MVR-D Suzuki rider Matiss Karro proved he has the pace to run with the world's best at the weekend, as the RM-Z250 rider just missed out on a podium finish at the British Hawkstone Park International event in Shropshire.
Qualifying inside the top 10, Karro was in impressive form from the off, moving though the pack in race one to as high as third place before a battle with Nicholls and Verbruggen in the final stages of the race saw Karro drop a place in the last lap to still take an impressive fourth position.
A poor start in the second race saw the young Latvian push once again, proving both his and the RM-Z250's pace by moving up to sixth place before a big crash forced him to restart, coming back to 16th at the flag.
Battered and bruised Karro rode to a strong 14th position in the Super Final race. He said: "Overall I'm quite pleased with how the day went. I felt very comfortable on the bike and despite the setbacks, we were fast and could move through the pack. I'm pleased to leave here feeling well and confident with both my own and the bike's pace."
In MX1, Carl Nunn rode to a pair of strong top-10 finishes, despite struggling with set-up and qualifying in a lowly 25th position. Finishing 10th in race one and improving to ninth in the second race, Nunn beat team mate Karro in the Super Final race by one position to finish in 13th.
Nunn said: "I didn't have a great feeling in qualifying, so to leave in 10th overall is a pretty reasonable result. We struggled with set-up, so I just got my head down and got on with it in the end. I'm happy to leave here uninjured and ready for the first round of the Red Bull Pro Nationals next weekend at Foxhill."
Team manager, Mark Chamberlain added: "Our priority was to leave here all intact, which we've achieved. Matiss rode extremely well today and despite his crash in the second race proved he has the pace to run with the best in the world. The crash took the wind out of him, but even after this, his pace was still good. Carl had a steady ride mainly due to his set-up woes, but again left here in one piece and feeling good for next weekend. Sadly for the team though, supported rider James Cottrell wasn't so lucky after breaking both wrists in a nasty crash. We all wish him a speedy recovery."
Results:
MX1 Race 1: 1st Tanel Leok, 2nd Marc De Reuver, 3rd Steve Ramon, 4th Max Nagle, 5th Clement Desalle, 6th Gareth Swanepoel, 7th Tom Soderstrom, 8th James Noble, 9th Bas Verhoeven, 10th Carl Nunn (MVR-D Suzuki).
MX1 Race 2: 1st Steve Ramon, 2nd Max Nagle, 3rd Clement Desalle, 4th Gareth Swanepoel, 5th Evgeny Bobryshev, 6th Tanel Leok, 7th Bas Verhoeven, 8th Jamie Lewis, 9th Carl Nunn (MVR-D Suzuki), 10th Yentel Martens.
MX1 Overall: 1st Ramon, 2nd Nagle, 3rd Leok, 4th Desalle, 5th Swanepoel, 6th De Reuver, 7th Verhoeven, 8th Bobryshev, 9th Carl Nunn (MVR-D Suzuki), 10th Yentel Martens.
MX2 Race 1: 1st Ken Roczen, 2nd Joel Roelants, 3rd Dennis Verbruggen, 4th Matiss Karro (MVR-D Suzuki), 5th Jake Nicholls, 6th Ceriel Klein Kromhof, 7th Glenn Coldenhoff, 8th Jose Antonio Burton, 9th Nick Triest, 10th Herjan Brakke.
MX2 Race 2: 1st Ken Roczen, 2nd Dennis Verbruggen, 3rd Jake Nicholls, 4th Arnaud Tonus, 5th Neville Bradshaw, 6th Nick Triest, 7th Ceriel Klein Kromhof, 8th Herjan Brakke, 9th Lars Oldekamp, 10th Avel Aletru. 16th Matiss Karro (MVR-D Suzuki).
MX2 Overall: 1st Roczen, 2nd Verbruggen, 3rd Nicholls, 4th Klein Kromhof, 5th Roelants, 6th Triest, 7th Bradshaw, 8th Brakke, 9th Matiss Karro (MVVR-D Suzuki).
