After a successful debut in the Motocross World Championship in Round 1 in the Netherlands, the hard and faster track in Sevlievo, Bulgaria, awaited Matiss Karro and Nathan Parker of Team STR.
Qualifying Race:
Both Matiss Karro and Nez Parker had poor starts in the qualifying race and had to manoeuvre their way from the back of the field. The track in Sevlievo was really fast which made it harder to make up time but both riders rode superbly with Karro qualifying in 16th place and Parker in 23rd.

Race 1
Both riders got a bit swamped on the start but battled hard , with Karro moving up the field and finishing the first lap in 13th place with Parker in 22nd. Karro was fighting to improve his position but on lap seven his engine stalled and he dropped down to 17th. Despite his best efforts he wasn’t able to improve on this the rest of the race. Nathan Parker rode his best race at this level of competition, just missing out on a point scoring position, by finishing in 21st.
Race 2
Karro tried a different strategy in race two, hugging the inside round the first turn and it paid off – finishing the first lap in 11th place. Unfortunately, Parker didn’t fare as well being placed down in 24th but fought hard to move up to 21st. Karro maintained an impressive pace throughout the race and with five laps remaining made it up to 8th place.
However, with just two laps remaining, and looking comfortable, he jumped too far to the left on the finish line jump, clipping a tuff block with his footpeg which threw him over the handlebars, ending his race. Parker in the meantime, had progressed to 19th and held this place to the flag to secure his first ever GP points.

Nez Parker said: “I’m really pleased to get some points on the board and it’s great to have that pressure lifted. I was happy with how today went for me and I had two good races and I’ll be looking to build on that going into next weekend’s race in Fermo.”
“The team worked so hard this week getting the bikes ready for this weekend’s action and we’re all pretty confident going into the Italian Grand Prix.”

Commenting after the race, Matiss Karro said: “I rode well in first race until I stalled and lost my rhythm, but I was still able to finish 17th. In second race I came through really well and was in 8th but made stupid mistake and it cost me and I’m disappointed with the way the race ended. The team put in a lot of effort through the week and it’s a shame we don’t have more points to show for it. I can take positives from today as I showed that I can be a serious top ten contender and that gives me, and the team, a lot of confidence going into the Italian Grand Prix next weekend.”

Team Manager, Steve Turner said: “After going through such a difficult journey to actually get to Bulgaria, the team was rewarded with some great riding from both Matiss and Nez. It was great for Nez to pick up his first ever GP points as he fought very hard for them. He will go to Fermo next week with confidence and hopefully put in another strong performance.”

“Matiss was going great in the first race until he stalled his bike and dropped a couple of positions. In the second race he rode really well and looked set to record a fantastic 8th place finish but just one little mistake and it was race over for him. I’m relieved he’s not badly injured and on the positive side, he proved he can ride in the top ten on hard-pack as well as sand.”

After spending the week training in nearby Belgium the team made the short trip across the border into Holland for the GP of Valkenswaard.
Pre-qualifying practice ended with Karro with 19th pick of the gate for the afternoon qualifying race, with Parker in 30th.

Qualifying Race
Parker rounded the first corner in 22nd with Karro, who had been hampered on the start straight, a few places further back. Both riders moved through he field and after a few laps Parker was up to 16th with Karro looking for a way past in 17th, but after switching lines in an attempt to make the pass Karro got it all wrong, flew over the bars and parked his rear end on a post. Parker was still looking good, but made a mistake of his own, dropping him well down the field, but after initially losing his rhythm he rallied to finish in 30th.

Race1.
Karro & Parker both made good starts from their outside gate picks and came round in 16th & 17th respectively. Parker started to drop back & suddenly pulled into the pits with a clutch malfunction, his race over. Karro was battling with Leok when he missed a rut and went down. After restarting in 21st he settled into a rhythm and pushed right to the end of the race to finish strongly for a hard fought 15th.

Race2.
Not such a good start in race 2 with both riders getting held up on the second corner, leaving Parker in 25th & Karro even further back in 28th but they were soon on the move and Karro in particular on a mission. After moving through to 20th Parker hit the deck with his machine left upside down. After picking it back up again he rejoined only for his bike to seize after losing it’s oil whilst being upside down. Karro, by mid-race was up in the top 15 and was still riding brilliantly and as the race drew to a close he blew past another five competitors to finish in a remarkable 10th for 12th overall.

Nez, “what can I say, just awful. The clutch went in the first race and I crashed in the 2nd and lost the oil and seized the bike. I’m riding well but can’t keep it upright for the full race. The good thing is know I’ m quick enough to finish in the points.”

Matiss” after a disastrous Saturday I still ended up with a great result. I had a little crash in the first one but still got 15th and in the second got top ten which I’m really happy with. My winter training with Kaspers really paid off today and I felt very strong. The bike was great as well.”

Team Manager, Steve Turner “after his crash yesterday and the obvious pain Matiss was in I can’t believe how strong he was today and in the second race he just never stopped moving forward. To catch and pass factory riders like Leok & Boog is no mean feat. Absolutely superb effort from him. Nez definitely has the pace to score points but these weekends are so tough. You have to put everything together to get a result at a GP.”

The team converged on the historic Canada Heights circuit for the second round of the British Championship and with both riders liking the venue the team was looking forward to some good results.

Qualifying. Karro was fastest in the timed qualifying session with Parker in 11th and both came away from superpole in exactly the same positions.

Race1. Karro made a good start and was in 3rd behind Sword & Snow but was too eager to get to the front and took a detour over the bars to leave him down in 18th at the end of the first lap. He soon set about clawing back positions and by the end of the race he was in 8th, just behind his teammate Parker who had come from 10th on the first lap up to 7th by the finish.

Race2. Karro took a superb hole-shot on his 350, all the more impressive on the uphill start and Parker was just behind in 4th. Parker looked impressive as he battled with with former teammate Martin Barr for the entire race, just losing out to the Irishman, but still taking a great 5th place finish. Karro had Stribos on his rear wheel for the whole of the race even crashing into each other with a couple of laps to go, but the youngster held his nerve and took a brilliant win.

Race3. Karro took another hole-shot and this time had Shaun Simpson on his tail as the pair gradually pulled away from the field. Parker had made a poor start and things got decidedly worse as Jason Dougan’s out of control Honda smashed into the side of him, leaving him on the deck with the front end of his machine looking worse for wear. A flyer remounting in 33rd he started to make progress through the field, only to be wiped out by a tail-ender, leaving him to stroll home in an unfortunate and disappointing 24th, for 11th overall. Karro was being harassed by Simpson throughout the race and just past the halfway mark Karro dropped it handing the lead to the Scotsman and second to Stribos but with Sword now back in 5th, Karro just had to maintain his 3rd place to take the overall on the day, which he did, to take his first ever British Championship overall victory from Sword, with Simpson in 3rd.

Matiss Karro, ” first race wasnt happy coz i threw away a possible win by going for lead too soon before i had settled into a rhythm. The second race was perfect, led gate to flag. The third race was good, leading again but made a small mistake, but still came home 3rd which was enough to take the overall. My bike was awesome, thanks to my mechanic Ben for working so hard this week. Can’t wait for Valkenswaard next week.”

Nez Parker, ” my speed was good today and I felt good. Had two good results in the first two races but had a some bad luck in the last race, got took out twice, but that’s racing. I don’t think any of the top ten had three races without crashing. ”

Team Manager, Steve Turner, ” I’m ecstatic with the win for both Matiss & the team but feel so disappointed for Nathan, who was just plain unlucky in the 3rd race and could so easily have come away with a top 5 today. Matiss is on fire at the moment, but was way too eager in the first race and probably threw away the win, but he fought back to take 8th to give himself an outside chance of a podium. He made amends in the next two races with two hole-shots and two storming performances and with many of his main rivals suffering their own misfortunes he did enough to secure a fantastic overall win to move him into 2nd in the championship. I just need to thank mechanics Ben & Toby who put the hours in this week, with both riders on engine upgrades this week they had a lot of work on to get everything ready not only for this weekend, but also for next week’s GP.”

After spending the previous week practicing in Belgium the team met up at Mill for the 4th round of the Dutch Championship and with an array of GP stars in the field both riders knew they were in for a tough day.

Qualifying. Whilst not exactly setting the world on fire in timed qualifying the boys both made it into the top fifteen with Karro in 11th & Parker in 14th.

Race 1. Parker blasted out of the gate and entered the first turn in 4th with Karro in 10th but on the second lap disaster was to strike as both riders went down in consecutive corners. Karro rejoined in 26th with Parker down in a lowly 35th, but they both set about clawing back places at an impressive rate. Parker was to drop it again and ended the race in the pits, clasping his damaged ribs again and playing no further part in the days proceedings. Karro, on the other hand just kept picking off riders one after the other, eventually crossing the line in a hard fought 9th place.

Race 2. Karro made a good start in 8th and looked like he meant business as he blasted past Stribos, DeReuver, Brakke & Schiffer to move up to 4th. After a fall by second placed man DeDyker he was up to 3rd and was now pushing Factory Honda pilot, Concalves. Lap after lap he pursued him and something had to give and it was the Honda engine which ran out of steam as it ground to a halt after losing all its oil. Now in second Karro just needed to maintain his pace until the end of the race, but with only a week’s preparation in the deep sand of Belgium and Holland his pace dropped in the last two laps. With Stribos & DeDyker having spent the last month practicing and racing in these conditions it was disappointing but not surprising that they swallowed up the youngster, leaving him in a fantastic 4th at the flag. With most of the big guns struggling to put together two good results his 9-4 scorecard was enough to give him his 4th podium in a row. Although exhausted and struggling to even get off his bike, a pat on the back from Harry Everts brought out one of Karro’s trademark smiles as he realized he had impressed all who had witnessed his great performance.