Off to a flyer
By TMX Archives on 14th Apr 03
- round one of the British championship - and everything was going good. Practice was fine, the bike was running awesome and the track was in good condition. CANADA HEIGHTS - round one of the British championship - and everything was going good. Practice was fine, the bike was running awesome and the track was in good condition. I was having fun.So there I am, sitting on the starting gate for moto one. Then I put my goggles on and the strap broke! With the 15-second board already up I was frantically fumbling around trying to reattach my goggle strap to the body of the goggles. Note to all - remove gloves before trying to fix goggles (time permitting). I fixed the strap, kicked the Honda into life and put my bike into gear just as the start gate dropped!Canada Heights was good for the CAS team - I won all three motos and Jussi and Yoshitaka followed me home making it a CAS 1-2-3. Unfortunately, there was a shadow cast over the day's achievements when our rider-manager and good friend Neil Prince crashed badly and spent the following three weeks in hospital. The good news is that the man in question is back to work.The St Jean d'Angely international in France was another great day for the CAS team and 1-4-3 was good enough for the overall with Jussi and Yoshi filling the podium again. All things considered I was well prepared for the opening race of the GP series in Bellpuig, Spain. Qualifying isn't my strongest point and so 10th was okay. I was in the race and felt my riding was strong.Getting good starts has never been so important, especially with so many of the world's best on the line. Unless you get a top-five start the game is already over. I got a cracking gate but Jorgensen pushed me wide in turn one - wrecking his holeshot and leaving both of us exiting the first turn ninth and 10th.It took me a while to catch the real fast guys - Bervoets was running fourth and, let me tell you, this guy is one of the hardest riders to pass on the GP circus. At every opportunity I'd try to get creative with lines to enable me to get in front, every time he'd take the opportunity away from me - I was getting frustrated.Then he crashed - hard. His machine bounced into the crowd and he bounced down the track right in front of me. Seven seconds were lost in the incident before I eventually found a way past the fallen rider. I tried my ass off but simply ran out of time. Everts is no mug either, he picked up his pace when I was closing him down and at the flag only two seconds split second to fourth. I'm pleased with my riding and also my CAS Honda but I can't help feeling that I should have been on the podium.The next GP will be in the deep Dutch sand (by the time you get to read this the race will be over). There are a few guys that always come to the forefront in sand - not just the usual suspects of Smets, Everts and Pichon. I'm not saying that I'm at a disadvantage on sand, it's just a different type of race.As I said, the result in Spain was a good starting point to what will be a long, hard season. No doubt the big three will be hard to beat on a regular basis - Everts will shake off his nerves and arm pump, Smets will get his machine problems sorted and Pichon will continue to win races unless someone picks up the challenge and takes the race to him.Before this season is over Mr Pichon will have company at the front of the pack - mark my words - and I'll do my best to make sure it's a CAS Honda. Sadly, Jussi will be out for eight weeks due to a practice crash - in typical Jussi fashion he was determined to try to race with a pain killing injections that would have knocked out your average tiger. With Jussi out it means that yours truly has the opportunity to ride the 650cc GP class until he recovers from his shoulder injury.Wakes Colne isn't my most favourite of places due to the hundreds of flying stones that can ruin a day or, just as easily, a season. After winning the first two motos at round two of the Brit champs, I had a mid-pack start in the Maxxis Cup race. To say I carefully made my way to the front is an understatement but at the flag there was only 2.4 seconds splitting Coops, Hucklebridge and myself.So, I guess that put an end to my winning streak in the British Championship. Still, it's five wins from six starts - I really want this title back and I'll do whatever it takes to get it.Speak to you all next month...Gordy