Double ender!
By TMX Archives on 16th Nov 05
Words by Gordon Crockard Photo by raychuss.comHello my fellow motocross people and thank you for reading! Let me begin by officially declaring the off-season open. Words by Gordon Crockard Photo by raychuss.comHello my fellow motocross people and thank you for reading! Let me begin by officially declaring the off-season open. So now we can look forwards to a few bike shows, prize givings, indoor supercross events, season review DVDs to watch, Christmas shopping to think about, dark nights and cold weather...If you've been following the world and British championships this year you'll know that I haven't got to worry about organising any championship parties this winter. A year ago I wouldn't have predicted my season to turn out the way it has and now I feel better to move on and enter 2006 with a few key changes in place.I can't say a lot about my plans at this stage but I would like to think they'll have a positive affect on my racing approach which in time will produce results that will speak volumes about who I am, what I want and what I can do.I attended a fund-raising event at Desertmartin with the proceeds going to help Neil McKeown after his accident dramatically changed daily life for him. Around 360 competitors turned up on quite a showery day which dampened the track heavily in the morning but was pleasant enough by the end of the day's racing.Schoolboys, quads and adults all got two races with the second having a Le Mans style start where you had to run the whole length of the start straight before mounting your bike and firing it into life before heading off around the first turn. The race ended by dropping your bike at the final turn and then stripping off all your gear and then legging it up to the finish line in just your underpants. What a sight! Saying that, it was really cold so there wasn't a lot to see if you know what I mean!Afterwards an auction was held in the beer tent and many items were up for grabs including a signed Pichon shirt from 2003 which I decided would be nice to have as I raced closely with him at the German GP that year. Head shaving, leg waxing and other such antics were also going on but I shied away from those as you can understand.The final round of the British championship was on the next weekend at Matchams and as always - according to Steve Dixon - the sun was shining. I got a good start off the line in the first race which put me around the corner in fourth place. Some guy was in front of me and he kindly crashed out on the second jump and I had no choice but to land on his bike. Thanks!Now I was 20th or so, four laps later I was fifth and was happy with my progress until I clashed with a backmarker and ended up under both bikes. Nice! A sore elbow, a dead arm and a very twisted bike was the end result and I nursed it home to the finish somewhat unamused.In the second race I made a Horlicks of the first corner and left myself about 10th to then push my way forward up to fifth or so before getting blinded by the sun and going off line into the biggest bumps known to man. A headshake to tankslapper to flying W to kiss of death to no-hander-lander combo was pulled off before I completed the move with an old school headplant. It was Travis and the Nitro Circus material for sure but not British championship winning ingredients at all. I lost some places but it fired me up enough to come back to fourth at the flag. No podium this time but I'll get my chance again.After Matchams I drove over to Belgium where I was competing in the 19th annual Mettet Superbiker event. I had some practice at Spa Francorchamps on the Thursday at their kart track. Troy Corser was also there as well as a few other road race guys who I didn't know so well.Like most supermoto tracks Mettet didn't have a lot of off-road and the off-road section was rock hard and smooth anyway so the Tarmac guys were gonna be hard to beat. If I come back again next year I'll make sure I'm better equipped with the bike and tyres as the set-up really does make a difference at that level.I wasn't fortunate enough to have my friend Gibber - from Russell's - to help me out with the mechanicing this time. At the Irish world round at Bishopscourt he helped greatly with prepping the bike and setting it up for the track but I was on my own here.In one of the practice sessions I was behind Patrick Caps on one of the fastest parts of the track when he lost the use of his brakes and went straight on at full speed into a barrier. He was hurt quite badly and spent the weekend in hospital.The track is around the streets and public roads which pass by houses, a petrol station, pub, chip shop and other general town features. On race day around 20 to 30,000 fans came out to watch - the atmosphere was fantastic.On my way back from Belgium I called in to Oakley HQ in London and James who I deal with there kindly treated us to a tour of the building and a spot of lunch. I got to see many of their new products and was able to catch up on things with James who I normally only get to talk to on the phone or meet at races when I'm usually too busy and focussed on the job in hand to talk properly so a visit was well overdue.When I got back home I entered the Tommy Stewart memorial at Crossgar. It's a famous old scrambles track which my dad even rode in his day. I managed to holeshot and win all my races on the day which won me the overall and trophy. It's 56 years old and names such as Vic Allan, Willie Simpson, Roger Harvey, Lawrence Spence, Alan Morrison, Paul Chambers and Brian Steele all feature on it. I've now won it twice and hopefully I can get my name on it many more times.My most recent activity was a fund-raising training school for the MXdN this year. To get the team from Ireland to France can be pretty expensive so we're all very grateful to the sponsors who support us and we feel by running the school we can contribute to the costs.In total 30 riders signed up for the day and sadly it poured down for all of it. The Dundalk club let us use their track which was greatly appreciated and held up to the rain okay. I think the pupils improved well and I had a lot of fun working with them on the track. Thanks to all of you who supported us on the day and I hope your results benefit from what you learned.Cheers for reading folks - catch ya next month!