Crock heads British SX series
By TMX Archives on 3rd Dec 09
PAUL Bird Motorsport Kawasaki rider, Gordon Crockard (pictured), took victory in the first round of the British Supercross Championship held at Birmingham's NEC on Saturday evening.
Riding an aluminium-framed Service Kawasaki KX250, the Ulsterman easily won his qualifier from gate to flag but in the British Championship final, Gordon got a poor start and was initially back in seventh place.
However, he battled his way through the field, picking off the riders in front and with five laps to go, was up to third spot. With a fantastic effort, he overtook the two riders immediately ahead of him on one corner and easily held the front to the chequered flag, ahead of James Dodd to make it a Kawasaki one-two on the night.
In the international final, Crockard found himself with more work to do as he held fifth place in the early stages but with knowledge of the track gained in the British final, he picked his way through the field and after an epic three-lap tussle with American Zach Osborne, he found himself in a solid third place behind the vastly experienced Mike Brown and young Canadian Ben Lamey.
Unfortunately – or fortunately depending on who's side of the fence you view it from – Lamey picked up a rear puncture with two-laps remaining and Crockard breezed past to take second place.
Gordon Crockard: "I am very happy with tonight's two results, the snappy power of the 250cc Kawasaki helped me use tighter lines that let me overtake the four-strokes which rely so much more on the wider lines. I had one hairy moment in the British final when I got a bit eager off a jump and landed on a bale but the Kawasaki just soaked it up and I went on to win.
"I would like to thank the Paul Bird Motorsport team for the very professional backing and helping me on the first step to winning the British Supercross title this year.”