VATCHER PRAISES YOUNG TEAM

Image courtesy of Steve Hone Photography

Will Cairns, Jody Scott and Luke Harrison finished sixth in Plzen on Saturday.

But Vatcher was reluctant to focus on the result but more on his latest generation of youngsters learning the ropes in international meetings.

He said: “We always knew it was going to be tough, this was the first event for Will and Jody, and Luke is pretty inexperienced as well.

“We’ve been to Plzen a few times before and knew it’s a pretty rough track. There always seem to be incidents here, so it’s not unexpected.

“Initially we’re disappointed with the sixth place. However, the boys will learn and gain from it. They are very young, it’s early in their careers, and we’ll go again.

“The great thing is that all the lads came out with a fantastic attitude.

“There were a lot of positives. Will looked fantastic against the Germans, winning by four or five bike lengths.

“It was frustrating against the Ukrainians. Luke was leading when they crashed. Then on a 5-1 and on the last corner, Luke hit a rut and crashed out big time and his bike was wrecked. But it was a good first win for Jody.

“There’s so much to learn in these events. These boys have come up through the British Youth Championship 125s, 250s and 500s over the past few years.

“Now they are representing their country abroad in major events and I’m very proud of that.

“It was the first time Jody had been outside of the UK at all and Will’s debut for Great Britain.

“It’s very tough in Plzen. Overnight rain meant practice was cancelled and none of our boys had ridden the track, so they went in cold.

“The conditions were completely alien to anything they have ridden before in the UK. The surface was sandy and ruts up.

“But they acquitted themselves very well and the experience gained is always vital.”