Home boy!

By TMX Archives on 16th Mar 06

Motocross

This month has been pretty crazy - starting with a road trip in my camper to Mantova in Italy. This month has been pretty crazy - starting with a road trip in my camper to Mantova in Italy. I left early on Thursday and didn't get there until late Friday night by which point I was feeling very tired and totally sick of driving.Saturday was taken up with practice and one-on-one races which was great fun for the spectators before we got down to business on the Sunday. I got a fifth in the opening race which I was happy about and then seventh in the second. I then crashed at the start of the third moto which left me with a broken kickstart. My mechanic Luca legged it back to get it fixed so I could go out and do a few laps and I came away from the meeting feeling good but wanting to do some more testing on the bike.The team stayed at Mantova on Sunday night ready for a photoshoot the following day with Ray Archer which went very well and resulted in some great images for posters that we'll be handing out to the public this year.Tuesday was spent testing suspension with Kayaba and on both days the club was kind enough to make us all a great lunch of fresh pasta washed down with espresso coffee that was strong enough to keep us wide awake until the evening.I also had to take Jodie out for a meal as it was Valentine's Day - trying to find somewhere to park my camper up in a small Italian town was fun but eventually all went well. Phew! Safe for another year...We stayed in Italy for the rest of the week to keep up the punishing testing schedule and all was going well until the water-pump went on my camper. Now don't get me wrong, it's not ideal knowing you won't get a shower for a couple of days but, oh my god, try telling that to your girlfriend! Luckily, one of the main Kentucky camper places was just down the road and they were so helpful and gave me a brand new pump.So smelling a lot fresher we then took off for the South of France and the next race at Pernes. The Molson Kawasaki boys met up with us and we had another photoshoot with the rest of the European Kawasaki teams before the French Kawasaki team cooked everybody dinner. In true French tradition we didn't start eating until 9pm but it was a good laugh and, of course, good food.The entry list for Pernes was very strong with only a couple of the GP riders missing so I knew it was going to be a good day of racing. Sunday started with timed training for our gate position - I really liked the track and was pleased to post the second fastest time.In the opening race I started about ninth and could feel that I was riding a bit tight but I came through and ended up sixth. In the second my start let me down but I felt more relaxed - even though I wasn't riding to my full potential - and finished in seventh for fourth overall.I'm reasonably happy with the way the first couple of internationals have gone and I've come away with a bit of homework to catch up on to make sure I'm 100 per cent ready for the coming season.I'm now really looking forward to the races at Hawkstone and the first British championship round - I love racing in England and it's great to see all the fans. Yep! I'm glad to be back this year...Words by Stephen Sword Photo by Alex Hodgkinson

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