Crockstar goes west!
By TMX Archives on 23rd Jan 08
IT'S an annual occurrence for young riders to head for the States in search of glory, but when three-times British champ, GORDON CROCKSTAR' CROCKARD, called curtains on his motocross GP career, at the age of 29, to go ride GNCC, it sent ripples through the off-road scene. And the Ulsterman will not just be riding any old bike, he will be at the spearhead of BMW's assault on the American off-road market.
T+MX: How did the contact with BMW come about?
Crockstar: I called them. I knew they had a bike and that Smets was testing it, and when I spoke to Jonty Edmunds he indicated that they may be going racing, so I phoned them up and asked them outright if they were going racing and if they would be interested in me. They asked me if I was thinking of quitting motocross and I said: ‘‘If you've got a job for me, yes, I am.''
They gave me the option of World Enduro or GNCC and I felt GNCC would be more my style. It's a three- hour race, not an all day start, stop, start, stop and I prefer that. I think that suits my stamina, my riding style, I've always been a good trials rider, and I've always been good in a long race.
And it's America, the land of opportunity! I think it will be an easier transition
to go somewhere where everybody speaks English – ordering food's easy.
T+MX: So where did you take it from there?
Crockstar: The initial contact was with Wolfgang Fischer, the guy who runs the world enduro team. However, it just so happened that, the very same weekend I called him, that Scott Summers and his agent were at the factory doing the deal to take on running the GNCC team – so it was
perfect timing.
My name was thrown into the pot, and we took it from there.
I said that I had to ride the bike first, and I also wanted to see what GNCC was about, so I went over there, testing the BMW on the Friday and rode a GNCC that weekend.
It was a terrific weekend. I knew straight away that the bike was competitive, and I could see that I was going to enjoy GNCC.
I've ridden development bikes before and I was shocked how bad they were. But this bike, as a starting point, is excellent. I'm not kidding myself that it will be the best bike out there intially, but eventually it will be.
The GNCC series itself includes a lot of hobby riders, and at the top end you have the professionals going for the win. There are 2,000 competitors over the weekend – Saturday on ATVs and Sunday, solos – so there's a very happy atmosphere. Everyone is there for the sport and for most of the people there, it is a hobby. It's people out having a weekend's craic and it's great to be amongst that. It's a nice environment to be in for the weekend. It's not a serious, do as you're told environment. The experience of the GPs in recent years is that you will do what you're told, putting on an act.
I ended up sixth in the 250F class on a Honda which was the only bike they had in the shed.
I didn't even intend riding when I went over but, after the team had seen me ride the Bee-em on the Friday, they were eager for me to take on the event. I'd been injured and hadn't been training for two months, so I wasn't prepared, but I was able to use the event to learn the sort of terrain, to see the other riders tackle the event, what qualities are needed. I wasn't under pressure to get a result, but could see what was needed. It was a perfect sighting lap.
I had no idea what to expect before I got there. But when I came home from that trip I was very excited and was sorry to leave. I will be going there as a beginner, there's an awful lot for me to learn, but I'm up for it.
For full story and pictures see T+MX NEWS, Friday, January 25, 2008