The official motocross team for Kawasaki Motors UK in 2009, LPE Kawasaki, have undergone a baptism of fire in their first season of official support from the Japanese manufacturer. Along with all the obvious challenges, the team also brought home a championship with rising star Kristian Whatley in the final round of the series.

 

The battle at that final round was between Kristian Whatley and seasoned MX campaigner, Carl Nunn. The team’s other riders, Elliott Banks-Browne, Lewis Rose and Jamie Smith meanwhile hoped to improve their standings in the championship.

 

Qualifying in the Open class started the day off well with a pole for Kristian and a third for Elliott, followed by Jamie in eighth and Lewis in 11th. Racing looked to start off well with Elliott, Kristian and Nunn all vying for the lead. However, a crash on a blind jump, plus the subsequent melée that followed, required a race restart while Nunn was eventually taken to hospital, taking him out of contention for the championship altogether.

 

Kristian and Elliott ended the race in first and second. Lewis started just inside the top 15 and made his way to tenth by the end of the race while Jamie, dragged off his bike in the beginning, ended the race just outside the top 15. With this, the championship was decided, with another race remaining.

 

The second race was also red-flagged after an accident on the far side of the track that required medical assistance. The restart got out of the gates virtually identically to its predecessor with Elliott firmly in the lead. With the championship his, Kristian kept up with Elliott in the lead and Neville Bradshaw in second, opting to keep second overall by riding safe.

 

Lewis once again put in a solid ride, making very early gains to sixth and then keeping his spot safe. Jamie ended the race two places down in eighth after an early mistake that put him at the rear of the pack again required a battle just to get back into the top ten.

 

Steve James commented: "Today is what it's all about, why I first set out to do this. Everything's gone right, we've had some really good luck, it's been fantastic from the word go.”

"Well done to Kristian and well done to Elliott as well, the pair of them rode fantastically. They are a credit to the team today. Jamie has had a few offs and was coming through the field most of the day, Lewis was tenth in the first and had a storming ride in sixth in the second race, so all ended in the top 11."

 

"I'd like to thank everyone for their efforts, the riders, the mechanics, the chef, my wife, our press man and our sponsors, who've all worked so hard this year. We all deserve this championship; this is a team at the end of the day. The riders won it, but it's the team as well, and I'm really proud."

 

Ross Burridge, Team Green Coordinator for Kawasaki Motors UK was on hand to share in the understandably jubilant celebrations. “Steve and the entire LPE team have put many, man hours of selfless dedication into getting where they are today. In their first year as an official MX team for Kawasaki Motors UK they have achieved great things and we are very proud of them.”

 

Return to the previous page