Press Release

Podium miss at Red Bull for Boost Energy KTM


Hawkstone
is often the place for epic battles, and the fifth round of the Red
Bull Pro Nationals this past weekend was no exception. With the
championship going into its closing rounds, the push for points becomes
more and more important, and for Boost Energy KTM this is especially so
with its two riders in prime position to benefit from good results at
this challenging location.





Qualifying started well with Martin Barr setting the second-fastest
time of the MX1 class, while Nathan Parker ended the qualifying session
in fifth. The first Pro Nationals race went to the line shortly before
one o'clock and it was Barr who was up front with Grand Prix regular
Tommy Searle from the start. Although championship leader Brad Anderson
soon made his move to displace Barr from runner-up position, a shake-up
in the latter half of the race and a lost exhaust on Anderson's bike saw
a change in the ranks again that returned Barr to second place at the
chequered flag.





For the second race, things got off to a bad start with Barr in
seventh place. As the front-runners consolidated themselves into a pack
of MX1 riders, Barr was able to move into reach of another podium.
Disaster struck in the closing laps as inexplicably, his bike started
reacting sluggishly and he fell back. On the final lap, team-mate Parker
passed him to relegate him to sixth. This gave Anderson sufficient
points to leapfrog Barr to the podium, leaving him in fourth overall on
the day.





For Parker, the restarted first race got off to a reasonable start
in the middle of the pack, where he found himself in a gaggle of MX2
riders, but he soon shook them off to chase after Gert Krestinov. The
cat and mouse game continued throughout the race, and at the chequered
flag, Parker crossed the line in fifth. A time penalty imposed on
Anderson for noise moved Parker up one place, to fourth.





The second race saw Parker in fourth around the first lap, but
mid-race, a miscalculated jump jolted his head again, worsening his
pre-existing neck injury and costing him two positions as he struggled
with the pain. Parker continued to ride through the obvious discomfort
and pushed on in sixth, taking one more position in the final lap to
ascend to fifth for fifth overall on the day.





With two more rounds to go, the team's championship positions are
virtually unaffected by the day's events, with Barr still solidly in
second and Parker in fourth.

Team principal Steve Turner
commented: “The day started off ok with Martin in second and Nathan in
fourth in the MX1 class. Until the last race they were both running
really well, but then Nathan over-jumped a jump in the woods and put his
neck out again. You could see when he'd done it because his body
language changed completely. But fair play to the lad, he kept going to
the end and got a fifth overall. Martin had a slight problem with his
bike, which developed around five laps from the end which meant that he
couldn't push hard and give it 100%, leaving him to nurse it home. He
got a sixth for a fourth overall. All in all results-wise it's not the
best day we've had, but it's still OK for the championship.”





Martin Barr: “The day started off good; I qualified in second. In
the first race I had a good start, pushed Tommy and then made a few
mistakes, Brad got by me and they pulled a bit of a gap. When I got
going again I started catching Brad and then he had a problem with his
exhaust and I pushed past him to finish second. In the second race I had
a pretty bad start and a few laps from the finish the bike lost some of
its power which meant I couldn’t push as much as I wanted. It's
frustrating but I’ll be back next week at Desertmartin where I’ll be
going for the win.”





Nathan Parker: “Qualifying was all right, I ended up fifth. In the
first race I had a good start, I felt comfortable, and then the race was
red-flagged. After that I got a terrible start and was way down in the
first lap and pulled through to fifth which was alright. Then Brad got
penalised and I ended up fourth in MX1. In the second race I was going
all right after a good start, over-jumped a jump and hurt my neck again.
I started dropping back at first but managed to get it together and
rode the best I could until the end of the race.”
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