oldspeed ACU British Quad Championship April 17th 2011


ATV World Yamaha’s John Mitchell opened the 2011 Goldspeed ACU British Quad Championship with a convincing double win at the Silverstone MX circuit. Having already dominated here when he won all three races at the NORA-MX meeting in March, John was full of confidence onboard his ATV World Yamaha Lager’s YZF450 quad.


The track had been watered as the hot, dry weather made the track quite dusty. Silverstone is a man-made, fast and technical track with space to overtake and a couple of big air jumps. In qualifying it was Mark Watson on his factory KTM that took the fastest lap, just ahead of John in second and Giles Davies looking very fast in third place.

The first of two 25 minute plus two lap races got underway with John taking the holeshot. Leading from Paul Winrow, Johnathan Kelly and James Hellewell, John’s good start only got better as he began to pull away from the rest of the pack. He kept his eye on Mark Watson as he was working his way up the field from eighth. Paul Winrow then crashed in lap two which widened the gap from John and the leading pack of riders. It ended with the man from Stornoway finishing with a 25 second lead. Mark Watson took second with James Hellewell in third.

With a full schedule of racing over the course of the day, the track was going to get cut up and John felt that this would play an advantage as his Elka shocks work so well in the tough conditions. The gates dropped and the roar of 30 championship riders all trying to get to the first corner filled the air. It was again John who took the holeshot, putting his quad effortlessly around the track as he began to quickly ease away from the leading group. There were no dramas, just an outstanding display as both John and his machine displayed an outstanding performance with the Scot finishing with a massive 21 second lead.


After nearly missing the presentations because of interview commitments with the TV crew from Blood Sweat and Gears, John was delighted with the result and picked up the awards for winning both open and 450cc classes.
“I was really pleased with my performance in race one. I used the spare bike and it felt very comfortable. I felt strong and the bike was effortless. Heading into race two and I was looking forward to a battle with Mark Watson, unfortunately that didn’t materialise as he had problems and pulled up. I felt the whole time like I had plenty of energy left in reserve and feel full of confidence with the bike. Everything about it was excellent. I’m now looking forward to a good season.”
The team would also like to thank NORA-MX for their superb organisation of the event on behalf of the ACU and to Silverstone MX for a great track and fantastic facilities.

British Championship Overall:
1 John Mitchell (ATV World Yamaha) 25 + 25 = 50
2 Carl Bunce (MKM Rocketman Suzuki) 16 + 22 = 38
3 James Hellewell (KTM UK) 20 + 18 = 38

Thanks again for all the support from sponsors who along with their outstanding products have helped develop a potential championship winning team for the 2011 season.