October 2, 2016 – Canada Heights, Kent, UK –
Paul Holmes dominated the final round of the 2016 ACU British Quad Championship by taking 3 impressive race wins at the mixed terrain circuit of Canada Heights in Swanley, Kent. The hosts, Sidcup MCC had prepared a perfect track for the days racing action. Reigning Champion Holmes entered the final round in 2ndplace, 36 points behind the leaderafter 2 tough Championship rounds earlier in the year following a leg injury which occurred whilst competing in America in June. After months of physiotherapy and an adapted training schedule to ensure he was back up to normal strength and fitness Holmes was ready to let the battle commence!
With three 20 minute + 2 lap races, and 75 points up for grabs, Holmes knew the championship was tall ask, but showed great composure and maturity towards the task ahead.
Race 1: Blasting out of the start gates, the 30 rider field flew up the hill towards the first corner and Holmes managed to position himself well on the exit of turn 1 putting him in 2nd place by turn 2. Holmes pushed the early race leader and soon found a way past after which Holmes didn’t look back and opened up an impressive lead whilst setting the fastest laps of the race. By the chequered flag, Holmes had built up a 24 second advantage over the 2nd place rider, Mclernon.
Race 2: Another good start saw Holmes enter the first turn in 2nd place and immediately put pressure on the early leader before making a nice inside line pass for the lead mid way through the opening lap. Holmes then blasted away from the field, setting lap times between 2 and 3 seconds quicker than any other riders on track and took another easy victory.
Race 3: A top 4 start this time meant Holmes had slightly more work ahead of him to get the clean sweep of victories he was looking for. By the midpoint of the race, Holmes had found his way to the front of the pack and proceeded to gap them until the final chequered flag dropped, taking the final impressive win of the day, and year.
Holmes managed to take 31 points out of his Championship rival on the day, coming within 5 points of his 4th British Championship.
With his 3 British Championship titles to match his 3 Under 21 British Championship titles, and speed shown to end this year out, Holmes will be back to regain his title in 2017. With more race wins than any other rider this year, Holmes has shown great speed and skill which very much makes him the man to beat in future!
Round 6 results:
1st Paul Holmes 75 points
2nd Carl Bunce 58
3rd Leon Rogers 58
4th Marc De Vries 52
5th Mark McLernon 44
6th Brad Frost 35
2016 Championship final standings:
1st Mark McLernon 367 points
2nd Paul Holmes 362
3rd Carl Bunce 311
4th Justin Reid 275
5th Leon Rogers 274
6th Luke Cooper 211
Holmes commented after the day’s action: “Despite not taking the Championship this year, I am still really pleased with how I have done today and this year! Not many people knew I had an injury in the summer, and consequently I struggled at rounds 4 and 5 riding through the pain with limited mobility in my leg. I also had some bad luck which, combined with the injury cost me this year’s title, but I am just taking the positives out of today and I’m happy with my result. I’ve gained a massive amount of confidence today which is a great boost as I head into the off-season! I would like to say thank you to my family, friends, the team and all of my very supportive sponsors. Without you all, this wouldn’t have been possible. I am ready for next year’s challenge and look forward to my off-season program.”
