Rock around the Crock
By Mannix Devlin on 20th Dec 13
Northern Ireland off-road racing legend Gordon Crockard has announced plans to come out of semi-retirement to take up a wild-card ride at the opening two rounds of the 2014 Arenacross tour.
The GP winner and former world No.3 is relishing the challenge of shaking off the cobwebs and returning to action at Belfast's Odyssey Arena on January 17-18.
"There are some very fast riders coming across from Europe, who will have plenty of indoor racing under their belts by the time the series kicks off,” admits Gordy.
"I'm certainly going to have to be on my ‘A' game to compete with them.” The 34-year-old's last serious race was the final round of the 2013 Arenacross series back in February.
Soon afterwards he sustained a serious thumb injury in an accident with a circular saw.
Recently, Gordon has been working as part of the construction team for Universal Studio's upcoming ‘Dracula Untold' movie that's just finished filming in Belfast.
"The timing of the series is fantastic – it means new bikes, new teams, new kit and everyone's motivated and taking it seriously – I can't wait.
"Being the first round doesn't help my cause as I'm going to be a bit rusty.
"But it is two rounds and I'm expecting everything to flow a lot better on the Saturday.
"I have got the bit between my teeth to focus on these two races and can't wait to get out there in front of my home fans.”
The seven-round 2014 Arenacross series kicks off with a double-header at the Odyssey Arena, Belfast, on January 17/18 before travelling to the LG Arena, Birmingham (January 25), the Echo Arena, Liverpool (February 2), the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle (February 9) and the Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield (February 15).
The series signs off at London's Wembley Arena on March 1.To buy tickets and catch up on the latest news go to www.arenacrossuk.com
