Church makes a winning debut
By G2F on 22nd Feb 09
CCM Racing teamster Tom Church made an emphatic debut for his new all British team by taking the overall win at the initial round of the 2009 ACU British Open Motocross Championship.
The highly experienced Grand Prix rider claimed the top prize with a third place in the first race, and an even better performance during his second outing, which saw him follow Brad Anderson home. CCM Racing's recent female signing Alix Dunlop made it an excellent day for the newly formed squad, with the sixteen year old recording an incredible second spot in the second moto to come out the best of a three way tie for the runners up spot overall.
The only slight disappointment of the day was that Jason Dougan's speed was not rewarded with the results that he deserved. Dougan had carved out an eight second lead after just three laps of the first moto, but was cruelly robbed of what looked like a certain win when the race was red flagged due to a serous incident. The restart proved to be a disaster for Jason as he was taken down on the first turn, which left him dead last and with an uphill battle to come through the field. Dougan's run of bad luck continued in race two when a rock in one of the many ruts derailed the chain as the twenty-two year old was making good progress after a poor start.
Church was pleased with his debut. "Overall I am really happy with how the day has gone. I messed up both the start and the first corner in race one and had to come through the pack. I caught Swordy towards the end and we had a real good battle, but my arms pumped up so I had to settle for third. The second race was a similar story with another average start, which left me work to do. I came through the field well, but Anderson had long gone by the time I got into second. I think today's results shows the progress we have made with the bike, and as a team, so I want to say thanks to everyone as they have all worked so hard.”
An equally happy Dunlop said. "I am both surprised and delighted, because if I am honest this a much better result than I was hoping for as I have only spent very limited time on the bike since switching to CCM. I was very nervous before the first race, however with that out of the way I felt much more at home in the second race despite the track being much rougher and rutted.”
2009 ACU British Open Motocross Championship – Round 1 – Little Silver
Moto One: 1: Nunn 2: Sword 3: Church 4: Whatley 5: Gregory
Moto Two: 1: Anderson 2: Church 3: Sword 4: Gregory 5: Nunn
Overall: 1: Church 42 2: Sword 42 3: Nunn 41 4: Gregory 34 5: Whatley 32
2009 ACU British Ladies Motocross Championship – Round 1 – Little Silver
Moto One: 1: Kane 2: Fisher 3: Wilson 4: Williams 5: Dunlop
Moto Two: 1: Kane 2: Dunlop 3: McLoed 4: Wilson 5: Fisher