JST Gas Gas UK Girlies Go South
By TMX Archives on 19th Sep 06
Team JST Gas Gas ladies team set off on a 2 week adventure to compete in the Andorra World Championship and then the following weekend to the final round of the European Championship at Rippoll in Catalunya.
High up in the mountains in Andorra the girls had some fine tuning to do to adjust their GGs to the 2000m altitude, after this the bikes were running perfectly, just a little short of power! Becky Cook kick started her World Championship campaign with a 3rd place, dropping just 7 more marks than long standing GG factory rider Iris Kramer. After beating Iris earlier this year, Becky is going to ride her socks off at the remaining 2 rounds of the World Championship to enable her to take runner's up spot overall. This would be a huge achievement for the Isle of Wight star as last year Becky was disappointed with 6th overall, and also to knock Kramer off 2nd place after many years would make a nice change!
15 year old Emma Bristow and team mate Katy Sunter battled it out for the remaining places in the top 10 finishing equal on 60 marks each. Emma took 9th, having 1 more clean than Katy in 10th. The battle between the two GG girls has been ongoing in the British Championship and looks like it will carry on in the World too! Irish superstar Sasha Turkington rode her 125 GG to 13th place in Andorra to take 3 valuable World points. A superb start to the championship for all the team!
After a short break on the Costa Brava the Ladies moved on to the final round of the European Championship at Rippoll. Becky Cook was lying equal 3rd in the championship with French lady Clair Bertrand and needed just 4 more points than Iris Kramer to take 2nd in the championship. After the first lap, things were looking good as Bertrand was sitting in 2nd, Cook 3rd and Kramer 4th. Becky needed to put in a good final lap to take 2nd and hopefully push Kramer into 4th behind Bertrand. The lap started off well, with just a few steadying dabs, however when we reached the slippery sections under the trees, no-one except Sanz could match Iris Kramer's ride of just 2 over the three sections. Loosing 11 of her 18 marks on the 2nd lap here Becky was extremely disappointed to slip down into 4th place both in the trial and championship. We all know that Becky can do it, but Kramer and Bertrand have many years of experience riding abroad. So watch out in future years because Cook has certainly got what it takes to be the best in the world.
Emma Bristow rode her 125 consistently on both laps to take a well-earned 7th place on the day and finished 9th overall in the championship. Emma and World Champ Laia Sanz were the only riders to clock up to cleans on the slippery section 8, this shows how much potential Emma has and we will hopefully see her in the top 5 next time! Sasha Turkington added more points to her championship bid finishing 12th on the day and 13th overall in championship. Sasha set off with a lap of 32, which was good, but then on the last lap knocked this down to 24 which matched that of the riders in the top 10. Well done Sasha!
Next stop is Belgium next weekend, and France the weekend after for another world round and the TDN. Come on GB, we can do it!
European Championship final standings
1.Laia Sanz Montesa Spain 60
2.Iris Kramer Gas Gas Germany 49
3.Clair Bertrand Gas Gas France 43
4.Becky Cook JST Gas Gas GB 41
5.Donna Fox Sherco GB 32
6.Rositta Leotta Gas Gas Germany 29
7.Carla Caldera Spain Montesa 28
8.Sandrine Juffett Gas Gas France 23
9.Emma Bristow JST Gas Gas GB 22
10.Maryline Journet Gas Gas France 18
11.Katy Sunter JST Gas Gas GB 11
12.Connie Ludvigsen Sherco Norway 10
13.Sasha Turkington JST Gas Gas GB 7