The final two rounds on the British Sprint Championship could have seen 3 winners …. Jordan Rose (TM) , Daryll Bolter (KTM) and MX Star Tom Church depending on how the results sorted themselves out . The addition of wildcard EWC frontrunner Matti Sestola (Husqvarna) added to equation .
Rose needed to finish ahead on Bolter and Church on round 9 to secure the title before the final round but as can happen with motorsport things can go wrong .
Entering the first test of the day Rose set off last chasing down Church but had not completed more than 1000m when the bike ground to a halt. Initially it seemed the chain had derailed but in fact is was one of Canada Heights millions of small stones that has jammed under the chain and locked the sprocket . Quick enough to realise the problem Rose wheeled the bike backwards , dislodged the stone and continued on to lose some 35 seconds to his rivals .
From then on it was catch up all day through the next 7 tests eventually to overhaul both Bolter and Church on the last test of the day to secure 2 nd and the Championship . Job done , if the hard way .
With the championship secured , Jordan and his TM were relaxed and determined to have a run at Sestola for the final round and set off to a flying start on the first test Sunday morning . Unbelievably ¼ way round the first lap the Canada Heights stones again decided to do their work and a larger block jammed in the rear quide and again locked the wheel , this time more securely and it took over 60 seconds to remove it . Over a minute down , Jordan set some blistering times to move to 4 place by the last test and was in fact ahead to 2 nd only to fall in the last corner of the last lap to finally finish 4 the on the day , 2 seconds from 2 nd place but unable to regain the time lost to Sestola who was the fastest rider on the day .
Jordan:
“Well I am pleased that is over . Saturday I had decided to ride a steady race and see how I was lying after the mornings tests . Coming through the gate on the first lap the bike just stopped ; I knew it was not an engine problem and when I tried to move I could hear the chain grinding so figured it was jammed by a stone which I have had before here in Canada heights . I got it free but it made the rest of the day much harder as I had to push as hard as I could without overdoing it. In the end I was about 6 seconds per test faster than Darrel or Tom and managed to pull the time back by the end . Thankfully all went well thereafter but it was a bit nerve racking .
On Sunday I was going to have real go at beating Matti and I could not believe it when almost the exact same thing happened on the first test … this time the stone jammed the rear guide and I could not get it free , three times I had to stop until the stone finally broke . By that time I had lost over a minute. I tried really hard and managed to regain positions only to fall in the last corner of the last test and lost 2nd by 2 seconds . Matti was too far ahead for me to catch .
All in all it could have been worse as the chain could have snapped and I have won the championship which was what we needed to do .”