A full strength Rob Hooper Racing Yamaha team headed to the resurrected Rhayader Motor Club promoted Welsh Open Midweek Motocross last night (Wednesday) and came away with a great result from both riders.
Back on the calendar for the first time since 2011, the event has been popular in the RHR camp with the team sending their top riders throughout the years, so it was a great pleasure for the team to be back in force at the rejuvenated meeting.
On a track not dissimilar to the one used in years gone by Ryan Houghton and Taylor Hammal both looked at home posting excellent results in all three of their motos. Houghton kept MXGP star Shaun Simpson on his toes in each of the three motos for second overall, while Taylor showed great speed for a 3-4-4 scorecard in the mixed Pro/Expert class.
The event culminated in the Dash for Cash race which took place in the ever fading light, and it was young Hammal who had been stringing good starts together all night long who was harassing the leader Simpson early doors. Before long Houghton was in second and looking to close on the leader, but in the end, he had to settle for an excellent second with Hammal in third to round out a fantastic evenings racing.
Team Boss Rob Hooper thoroughly enjoyed the evening saying “It was a brilliant night, both riders went well, the event went well, and the weather wasn’t as bad as predicted, so it was a really good night all round. They did a fantastic job with the track too, and the viewing is perfect for spectators. It was an excellent work out for both the riders and for the team in the pits. We had a trouble-free night, so let’s hope our mechanical gremlins of the last couple of weeks are behind us. The way they both rode gives them a nice confidence boost for the weekend, and its better than any practice day by a mile. They made four starts and had four good races. The biggest plus point was Taylor’s starts. He made four good starts, and in the Dash for the Cash race he almost made the holeshot”.
Taylor was also enthused with the evening saying “I really enjoyed last night’s racing even with the last race riding round in the dark. I finally got four good starts nearly holeshotting two of the races. I won all of the mx2 races and was 3rd and 4th in the combined throughout. The track was, considering the rain. Well done to the Rhayader club it was a great event. I really enjoyed it.
“I am looking forward to Blaxhall this weekend now, which is one of my favourites so hopefully, I can get some good results”.
So it’s onto Blaxhall for the team on Sunday where Ryan will be looking to get his Maxxis British Championships campaign back on track and Taylor will be looking to build on the last round where you had his best ever Maxxis result.