout whilst attempting to displace Gert Krestinov,
gave Parker the points needed to not only join Anderson on the podium,
but do so in second place! This stunner of a result has also given
Parker the points needed to be in touching distance of third place in
the championship.






Commented a very pleased team principal, Steve Turner: "It's been a
pretty good day for the team again, really good for Nathan with his
first overall podium of the season. Second in the first race and fifth
in the second race was enough to give him second on the podium, which is
his best ever result by far. He's really pumped and two weeks in a row
he's had good results, so it's really good for him.






"A real shame for Martin; fantastic first race until he developed a
bike problem. He nursed it home for points. Went out in the second race
and was second behind Brad and rode really strong again. It's just a
shame, he should've been on the podium as well, it should've been both
our riders up there, but we'll take one each week and just keep the
momentum going."






Martin Barr: "The day started off good, went fastest in qualifying
but it was really close, the first six of us. The first race started off
really well, pulled the holeshot and took the lead; I was pulling away
and the bike started losing power. Eventually I just kept dropping back
further and further and upset the team. It cost me a lot of points in
the championship, but that's racing, and anything can happen. I was
pretty disappointed with that. In the second race I got another really
good start to get into the lead around the second corner. Brad and I
were going at it and he just had better lines than I did and he started
pulling away from me towards the middle of the race, and I eventually
finished second. I'm very disappointed not to be on the podium and
obviously losing a lot of points on Brad, but we still have a few rounds
left and I'll give everything I have."






Nathan Parker: "Today didn't start off too good, I got a fifth in
qualifying and I'm not a massive fan of the track, so I struggled with
it and thought it'd be an average day. In the first race I went around
the outside and got a pretty good start, and then just picked them off. A
few people had problems and crashes, and I ended up second. It's the
best result of the year so far in the Red Bull. In the second race,
tried the same tactic again on the outside, and it sort-of didn't work. I
didn't get a big enough jump, but I just kept pushing all the way to
the end and ended up fifth in the MX1. It was good enough to get on the
podium, so I'm really happy with that result."