Dougan's looking to reach his Max
By TMX Archives on 19th Mar 09
TWENTY-two-year-old Jason Dougan (pictured right) is looking towards the second round of the 2009 Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship to rid himself of the bad luck that has restricted his early season results so far. The Phoenix Tools CCM Racing teamster was comfortably leading the opening moto at the first round of the MMX series at Little Silver, before his almost certain run away win was cruelly halted by a red-flag. His day then went from bad to worse as he was taken down in the first corner of the restart before suffering a derailed chain in the second moto (due to a deep rut) when he was carving his way through the pack.
Two consistent showings at the Hawkstone Park International a week later was enough to give the youngster eighth overall amongst a truly world class field. However, Jason's delight was only short-lived as another derailed chain, this time in a deep rut at Canada Heights robbed him of a much better overall placing. Fifth spot in the second race at the Kent circuit was some form of consolation and was further proof that Dougan has what it takes to run amongst the front-runners when he has a bit more luck on his side.
Dougan's next competitive outing will be on his home circuit at Langrish, near Petersfield, on Sunday, March 22, (this Sunday), for the second round of the Maxxis series, where he will be hoping to have the opportunity to show his true form. The fast and flowing old-school circuit set on the steep-sided grass valley is ideally suited to Jason's hard charging style and is where he first really showed his MX1 pedigree last summer. In a one-off appearance on the bigger bike at Langrish, in August 2008, at the Ken Hall International, Dougan was the star of the meeting as he finished as runner-up to world title contender, Josh Coppins.
Slightly frustrated by his results to-date this season, Jason is eager to be back on the start line soon: I am really looking forward to racing at Langrish, as it is both my home track and one that I really enjoy riding.
Last year I had some real fun on the MX1 bike there and produced a bit of a shock result, so I'm hoping I can do the same again this time around. Tom (Church) has shown what the bike is capable of, so I think we can both go to Langrish confident that we can be on the podium, or somewhere close at least.
CCM Racing's sporting director, David Thorpe, added his comments ahead of Langrish: Jason has not enjoyed the best of luck so far, but we know from his winter training and from practice sessions that the results will start to come sooner rather than later.
Already we have seen some glimpses of his speed both at Little Silver and Canada Heights. However I think at Langrish it may just all come together for him. Everyone in the team knows what Jason is capable of. Good results for both Tom and Jason at Langrish would be a great boost ahead of the first Grand Prix in Italy a week later.