With both riders fighting fit, qualifying in the morning looked positive and a sign of things to come. Tanel Leok put in the third-fastest time, which he improved by a place in the super-pole session. Jason Dougan qualified sixth, but lost four spots in the super-pole to start the races in tenth.

Leok put on a stunning display of racing in the first by exiting the first corner in the lead and running away with it. Untouchable throughout the entire race, he took the win by a margin of over five seconds. Hoping to repeat his performance, he launched out of the gate in the second race. Although in second behind Welshman Shane Carless in the first lap, he soon found himself embroiled in a heated battle for the lead with fellow Grand Prix veteran Jonathan Barragán, one he took top honours in and finishing the race with Barragán hot on his heels. Disaster struck in the final race. In second behind fellow Honda rider Nicolas Aubin and trying to ride smart, he looked to take home the win. With just minutes remaining on the clock, he developed a mechanical fault which forced him out of the race, costing him enough points to only end fourth on the day. The consolation prize is the fact that he retains the championship lead by a slim margin.

For Dougan, the day was yet another harsh lesson. Through the first corner in third and settling into fourth, he treated the team and spectators to a display of what everyone knows he is capable of. But, much to his frustration, he developed a mechanical fault two thirds into the race, costing him his place and losing valuable points. Determined to make up for it in the second race, he found himself in third through the first few corners of the first lap. Then disaster struck again. A loss of traction on the wet and slippery clay surface pitched him over the bars at speed, knocking his head hard. Nursing a concussion, he had to return to the paddock and sit out the remainder of the day.

Commented team principal Mark Chamberlain: “Mixed day, that seems to be the usual call, and when you think you’ve got motocross nailed, it really chucks you a curve ball. Jason got a great start in the first race, was in fourth and looked comfortable, and he really needed that, and then he mysteriously lost drive. We think it may be a gearbox issue. In the second race he had a pretty big crash and that was the end of his day. Tanel went one-one and second would’ve been fine in the last race but it wasn’t to be – he had a problem with his clutch. We know he’s heavy on them and it was a new clutch before the race, but it’s a hydraulic one and you never know when it’s going to go, but who knows. We’ll look into it, we’re disappointed overall, yet in a weird way happy we’re still championship leader.

Jason Dougan (#85): The first race was ok, had a decent start, came through to fourth and then with four laps to go, something happened to the gearbox and I couldn’t finish. I’m happy with my riding though. In the second race I gated about fifth and managed to get to third and then wheel-spun off one of the table tops because of the rain. I had a big crash, landed on my head pretty hard and ended up with a concussion, so I was done for the day. Tanel Leok (#40): The first two races were good, I had the win. In the last race we had a mechanical issue while I was second behind Aubin. I’m happy with the red plate, but we’ve lost a lot of valuable points, which is disappointing.

Route77energy Honda continued its world championship campaign in hot and humid Thailand this past weekend. Just a few miles from the world famous holiday resort of Pattaya, the track of Si Racha proved to be quite the challenge with unpredictable weather on Saturday delaying the start of qualifying for several hours.

With torrential rains delaying qualifying practice, free and pre-qualification were combined. The qualifying race saw team rider Tanel Leok go to the line fourth, with Jason Dougan taking the twentieth place. Although Leok was not able to improve on his pre-qualifying position, ending the qualifying race in seventh, he was better off than Dougan, who, after a first-corner collision, had to grit his teeth throughout the race to return to nineteenth, before visiting a hospital for a shoulder x-ray.

Leok’s luck did not hold on Sunday afternoon either. A bad start in eighteenth meant an uphill struggle for the Estonian, but he soon found himself in thirteenth. With the two-lap board out, a crash amongst the leaders gifted Leok with another position for a twelfth place at the finish. In the Super Final race, Leok got off to a much better start. Eleventh in the first lap, he found himself wedged between rivals Strijbos and Simpson for the majority of the race. Breaking free, he made another attempt at a pass, moving back into twelfth with two laps to go. With the day over, Leok ended the round in twelfth overall.

Dougan’s weekend went from bad to worse. Although the x-rays obtained on Saturday night did not show any damage, his first race of the day proved to be difficult, to say the least. Through the start corner melée in fifteenth, he made early progress, but unfortunately, the damage was done. The continued jars and jolts left Dougan with the difficult decision to perform damage limitation and pull in.

Commented team principal Mark Chamberlain: “I have mixed feelings as its such a hard trip for a team like ours to do financially and that it was stressful at times, but I think overall we have to be happy with the points we came away with and that we had no major problems. Tanel’s speed is there, it’s just getting that bit of luck at the start to get a really good result. Jason was riding well on Saturday so it was a shame that he couldn’t race on Sunday and now we hope he can be fit for FatCat this weekend.”

Tanel Leok (#40): I was feeling good this weekend at the track and with the race so when I got a good start I was happy. Unfortunately it was short-lived when I hit De Dycker’s back wheel in the first corner and crashed. That put me in the back of the pack and it was difficult to fight to the front, but when I finished twelfth I was quite satisfied. The second start was not as good as the first and again I had to fight from to back to the front and I finished twelfth in MX1 again. It was a hot and demanding weekend for everyone and I know I could have finished better but overall I’m happy with the points I got from there.

Jason Dougan (#85): I felt good Saturday in practice. I went down hard in the first turn in the heat race and was hit by another rider, I carried on and got back to nineteenth. I feel like I rode fairly good but I knew something wasn’t right with my shoulder as I was in a fair bit of pain. I went to a hospital Saturday evening to have an x-ray and nothing appears to be broken. In the first race I had an OK start and was riding well, but the numerous hard landings led to more pain and started to get too much so I stopped the race and decided to call it a day. I’ll get further checks this week to see what the problem is and whether I’ll be good for Fat Cat next week. Just want to say a massive thanks to the whole team for an awesome trip and all their efforts through thick and thin.

The team is now returning to the United Kingdom for its first round of the Maxxis British Motocross Championship

Images are copyright Ray Archer, unless otherwise agreed

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