TM Motocross Bikes

With less than a week passing since Round3 of the British championship the team headed off mid week to compete in the German S1 Grand Prix at the town based circuit of Sankt Wendel 6-8th July.

With Lee Jones still out injured it was down to Keith Farmer to hold up team honour and after nearly eighteen hours travelling through five countries we were greeted by baking hot sunshine and a tight and technical german circuit set out within the town centre area.

Friday afternoon was to be spent setting up and technical controls, with a one make tyre rule the remainder of the day was spent changing wheels and tyres ready for saturday practice, then retiring for an early night at the hotel.

With a full day saturday including two untimed free practice sessions and forty minutes qualifying the day began almost too good to be true with Farmer immediatly posting a top ten time for nearly all the first session. Most of the GP regulars seemed to be concentrating on sector timing rather than posting complete times but nevertheless by the end of the session Farmer was a more than respectable 19th. By session two Farmer concentrated on the areas he was not to comfortable with and although slightly faster dropped down the order to 24th as the session ended.

Qualifying began late afternoon, with a small rain shower on the way to the holding area it looked to be a wet session but with the heat of the day the track dried almost instantly. With most of the GP regulars old hands Farmer sat back for a while and waited for an oppurtunity to complete a clear lap. As the team changed to a new rear tyre mid session it seemed to be the lease of life Farmer needed and astoundingly shaved a full two seconds from his previous best. By the session end Farmer was 21st qualifier, 1.5 seconds from pole!

Sunday was again dry with blistering sun, morning warm up went well and Farmer felt confident that a top twenty may be achievable if he satyed out of trouble.

Farmer lined up for race1 on the outside of the sixth row with lots to do in the first tight turn, remarkably whilst most riders chose to queue through the series of first turns farmer rode around the outside and rounded the first lap in 16th. He held this position despite being put under pressure from the chasing pack until a small mistake in the dirt section left Framer on the floor and now dead last. With an epic charge back in extremely good company Farmer clawed back to 24th, a little dissapointed with such a small mistake which robbed him of his first points but ready to battle again in race2.

As Race2 lined up the sun was now hotter than ever, again Farmer made good progress on lap1 rounding the first lap 17th. With no room to breathe as six riders all hunted him down it was lap 8 when due to the extreme heat Farmer started to make small mistakes as the rear tyre started to go off. Despite an epic battle with names like Giovanni Bussei (World Superbike rider) and Marco Dondi (Italian under21 Champion) he eventually finished 22nd just outside the points.

With lots learnt for both Farmer and the Team its Round 4 of the British championship this weekend, full of Grand Prix experience the team are confident that Farmer has the speed to continue his fight for the British Championship.

Our next venture into World Championship Supermoto will be the Italian Grand Prix in September and if funds allow the GP of Greece later in the year. The hope is to build up enough support to complete in all the 2008 S1 Supermoto World Championship. We would like to thank everybody that has made this season possible so far.

Many thanks to all sponsors making this season possible:

SMRacing, The Rocket Centre, Aprilia UK, MOTUL oils, RST leathers and gloves, LAZER helmets, BERIK Boots, ARIETE Goggles and grips, TALON, POLISPORT handguards, DANGER UK graphics, STM slipper clutches, MAGURA brakes, PRO ACTION suspension, NWCosmetics, BODY WERX accident repair centre.