Tough start to British MMX Championship for Relentless Suzuki MX

The opening round of the ACU British MMX Championship took place at Little Silver near Exeter in Devon at the weekend, with the Relentless Suzuki MX team out in force, but suffering bad luck, despite some flashes of serious promise.

A great start to the first British Open race saw Martin Barr up to second place at the first corner. Ready to show their championship winning potential, Barr and teammate Jamie Law were inside the top-ten when the race was red flagged due to an accident involving two other riders. By the restart, the pair's luck had run out, with both riders suffering incidents and having to fight their way back. By mid-race distance, both were heading back up the field, looking for top-ten positions again, when Law suffered a technical glitch and Barr another time-delaying crash. 12th place for Law and 15th for Barr would be the eventual finishing positions.

Sadly for the Relentless duo, race two would not bring any more success, after poor starts left Barr and Law to fight to eventual 13th and 15th positions respectively.

In the Under 21 class, new schoolboy team rider Matt Burrows, stepped up to compete, performing extremely well to qualify and go on to finish just outside of the points.

Talking about the weekend, Relentless Suzuki MX team manager, Rob Hooper, commented, "It's been a frustrating first round for us all. Both riders showed their speed and potential, but sadly couldn't back this up with results. Martin has been struggling to hold onto the bike after suffering injury to his thumb at the Liverpool Supercross event, and will get further advice on this now. On a positive note we're pleased to welcome New Zealander Scott Columb to the team as a temporary stand-in for injured Scott Probert. Columb is a class act, currently leading the New Zealand Supercross Championship and will be with us for at least the first three rounds of the British Championship."

The team will prepare for the International event at Hawkstone Park this weekend.