Barr & Columb perform at Lyng

The Relentless Suzuki MX team were back in the thick of the action this weekend, as team rider's Martin Barr and Scott Columb rode strongly at round five of the Maxxis British Motocross Championship held at Lyng in Norfolk.

With Barr keen to continue his good run of results, the Irishman started well, running second quickest in practice. Making a great start in race one, Barr was up to third place before a broken rear brake hose from a tangle with another rider, forced the RM-Z250 rider to run the rest of the race with no rear brake, still finishing in a great fifth position. With his rear brake repaired for race two, Barr was quickly back at the top of the field, chasing down Sword, before tiring towards the end of the race and settling for third.

Martin Barr: "I'm very happy to come away with another podium finish, but a little disappointed not to come away with two great results. The first race incident was really unfortunate and I had to dig deep to hang on to fifth place. Overall I'm pleased but just need to get my head down in the remaining rounds, where I hope I can move up the championship table."

After the first MX1 race was red flagged, Scott Columb's opening race would not go to plan. Running as high as ninth, before an incident with Bryan Mackenzie and then a big crash later on, would see the New Zealander remount to finish in eleventh. A much stronger start in race two, saw the RM-Z450 rider gate in third and move as high as second place, before being passed by Gareth Swanpoel with three laps to go, setting for the final podium step.

Scott Columb: "Much like Martin, it's been positive despite things not going completely to plan. Race two was clearly my best, and I was feeling quite comfortable early on, but just tired a little before being passed by Swanpoel. The RM-Z450 ran superbly again today, and with the championship standings to close, I hope to improve in the next round at Foxhill."

Team manager Rob Hooper: "Despite our bad luck this weekend, we can be proud of what we've achieved. Martin's first race result is impressive when you consider he had no back brake and as we saw in the second race when everything is right, we can challenge right at the sharp end. Scott had similar misfortune, but dug deep and showed his true pedigree in race two. To conclude, I think we can be pleased with our performance and build on this for the remainder of the season."

The next round of the Maxxis British Championship takes place on 26th July at the Foxhill track.