Noble fires the 5 tonner to 3 wins on first outing for new team

The Fuchs 2 stroke Championship rolled into Whitby on Sunday the 21st June and it was a chance for James Noble to show what he could do on a steel framed CR500.

In the first race Noble hit the gate on the start and was left at the back of the field. He quickly made his way through the pack and after a few laps was closing in on leader Mark Eastwood when he got it wrong coming through the woops section and binned it. He was left to come back from around 7th place to catch Eastwood and take the victory.

Noble wasn’t going to make the same mistake again in the next two races and fired the 500 out of the gate in both to take two holeshots and two more victories.

PRESS RELEASE

James Noble signs for the Proppa.com STR Honda team.


After weeks of speculation Proppa.com STR Honda have confirmed that they have secured the services of Noble for the rest of the season and also for 2010.

Steve Turner, team manager commented “After finding out that James and MVR-D had decided to part company and that he was being courted by a number of top teams within the paddock, I would have been a fool not to throw my hat in the ring. I have always been impressed with James as a rider and am flattered that he has chosen us ahead of the other teams which were vying for his signature. He certainly increases the team’s chances of success both in terms of results and of exposure for our sponsors”

Noble added “It’s unfortunate that I’ve parted company with MVR-D mid-season. All I can do now is get my head down, work as hard as I can and hopefully turn in some good performances.
I am looking forward to dealing with Steve and all the guys at STR and hope that I can get the results for the team and the sponsors as well as for myself.”

Maxxis British Championship Rd4

The fourth round of the Maxxis British Championship took place at Hawkstone Park, Shropshire on 14th June. Both the track and the weather conditions were excellent.

Qualifying
Rose qualified in 8th with himself and the other seven in front separated by just ¾ of a second. Parker enjoyed his highest Maxxis qualification of the season in 14th.

Race 1.
Both riders had poor starts and at the end of the first lap Rose was 14th with Parker in 18th. On lap four Rose pulled into the pits with an injured knee and was to take no further part in the race.
Parker had made his way through to 14th and was now catching Jamie Smith and Jamie Law and by lap eight he had passed both to move up to 12th but Smith wasn’t going to go down without a fight and actually gained the place back before Parker finally saw off his challenge on the thirteenth lap. He managed to pick up another place before the end as Scott Columb hit the dirt and finished in his highest position in the British Championship in 11th.

Race 2
Rose went to the line with his knee strapped up and managed to struggle round for a brave 15th at the flag. Parker had an awful start down in 35th as they exited the woods and after fighting his way through to the top twenty by the second lap it was looking good for another great result. However the worsening track conditions really took their toll on the youngster and he had to fight for all he was worth just to get to an 18th place finish at the end of what he found to be a tortuous race.

Maxxis British Championship - Rd3

The third round of the Maxxis British Championship took place at Brampton, Cumbria on 3rd May. The track had been upgraded and was in great condition and everyone was looking forward to a tough day’s racing.

Qualifying
Jordan qualified in 8th only 1 second off pole-setter James Noble with Nathan in 17th.

Race 1.
Jordan had the worst possible start with a fuel injection problem causing the bike to cut out on the line and again on the first corner resulting in him being dead last and by some considerable margin. Fortunately the problem seemed to clear itself and he was able to set off in pursuit of the field. By the lap four he was up to 31st but an altercation with Ashley Wilde cost him 20 seconds dropping him back to dead last. To his credit he stuck at it until the end to grab 20th at the finish.
Nez had a poor start in around 25th and after a tentative couple of laps found his rhythm and started to reel off some impressive lap times and by lap eleven had moved up to 12th..On the next lap he was passed by Billy MacKenzie who was recovering from an early fall but this only seemed to spur Nez on as he stuck with the reigning British Champion. As they both closed in on Dorren Coutts on the fast sweeping section past the pit area Nez passed Coutts and as MacKenzie lost traction Nez went for the pass only to get it all wrong, taking a huge plunge over the bars and ending his race on a stretcher.

Race 2
With Nez suffering from concussion and failing to make the line it was left to Jordan to deliver the goods but it was to be another terrible start to the race as he went down on the first corner with Tom Church and Zach Ozborne. Again he was faced with having to fight his way through the whole field which he managed to greater effect than the first race, finishing in 15th at the flag.

Riders gain wild card entries in British Round of MX3 World Championship

Both Jordan and Nez have been allocated entries in the forthcoming British round of the MX3 World Championship to be held at Hawkstone Park on the 11th & 12th April.
After a couple of weeks spent recovering from their injuries, suffered at the second round of the Maxxis Championship at Langrish both riders are enthusiastic about their chances to excel at the Shropshire venue.

The Championship is being promoted by RHL Activities as part of a three day extravaganza called the Handlebar Festival which includes Quad Bikes, Trials Bikes, BMX Bikes , Mountain Bikes as well as the Motocross. For details of the event log onto http://www.handlebarfestival.com/

Maxxis British Championship Rd2 - Langrish

Riders lucky to escape without serious injury

The second round of the Maxxis British Championship took place at Langrish, Hampshire on 22nd March and both riders were fortunate to escape without serious injury as they both had big crashes on the under prepared, extremely dangerous track. Jordan ended the day with a dislocated ankle but it could have been a lot worse and both riders were lucky not to have ended up with season ending injuries.

Qualifying
Jordan was impressive in qualifying posting the fastest time of any rider not doing GP’s leaving him with 6th gate pick for the races. Nez was looking relaxed and confident during the free practice but just as the timed qualifying got underway he suffered a massive crash on one of the big drop-offs at the top of the circuit wrecking his bike in the process but unbelievably not himself. After limping back to the pits he managed to pull himself together and proceeded to achieve 24th qualifying position albeit with his confidence severely dented.

Race 1
Jordan exited the first corner in 6th but somehow Nez had managed to rail it right around the outside and come out two places ahead in 4th. By the end of the first lap Jordan had moved up to 4th and Nez had settled into 8th but on the second lap he hit the deck at the end of the pit straight dropping him down to 13th and after recovering to 11th on lap six he went down again, this lime leaving him a lap down to eventually finish in 28th.
Jordan looked pretty secure in 4th in the early stages but as at Culham the week earlier he started to feel extremely tired after only ten minutes and was lucky to finish the race in 10th as he struggled to hang onto the bike in the closing stages.
Blood tests have revealed an iron deficiency which he can start to treat and hopefully get himself back to full fitness for the next meeting.

Race 2
Jordan had a poor start by his standards and was only in 13th at the end of the first lap. On the second lap as he made a move on Tom Church in the horrible valley section at the bottom on the circuit he came to grief, bashing his ankle on a post, ending his day in the process.
Nez had made an awful start and was down in 29th but to his credit he battled throughout the whole race trying to survive without crashing whilst trying to make progress through the field at the same time. He eventually brought it home in 18th place and was happy to drive away from Hampshire knowing that he wouldn’t have to ride the circuit again this year and looking forward to attacking his favourite track up at Brampton in the 3rd round.

British Masters Rd1 Culham

The first round of the British Masters series took place at Culham in Oxfordshire on 15th March. Qualifying
With the weather being unusually warm and sunny and the track being in great condition everyone was looking forward to a good day’s racing and the team wasn’t to be disappointed as Jordan took pole with a blistering lap despite only riding his standard practice bike. Nez posted 7th fastest and both riders were on a high going into the first race.
















Race 1.
Jordan gated well in third behind Brad Anderson and Billy MacKenzie who was a surprise entrant after deciding he needed a bit of extra race time under his belt before commencing his GP season. Jordan, who had been unwell all week was unable to fend off the impressive Kristian Whatley and had to dig deep to stay in contention until the end of the race to post a hard fought 4th.
Nez had struggled out of the gate and had to be extremely aggressive to make his way up to 9th at the end of the first lap. After disposing of Glen Philips on lap three he had progressed to 6th but the gap to Scott Columb was sizeable and it was therefore a welcome surprise to see him reel in and then pass the New Zealander on the last lap, finishing just behind the exhausted Rose to record a superb 5th place.



Race 2
Both riders had great starts with Nez battling with MacKenzie through the first few corners at the front of the pack just in front of Jordan in third. As they entered the back straight at the bottom of the circuit Anderson stormed past Jordan and then Nez to move into second place but with Nez brimming with confidence from the first race he wasn’t about to roll over easily and as they exited the right hander at the far end of the track Nez blasted past Anderson and set off after MacKenzie. As they flew past the finish line for the first time Nez was unbelievably right on the back wheel of the British Champion and decided to go for an audacious inside pass at the bottom of the drop down. However he dropped it in the tight rut, holing his radiator and bringing his race to an abrupt end.
Jordan was suffering even more than in the first race and was to be passed by Whatley, Columb and Jamie Lewis before bringing it home in 6th for a disappointing 5th overall. The only thing he was looking forward to was a trip to the doctors to find out what was causing him suffer such a loss of energy.