Press Release

Proppa.com KTM pushed to the limits at German Grand Prix sizzler


The
rains in the week before the German round of the world motocross
championship would have had you think that this would be a wet round,
not a scorching one. But you would be mistaken, very, very mistaken.
With entries for both its MX1 riders, Proppa.com KTM made the 1,000 mile trip deep into the heart of Saxony, only to be faced with a tough weekend to surpass all others.





Saturday morning started off well enough. The morning's early
qualifying sessions saw Martin Barr put in a good time just outside the
top twenty, while Nathan Parker found himself nudging the top thirty
with two hundredths of a second. That's where the weekend ended for
Parker though. Whilst putting in his fastest time yet, he cross-rutted
across a jump, resulting in a huge crash. After being initially taken to
the on-site medical centre, he was subsequently airlifted by helicopter
to the local hospital. Fortunately Parker escaped any serious injury
and returned to the track later in the day, albeit as a spectator.





Temperatures rose to a scorching high in the afternoon, just in time
for the qualifying race. Here Barr got off to a slow start in the rear
of the pack after being caught up in a first-lap crash, but he pushed
his way forward past several regular world championship contenders to
end in twenty-fifth. The next morning dawned warmer still and in the
warm-up session Barr set a time that put him in fifteenth, an
encouraging sign for the day's activities.





Then it was time for the first MX1 race. Barr didn’t get out of the
gate too well and was down in thirty-second, but his hard work was
rewarded as he progressed to eighteenth position within the first ten
minutes. However, then disaster struck. Barr dropped back six places
after a stall, and then lost several more as the boiling heat started to
take its toll. Gritting his teeth, Barr was able to recover two places,
but as dehydration rapidly set in in the closing laps, he had to
concede one position, and finished the race in twenty-fourth.





By the time the second MX1 race went to the line, Barr had recovered
some of his energy and insisted on joining his rivals in the race.
Getting around the first corner in twenty-third, Barr soon found himself
a position up, but heat exhaustion quickly caught up and after the
fifth lap, the team ordered Barr to pull in for his own safety.





Commenting on the weekend's activities, team principal Steve Turner
said: “Where do you start? The best thing about the weekend for me was
the meal on Saturday night. This GP stuff is a lot tougher than some
people make it out to be. I’m at a loss as to what happened to Martin.
He prepared exactly the same this week as he always does but after
making great progress early on in the first race he was completely wiped
out after twenty minutes. For the second race we gave Martin the choice
of not riding, and we told him we'd monitor his lap times and pull him
in if necessary if he did go out, and we did just that. We’ll be getting
some blood tests done this week to see if there’s anything wrong
there.”





“Nathan learned a lot during the qualifying practice, and after
riding really tight in the first session he relaxed a lot more and was
looking good. In his final lap, on two of the three sectors on the track
he was two seconds faster than he had done all morning, but then he
cross-rutted over the jump and crashed big, hurting his neck. He was
checked out and thankfully he is OK. We’re actually really lucky not
have suffered any long term injuries and I suppose you can take that as a
big positive on such a negative weekend.”





Nathan Parker: “My free practice didn't go very well, but for the
pre-qualifying practice we changed a few things in the suspension and I
felt a lot better. Early on I was up to twenty-second but then dropped
back. I was on a fast lap and so far in it I was two seconds up and
feeling a lot better than the previous session, then I went up the face
of a jump and cross-rutted and went down. I hurt my neck, got airlifted
out and that was that.”





Martin Barr: “Things started off all right; in free practice I just
gelled with the track and liked it and ended up eighteenth. In the
qualifying practice I ended up twenty-fifth, and in the qualifying race I
got a crap start and then got caught up in a pile-up in the first lap
and stalled the bike. I got back up to twenty-fifth in that. In the
first race I was feeling good, didn't get the best of starts but I was
pretty aggressive in the first couple of laps and was inside the points.
Then it just hit me and I can't remember much after that and ended in
twenty-fourth. In the second one I just wanted to go out and see how I
got on, but in the first ten minutes I suddenly felt all dizzy and
pulled out of that one. So it's been just another disappointing weekend,
really.”
0 comments

The Latest