Team Revo Seven Kawasaki kicked off its 2022 season in the UK with the prestigious Hawkstone Park International on Sunday, 13th February.
With MX1 team leader Dylan Walsh still in the USA, Jamie Wainwright made his debut for the official Team Green squad in the MX2 class. As you can see from the shot below, Jamie got a great drop out of the start gate, immediately blasting ahead of reigning British MX2 Champion Conrad Mewse. He came through the first few corners with only Mewse, 2020 World Champion Tom Vialle, and MX2 GP podium finisher Isak Gifting in front of him, and was thoroughly enjoying being among such accomplished company! “It was great to be up there with those guys”, said Jamie, “they were pulling me along, I could hold their pace and I was going with them.”In the middle of a battle with Kay De Wolf, misfortune struck for Jamie as the header pipe split on lap 4, depriving him of the chance of a dream top 6 debut.
Race 2 saw Jamie pick the same start gate as before, and although his initial reaction was good, he got closed in on and immediately sand-blasted on his way to the first corner. He came out just inside the top 20, but worked through to 13th by the end of the first lap. He was making ground on some of the riders who he will onlyrevo.com no doubt be battling with in this season’s Revo British Championships. The wet sand that he got covered with off the gate started to cause a build-up on the radiators, and from lap 4 the lack of air flow was causing the engine to steam around the track as the KX250F started to boil over. Losing both serious power and his goggles, Jamie pulled in rather than risk destroying an engine completely. Team Principal Mark Yates was philosophical: “We’re really pleased about Jamie’s start with the team, he’s had a great pre-season and despite the issues I’m sure he’ll take some confidence from his pace and that start in the first race.” Due to a repeat injury sustained in the US, Dylan Walsh will need to rest rather than race in Sunday’s British MXGP as planned.