Roger Magee’s HM Plant KTM UK team produced two British motocross champions in Kevin Strijbos and Elliott Banks Browne in the MX1 and MX2 classes respectively.
The final round was staged at Little Silver near Exeter where Strijbos finished first, second and third. That meant finishing second overall to Shaun Simpson.
Browne, a 21-year-old from Suffolk, and a grandson of the legendary John Banks, had a win, a second and a sixth.
In one of the most action packed finales ever, Browne overturned a 16 point deficit to snatch victory in the MX2 class by beating his main rival, Mel Pocock, in two of the three motos at Little Silver.
After suffering a machine failure in the opening moto, Pocock bounced back with a well earned victory in the second encounter and the pair went into the final mixed race with just one point separating them. Neville Bradshaw forced the organisers to hastily arrange a complete new section of the start gate prior to the start of the 30 minutes plus two laps grand finale
On the re-start Browne made a lighting start and led the opening laps before being eventually overtaken by an on form Simpson.
With two laps to go and Pocock struggling down in the lower part of the top ten, it looked as if Browne was going to record an easy victory, but even more drama unfolded when he fell on the last lap and allowed Pocock a last gasp attempt to catch and overtake his friend and training partner.
At the chequered flag, Pocock was just three seconds behind which handed Browne his first major British Title.
Graeme Irwin twice finished third and that elevated him to fourth in the MX2 championship where Stuart Edmunds was eighth.
But it was a day for Martin Barr to forget. He failed to score any points and that meant he slipped to sixth in the MX1 rankings.
Reflecting on his campaign Strijbos said, “The whole year was pretty good for me. It was good that I could wrap up the title in the first race and not just for me but for the whole team too.
“This is my first national title in the MX1 class so I’m very happy. I want to thank everyone – the whole team, my mechanic and my sponsors.”
A Co Down businessman, Magee commented, “It was a good day at the office! What more can I say?”
“We’ve won two British championships, finished sixth in the MX1 world championship with Kevin, second in the Women’s series with Natalie Kane and Elliott Banks-Browne also showed in Germany that he can mix it with the best and will be a force to be reckoned with in next year’s world championship.”
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