CHRISTIAN Elkin, the reigning British GP 125 champion, started on pole position at the second round of the British Motorcycle Championships held at Thruxton in Hampshire last weekend.

Christian had been in dominating form all through the two days of practice and qualifying, having been in pole position for all four sessions and again in the Sunday morning warm-up was the fastest rider.

Local enthusiast Nick Carpenter has put together a new team 'e3Mortorsport' to enable Christian to compete in this year's GP 125 Championship, held as the support race to British Superbike Championship.

Nick, who has been with Christian for four previous seasons and also supported Fenando Mendes for nine years, retired from the sport at the end of last season after 34 years as a rider, mechanic and team owner.

The 'team' was put together during January after Christian was left without a ride when his 2004 team UK1 Racing signed two young riders for this season to participate in the ACU Academy Cup and British Championship.

Christian was offered a Grand Prix ride with 'Team Hungary' at the end of 2004 but had to find £100,000 to take with him and this was out of the question for the young motorcycle mechanic.

Luckily the high winds that played havoc during qualifying on Saturday had subsided significantly on race day which saw Christian take the lead at the end of lap one from initial leader Coglan.

These two riders gradually pulled away from the pack and were never separated by more than one second for the 15-lap race held on this 2.6 mile circuit, the fastest circuit in the country. Both riders lapped at an average of 103 mph.

At the flag, Christian won by a mere 0.82 seconds from Kevin Coglan, the 16-year-old who has taken Christian's ride in the UK1 team.

These two riders finished some 12.85 seconds in front of third position Michael Wilcox, the 2003 champion. This result lifts Christian into second position in the championship with 11 rounds remaining.

The next round is at Mallory Park on April 23 and 24.