SOGGY WEEKEND BUT HONDA PACKS THE PODIUM
27 October 2006 - Honda Racing

Honda cleans up at Weston Beach Race

Weston-Super-Mare played host to a wet, windy and thoroughly dirt ridden weekend for the infamous Weston Beach Race that took place on 21-22 October 2006. In what was one of the event’s sandiest but soggiest weekends in its 23 year history, Honda still managed to pack the podium at the UK’s largest off-road motorcycle and ATV event, securing two spectacular pole positions.

American Quad and Motocross champion, John Natalie, riding a Honda Sportrax 450R prepared by ACE ATV, eased to victory in Saturday’s prestigious beach race. Natalie took the chequered flag in the two-wheel-drive class an impressive 23 seconds in front of fellow American, Dana Creech, who finished second.

Creech, who was in third for most of the race, snuck past Honda''s UK Supremo rider, Paul Winrow, to steal second place with only one lap to go. Multi-Weston winner and multi-Quad MX and Enduro champion, Winrow, finished as the UK’s top rider taking third place on the podium.

Other UK successes included Jason Macbeth who powered home on his Fourtech Racing Honda Sportrax 450R to secure an impressive fourth place ahead of new 2006 British QRA MX winner, John Mitchell, who rounded off the top five.

In the four-wheel-drive Q4 class, current British ACU Enduro championship leader, Steve Atkins, swapped his usual ARK ATV-prepared Sportrax 450R for an ARK ATV Honda Rincon to take the Q4 crown, finishing 12th in the overall standings.

Also on show at the event was the H Bomb freestyle quad display team which returned to Weston-Super-Mare for a second year. The American team once again featured freestyle specialists Sheldon Riggs and Ryan Beamish, along with Pro ATV racer Dana Creech on their fully spec’d Honda Sportrax 450Rs.

Since its launch in 2004, the Honda Sportrax 450R has made an immediate impact, becoming the pinnacle of two-wheel-drive sports racing machines. Powering Paul Winrow to the 2004 and 2005 British MX and Enduro Championships, the Sportrax 450R straight away heralded a new generation of Hondas at the top echelon of British Quad racing. Success in the USA has also come readily to Honda with both the Sportrax 450R and the Rincon 650 proving that the brand is ''winning the world over''.

Honda has been the market leader in the UK utility ATV market, with a consistent 50% market share ever since it invented the ATC 3-wheeler some forty years ago. 2006 commemorates the 21st birthday for the 4-wheel Honda ATV, with Honda still very much at the top of its game.

Final confirmed results from Saturday''s Weston-Super-Mare Quad Magazine Quad Race, are as follows:-

2wd Q1 class

1st: John Natalie, USA: Honda Sportrax 450R (ACE ATV)

2nd: Dana Creech, USA: Suzuki LT-R450 (Anderson ATV)

3rd: Paul Winrow, UK: Honda Sportrax 450R (Interlock Lonestar Honda Racing)

4th: Jason Macbeth, UK: Honda Sportrax 450R (Fourtech Racing)

5th: John Mitchell, UK: Yamaha YFM450R (ATV World)

4wd Q4 class

1st: Steve Atkins, UK: Honda Rincon (ARK ATV)

www.honda-racing.co.uk

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