WATSON TAKES HIS FIRST PODIUM
Apr 2008
This weekend saw the Anderson ATV Race Team head over to Northern Ireland to race in the second round of the ACU British MMX Quad X Championship held at Desertmartin.
In the first race Carl Bunce, who started on the back line due to a poor qualifying round, managed to claw his way up to 11th. Mark Watson who many would still consider a novice due to his actual time spent on an ATV had a fantastic start and was working his way up the positions. Unfortunately his lack of set-up knowledge meant that he was hampered with arm-pump which saw him slowly fall back in the pack and finished in 21st.
The second race of the day saw both Suzuki mounted riders get good starts. They fought their way to 3rd and 4th position by the fourth lap and then proceeded to create a good gap between themselves and the rest of the riders which they held until the chequered flag. Watson finished in 3rd place giving him his first ATV podium and Bunce in 4th meaning that they finished the day overall in 10th and 5th respectively.
Bunce commented after the race, “I was really pleased with the second race today, I had a bad qualifier this morning but I really pulled it back and I’m happy going home with a fifth overall.”
Watson said, “I had a really good day today. I was a little disappointed in the first race as I was making good progress but then the arm-pump kicked in. We made some big changes to the set up of my LT-R450 before the second race and they really paid off.”
Team Manager Paul Anderson of Anderson ATVs commented, “Today was a superb result. I think Carl felt under a lot of pressure after his first round in Devon, now he can forget about that and look forward. Mark has again shown he has natural talent by gaining such a good result with such little experience. He obviously still has a lot to learn about what set-up suits him but he has great potential”.
Not content with one day of racing Bunce also raced in a Hampshire MX Club race at Alton on Sunday. What started out as a nice day weather wise swiftly changed, this resulted in the track being quite tricky. However, Bunce still managed a second and two firsts despite having a crash in the practise laps meaning he finished the day in first overall.
