Brothers Danny and Jody Smyth suffered mixed fortunes in the final round of the British Motocross Championship staged on the Welsh borders near Pontrilas, Hereford.

Riding for TAS Suzuki, Danny Smyth posted a personal-best second fastest time in morning qualifying on his first outing on the new 2004 production Suzuki RM-Z250 four-stroke but was unable to take full advantage of the placing.

The first race was plagued with a number of re-starts and this took its toll on the test machine that was pitched against tuned factory machinery for the first time.

With limited spares and time available, the decision was made for Danny to contest the remaining races on a production RM125.

Switching to a 125cc two-stroke machine, Danny had to quickly re-adapt to the different power characteristics.

A mid-pack start and then a collision with team mate Tommy Merton left Danny towards the back of the pack with two thirds of the race still to go.

A 16th in the second race secured a solid ninth position in the championship overall.

Team-mate Jody Smyth battled against flu to put in consistent finishes in the 125cc class, taking his stock Suzuki across the finish line in 17th and 14th positions.

Danny said: "I was riding one of the few new four-stroke Suzuki. It has done a lot of work already, having come straight from several days of testing with various magazines.

"Although it seemed okay, I think the two false starts didn't help when we got going in the race.

"I was a little frustrated but the bike's power is awesome.

"I took my best ever time in qualification and was set for a good day on which to end the season."

Jody said: "I made two good starts in the first two motos, which were red-flagged, and then, in the one that counted, I was virtually last into the first turn and had to fight my way though.

"Someone cut across me on the start straight and I lost momentum.

"I don't know what was wrong, I was maybe too wary of the first turn as it was a little dangerous.

"There were a few pile ups and once you start think about that, it's in the back of your mind all day."