NORA M-X ROUND 11 ENSTONE 31/10/10
Its the last round of the season and Josh is finding his feet, with EDR's help & support his confidence is growing race by race and to prove it here's what we've been waiting for all year (Thank you EDR its a pleasure being part of your team)
Josh's first 1st place podium finish in 2010
9th in CHAMPIONSHIP
We arive saturday set up and Josh walks the track and informs us it's very sticky and he was spot on
Practice
Josh gets back into the pits the bike is running fine, but just as we thought the track was going to dry out it starts to rain
Moto 1
Josh gets off the line in 2nd place behind Luke on his hybrid, but first in class the track has turned very sticky very messy Luke pulls away expectidly and Josh pulls away from the rest and things stay the same untill the last lap when Luke has engine probs and Josh finnishes 1st and even beats the hybrids FANTASTIC!!!!
Moto 2
Josh gets the mods class holeshot but is just pipped by Luke who has got his class winning Blaster out of retirement and its rapid
Josh is lying in 2nd place and needs the win to give him a podium 1st but Josh is 3rd off the line behind Luke and Elliot so Josh battles with Elliot and makes his move now he sets his sights on Luke but the races are cut short due to the nights drawing in and Josh finishes 1.077 secs behind an excellent days racing We would like to take this oppertunity to thank Ed from EDR for giving Josh an engine that has proved to be reliable and competitive and let him finnish the season on a massive high THANK YOU And also a massive thank you to all the sponsors who have helped us this year to finnish on a high (sponsors page) Also congrats to the man himself Ed who managed to put in faster laps than the experts in all three motos. leading by example !! And well done to all the EDR team on there fantastic championship finishes LUKE COOPER 1st 250 mods JORDON HARRIS 2nd 100 mods DAFYDD DAVIES 3rd 100 mods SHELLY SMART 2nd 50 mods ED DAVIES 1st Masters CATRYN DAVIES up & coming racer
WESTON BEACH RACE 2010 Well here we are again at the famous beach race we thought we were prepaired but little did we know. You never know what will happen We queued for hours early Friday morning as Josh wanted a good posistion for the race. By 10.00 the bike was in parc fermme ready for Saturday morning. Race Day All is going to plan and Josh gets on the front row of the grid, the gates open and you can hear the roar Josh is about 5th off the line but gets stuck on the first dune (the same as last year) he comes into sight well down the field and is making a charge. But as he heads down the straight for the 2nd lap the bike starts to splutter and the next time we see him he's being towed back to the pits with water in the electrics END OF RACE
NORA-MX ROUND 10 WROXTON 10/10/2010 The bike was with Ed (E D R) having a new carb fitted. But Ed is not 100% happy he needs to order specialised bits. Its 95% done so we decide to give it a run to see how it performs. What a difference !!! Practice Josh gets back to the pits and the problem is definately there but Josh is amazed at the power it has so fingers crossed Moto 1 Josh heads down to the line in 9th. The gate drops and Josh appears around the first corner in front, he's got the holeshot not only with the Mods but he beats all the Hybrids as well and holds them off for 75% of the first lap (fantastic) what a bit of E D R magic. Josh is now being chased by Scott Evans the O R P A British Champ and as they go out of sight Josh is 1st in class and 2nd to a hybrid but as the racers come back into view there's no sign of Josh until 8th place 6th in class somethings happened. But now hes trying to catch up. First he gets past Elliot and is after Adam it takes him 3 laps to get past Adam and now Josh W but to no avail he finnishes 0.5 secs behind him and has to settle for 4th. When he returns to the pits he tells us he toppled the bike, he's ok just some cuts in his mouth. Moto 2 After a terrific start I head over to catch the next holeshot But Josh is 4th for the holeshot
Josh is 2nd in class and try as he might he can't catch 1st but by now the bike is not running as good as it was but he manages to keep 2nd
Moto 3
Josh heads off to the line. and I'm informed he can't start the bike at the gate and is towed up and he heads off to Ed to see if he can work his magic but Ed runs out of time and seems to think there is a jet blocked from dirty fuel but after further inspection it looks like a faulty plug cap so it's all over for Josh but we are very pleased with the bike and when the bits come in the E D R Raptor 250 should be a very competitive bike we even got a smile out of the man himself or was it wind
FINAL ROUNDS OF THE BRITISH YOUTH QUAD-X 2010
18TH & 19TH SEPT CULLHAM
JOSH SECURES 4TH PLACE AFTER SOME VERY EXCITING
RACING
We arrive friday evening Josh is running 6th over all 11pts behind Josh Waring and 13 pts behind Adam James and the two boys raced really well at Dean Moore & Leuchars so if Josh is to climb the tables he has to pull out all the stops. The track has altered slightly from two weeks previous with two new ski jumps and the whoops have remained.
Practice
Before Josh heads off for practice he says that something is clicking after closer examination we notice a bad conection on the coil and after a little attention all is fine, and Josh gives us the ok the bike and track are good.
Josh rareing to go
Moto 1
Josh gets off the line 5th in class but after half a lap disaster strikes he's stopped and nobody knows why after a bit he rejoins the race and is well down the field is it that electrical connection? Just before the whoops he's stopped again after rejoining again we notice Adam is haveing trouble as well and Josh manages to finish infront of him. Back in the pits Josh lets us know his chain tensioner has broken throwing his chain twice, so its over to our favourite engine builder Ed who has a spare (problem solved).
Moto 2
Josh has 4th off the line and after some furious battling with Scott Evans finishes 5th and is closing the points down on Josh W and Adam.
Moto 3
Josh gets off the line in 5th again and resumes his battle with Scott while trying to put as many points between himself and the two boys infront of him in the championship. He battles for five laps with Scott before he manages to get past him and then has to keep an eye on Frazer who is really on the pace.
Picture courtesy of Nigel ,Adams Grandad
After all Josh's efforts he is still in 6th but Adam and Josh W have swapped posistions and Josh is now 3pnts behind Adam 5th and 8 pnts behind Josh W in 4th, so its wide open and unfortunately Adam is having terrible carberettor problems.
Moto 1 Sunday
After a team talk with Josh we decide he needs to beat Adam and Josh W in all the next three races (tall order) so he's off and he is looking quick and is getting to grips with the whoops. Josh finishes 3rd.
The next two races go exactly to plan and after an official complaint against #23 Leon Rodgers who is eventually disqualified from the days racing Josh finishes 3rd and 2nd, placing him on the 2nd spot on the podium .
We would like to take this oppertunity to say a big thankyou to Ed Davies from EDR RACING for taking Josh under his wing puting his faith in him and turning his season around. There are so many people out there willing to take your money and give nothing but problems in return, that its nice to see someone turn up with the goods THANK YOU EDR and HAPPY BIRTHDAY
We would also like to congratulate the rest of the EDR RACING TEAM
Jordan Harris------------------- 1st 100cc mods
Dafydd Davies-------------------2nd 100cc mods
Luke Cooper---------------------1st 250cc mods
Josh Coombs--------------------4th 250cc mods
Shelly Smart---------------------4th 50cc mods
Nora m-x Round 9 Cullham 5th Sept 2010
We arrived at the track in plenty of time with Josh's fan club Nan Bamp & Leah ready for a relaxing evening, How wrong could we be, Josh got the bike out and complains about the gear selector thinking it could be the same problem we had last year at the British. Josh heads over to Ed from EDR who agrees, and also informs us he has the part on his lorry, what a man!. Soon Josh's bike is stripped and the new part fitted with a thumbs up from Josh everyone is happy, panic over.
Thanks everyone for there help especialy Ed
Practice
Josh heads off and we all wait with fingers crossed hopeing the gear selector is fine, when Josh returns everything is ok
Moto 1
Josh has a bad start with another wheelie off the line but this time I thought he was going to flip the bike, but he kept his cool and brought the bike down some how he manages a third in class into the first corner, then manages to get past Elliot Downs and is after Luke Cooper who is about six seconds infront but in lap 2 pulls back 4.7 secs. Josh pulls alongside Luke but can't get by him and after all the preasure Josh puts on him Luke holds 1st place and they finnish 1st Luke, 2nd Josh. Josh also has the fastest lap in the mod class.
Moto 2
Josh gets 2nd off the line and tries to catch Luke but to no avail and finishes 2nd again
Moto 3
This time Josh gets the holeshot but in the 1st lap he is passed by Luke Cooper & Joshua Waring who are flying now Josh has his work cut out, so he sets about chasing after them, he stays with Joshua and is battling hard
But Joshua is not being put off so Josh has to try something else and as they are both coming around a burm Josh spots a smoother line to the drop off and manages to pass him. But now Joshua is after Josh and the fight tooth and nail, it was a pleasure to watch 2 great riders & friends battling hard what a spectacle. As Joshua's Dad Richard said Brilliant and it finished Luke 1st Josh C 2nd and Joshua W 3rd. Giving Josh his first 2nd o/all of the season
The O.R.P.A. British Championship two day event
29th & 30th August Talsarn Wales
Ed Davies from E.D.R. Racing sugested Josh might like this event so we headed for West Wales, it would be a good time to set up the new back shock "there are some very quick lads there Ed informs us" and he wasn't kidding.
We arrived on saturday evening and signed on the paddock filled up as the night went on.
Practice
Sunday Josh does three practice laps and it soon becomes very obvious these lads are not here to make the numbers up, he gets back to the pits and is happy for now
Sun/ Moto 1
Josh heads down to the line very calm as usual (he didn't know what was ahead). He has a terrible start with a face full of tank and is running 5th and these lads are very quick to say the least Josh settles down and manages to finnish 4th
Moto 2
After I remind Josh that a good start is a good idea he manages a 3rd off the line (better but not good enough against these boys) He is riding well but can do better and finishes 4th again., He tells Ed that the shock is bottoming out on some of the massive drop offs, Ed adjusts the shock and has a word of enchouragement in his ear
Moto 3
Josh heads down to the line for the last race of the day and its getting late, the gate drops and he's gone his first holeshot of the day (much better), he is riding well and is leading the blasters, some people are asking if there really is a four stroke battling with these rapid two strokes "yes I reply and it's a two way thing. 1. RIDER of course and 2. A GOOD ENGINE BUILDER Josh fights hard but one of the Blasters gets past and he finishes 2nd, leaving him 4th overall in the running and lots to do
With racing over for the day Josh relaxes and sikes himself up for Mondays battle
Mon /Moto 4
Josh is on the line and holeshots this one as well but those blasters are not giving up, he pulls away from Scott Evans #50 who is leading the event and is now on his second bike after siezing up his full race bike. Dan Roach #59 is on a mission and gets past Josh and relegates him to 2nd where he stays till the end (electric stuff). Scott comes over and they both shake hands.
Moto 5
Josh gets another holeshot and is up for it but one of the quick blasters gets past him #77 Burrell and starts to pull away, but Josh has got the bit between his teeth and is not giving up he starts to pull the leader in lap by lap and is getting closer but unfortunately runs out of time (maybe if there was one more lap?) the lads were even applauded as they left the track (great stuff)
Moto 6 the last race of the Championship
Josh gets another terrific holeshot but can't hold on to it. He needs to keep close to #11 wynn as he only has a four point advantage over him not much in this class so he uses his head (for once), but something is wrong, as the championship leader passes him so all we can do is wait but Josh holds his place and finishes 4th one place behind #11 wynn securing himself 3rd place in THE O.R.P.A BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP (brilliant)
What a rusult for the E.D.R.Racing Team
3rd Catryn Davies 100cc
1st Ed Davies Over 30s ish
1st Dafydd Davies 100cc
3rd Josh Coombs 250cc
With special thanks to Cath & Carol
Round 2 British championships Leuchars Scotland
We made the 9.5hrs trip to race we were told it was sandy and it got rough (they wern't kidding. thanks to Garry Miller for the lend of the rear tyres) We arrived about 9.30 on saturday set up and watched the days racing and the track had already started to cut up after moto1.
Practice
Josh came off and was not impressed with the track "very rough and it was going to get worse" so the sand tyres were fitted
We had fitted a new rear shock (FOX) and it was going to be tested
Moto 1
Josh had a reasonable start and finished the first lap in 4th place but was having a lot of trouble keeping the back end down on this by now very rough track which had a lot of kickers, was it the new shock he finished 7th and stopped over at EDR to see if Ed could help Ed checked the shock which was fine but Josh was not happy he had noticed some of the other lads were running 18" on the back so we decided to put on the holeshots
Moto 2
Josh had another reasonable start but wasn't on the pace the bike seemed to be better but he was struggling with his lines and couldn't find a route through this non forgiving track (one mistake and it could be very painfull, it wasn't helped by the fact that the 250s were out after 40mins of adults including the experts) but no excuses every one was racing the same track Josh came in 8th not brilliant
Moto 3
The time was getting on so the races were cut by 5 mins, by now the track looked like they were racing tanks round not quads you could bury the 250s in some of the ruts Josh couldn't settle at all in this race but stuck at it and brought the points home and finished 9th Josh finished 8th overall on the day and to our supprise and joy moves up a place to 6th in the British Quad-X Championships so all in all not a disasterous day (but not one of his best)
Round 1 British Championships Dean Moor Cumbria
We arrived at the track about 4-30 set up and relaxed Josh walked the track with his good friend and competitor Josh Waring, "very technical with big jumps". The weather was overcast and looked like rain, we had the bike scrutineered all ready for the morning.
Practice.
Josh came back to the pits and gave us the thumbs up and it looks like there are some very quick lads out there.
Moto 1
Josh gets off the line in 4th place in the mods with Josh W behind, they scrap for 4th place, the track is wet but seems to be improving.They swap places a couple of times, Josh has the 4th fastest lap but Josh W comes out on top and Josh has to settle for 5th and finishes 0.7 secs behind
Moto 2
Josh doesnt seem to have a great start and leaves himself a lot of work to do he's battling with Josh W again but half way through the race he seems to be slowing, somethings wrong he has dropped right off the pace but manages to hold on to 7th well behind Josh W as he arrives back in the pits he complains of blisters not good!
Moto 3
We dress Josh's hands up as best we can but if things aren't bad enough Josh is on the line and calls me over complaining of an engine miss. Ed from EDR runs over has a look drains the carb and it seems to settle down, but there's nothing that can be done Josh has to race with it. The gate drops and josh flies off the line 2nd in class has the miss cleared? No such luck as he comes to the big table top in front we can here the bike missing and looking at his lap times it's getting worse and he's being caught up with every lap. Josh finishes 8th 0.5 secs infront of Adam James who also had a bad 3rd race. Josh finished round 1 in 7th place not bad considering and he's only 5points behind Josh W in 4th.
After stripping the bike at home it seems we had water in the electrics.
Round 8 Badby 25 July
We arrive in plenty of time Chris Murphy wasn't kidding when he said bring packers to set your campers level. We get it all done the bike is scrutineered and we start to relax.
Race day
Josh and I do the final checks and we're all ready.
Riders meeting gets underway, Josh gets his 3rd place trophy, Chris Murphy comments on how nice it is to see Josh finish a race let alone a podium finish well thats all down to Ed at EDR !!!
Practice
The track is very fast and technical, but not many jumps so all riders need to have there whits about them Josh comes in from practice and likes it.
Moto 1
Josh has a disastrous start with a massive wheelie off the line (he was lucky Chris never took points off him lol) and ends up 5th, but early on there's a coming together and Josh is held up and Josh Waring gets by Josh with this Josh gets after him but Josh Waring rides well. The track is narrow and Josh tries to get past him but has to settle for 6th
Moto 2
After a few words with Josh he gets the idea that a good start is a must and believe it or not he listened and comes off the line in 2nd behind Luke Cooper and is riding with confidence, he gets the second fastest lap and is pulling away from Harry Miller and the rest of the mods, and finishes a staggering eleven seconds in front of harry and laps thirteen seconds faster than moto 1, Well done!
Moto 3
Josh gets a third off the line behind Luke and Adam Luke pulls away leaving Josh and Adam scrapping for 2nd place with Harry closely behind. There is some excelent racing and these boys are relentless and all of them ride like pro's, there are no mistakes even though the track is getting very rough, well done lads a pleasure to watch, and thats the way it finished. Josh gets another 3rd overall four points off second. his form is improving.
EDR Raptor 250 is proving to be very competitive
JOSH PICKS UP HIS FIRST TROPHY OF 2010
ENSTONE
Round 7 Enstone 4th July
Well here we are again at Enstone not one of our favorite tracks, with the history we have with it.
Josh is really looking forward to it and there are rumours in the pits that ladbrookes are offering 10/1 on team coombs finishing a meeting (thanks Spencer for that, nice to see you have faith in us ha ha). Only one problem Josh's #1 and #2 fan club members aren't coming Bampy spanners is unwell and Nan is looking after him (speedy recovery) Any way back to the job at hand.
Josh gets ready for practice comes back to the pits every thing is fine
Moto 1
Due to his season and being let down by sponsors (name & shame page) Josh heads down to the line in 12th so he doesn't get a great gate choice but never the less he gets 5th off the line in his class and is going for it, he is battling with #47 for 4th place and manages to pass him on lap 5 but has too much work to do to improve on that. He settles for 4th and everyone is pleased he also gets the second fastest lap not bad.
Moto 2
Now with a better gate choice can Josh improve, again he gets a good start but Josh is pushed out wide on the hairpin he ends up 5th and the fight is on again he is chasing #24 and #5 two very quick boys, when in lap 3 disaster strikes Joshua Waring #164 moving Josh to 4th he battles hard but is unable to im prove on 4th
Moto 3
Josh gets an excellent start 2nd in class he even beats two hybrids and is being chased by Harry Miller who is having a good day, but in lap 2 Josh makes a mistake and lets Harry through Josh doesn't give up and scraps for 2nd getting alongside harry a couple of times but couldn't quite get passed the boy all credit to Harry so Josh finishes 3rd giving him 3rd overall and some silverware for the first time this season (I hope Spencer put some money on him lol)
All in all a fantastic day no more demons with Enstone its now just another race track he was also interviewed for the tv channel BLOOD SWEAT & GEARS (should be interesting)
The EDR RAPTOR 250 is ready to race its first mx event with Nora MX with ED DAVIES from EDR RACING working his magic and giving Josh a chance to compete.After the fascicle treatment from our sponsor (EXTREME RnR AND THE ENGINE BUILDER RJS SUPERBIKES) Who I advise everyone to stay well clear of. we arrive at pontrilas which looks awsome Josh walks the track and is very excited Moto 1 Josh gets a good start 3rd off the line in the mod class but is also in amongst the hybrids so the engine is quick off the mark as we expected (good on you Ed) And he is pulling away from 2nd and 3rd championship placed riders Joshua Waring and Harry Miller who are riding well also, Josh's fastest lap was 2 seconds down on Luke Cooper which we were pleased with but more exciting news he was 4 seconds faster than Joshua Waring who is very quick, and at the flag Josh finishes 3rd in class very. Moto 2 With the start gates broken by the Experts the bungy came out, But josh gets a great start and we were informed he beat Luke Cooper off the line but that was as good as it got because when Josh reached the big table top he over shot his landing and nose dived into the down side of the jump and ended up in a heap on the floor (my personal opinion is that he hasn't had enough ride time on a modified bike and we all no why that is). But thankfully he was wearing all his kit and everything done its job and Josh only bruised himself although we need a new lid. We would just like to thank Ed from EDR for taking Josh on board and sorting the problems out that other people created. Also a get well soon to Adam James after breaking his collar bone (speedy recovery)
Round 4 & 5 Wroxton 30th & 31st May With only 2 weeks for Ed to sort the bike out it was a big ask Ed was concerned with a head stud thread so with so little time to order parts he suggested an insert for a quick fix (as casings would take too long to arrive) so we went for it When we met up with Ed at the track he was optimistic it would do the job as he had already done 3hrs on the dyno with good results.But with our luck as it is, (you guessed it) the insert didn't hold long enough for the first race and Josh spent all day sunday spectating and not very happy. So now we've got time for the casings thats what its got to be. We would like to thank Ed for his efforts and time. We will be back racing soon and with EDR's help we are hoping to be racing again at Pontrilas in Wales. We would like to take this opportunity to thank every one for there their offers of help, and to Joshua Waring who offered Josh his spare bike, thanks to you all
We arrived at the track hoping all our bad luck was behind us, and Josh's fan club were there to greet us (Nan & Bamp) we set up and looked at the track first impressions were that the track looked great but how would it stand up to the punishment. The talk in the pits was of tyre choice (every body had there own opinion) Josh wanted to run larger on the front to stop the front digging in and 18" on the back so thats what we did. Moto 1 Josh had a terrible start made up a few places but never really made an impression and finished 9th maybe we should have invested in sand tyres Moto 2 Josh had another bad start 8th off the line behind Adam James and they were battling hard for position, when a mistake by Adam left him stuck and Josh nowhere to go. Josh had to help Adam off the berm before he could move himself by this time all the others had gone by leaving Josh in last place but something wasn't quite right we kept putting it down to tyres
Moto 3 Josh is waiting to go down to the line, when he calls me over and then all is revealed his head gasket has gone so we retire but the question is when did it go, our bad luck isn't over yet!
Round 2 Enstone 4/4/2010
Due to mechanical problems Josh will not be competing in this round see you all at Round 3
Round 1 Wroxton 14/3/2010
Well the season is upon us. The fun started on sunday 7th we took Josh to a local practice track, and the bike was running untill Josh broke a rocker and put a valve through the piston, not good we nearly had it back for sat 12th but it wasn't to be. So we used a std engine for the day, we decided it was best to race under powered than not to race at all (it's all about the points). We arrived on saturday set up, scrutineered the bike and relaxed. After practice we tweeked the suspension,
Moto 1 Josh was 5th off the line but it was obvious he was struggling on the long straits to keep up with the high powered machines, but he stuck at it and managed to hang on to 5th. His fastest lap of the day was just under 2 secs slower than the fastest bike in the mods so not a bad 1st race. Moto 2 Josh had a bad start off the line (as he got down to the start late and had to start on the back row) he came into view in 9th and to be fair worked hard to finish 6th, he battled tooth and nail with Harry Miller but just didn't have the power to overtake, but all credit to Harry he rode really well and didn't make the mistake that Josh needed to pass him, and his fastest was just under 2 secs slower than the fastest mod so he's getting faster. Moto 3 Josh was 7th off the line and he seemed to get into his stride pushing faster and harder every lap he battled with Harry again but to no avail and had to settle for 5th and he brought his fastest lap to within just over 1 sec slower than the winner of the mods so all in all a good day and Josh finished 6th o/all and finished only 21 points behind 1st. Times all taken from MY LAPS.
Round 3 Mepal 16/5/2010