World Motocross Championships - Round 11 -
Loket - Czech Republic

Crockard 13th overall at Loket but notches positive second moto

Team Wulfsport Honda’s Gordon Crockard finished a decent seventh in the second MX1 moto of the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic to partially scrub the disappointment taken from a lacklustre opening race at a warm, dry and crowded Loket circuit yesterday.

23,000 spectators visited the hill-side circuit located four miles outside the scenic spa town of Karlovy Vary and at least an hour’s drive west from the capital city of Prague. Showers on Thursday and again later Saturday afternoon helped soften the loose and stony terrain. The Czech layout did not provide the most technical of tests but the surface became rougher and rougher throughout Sunday’s race programme. The course was quick in places and tight and twisty in others.

Crockard endured a hard opening race in which he failed to get to grips with the track and hit the dirt at least once. He scraped a single point for 20th in one of his more forgettable moments of the 2006 campaign so far; credit then to the Irishman for rectifying the situation in the second moto when a better start saw him forge a strong presence in the top ten. ‘Crockstar’ fought briefly with CAS Honda’s Ken De Dycker for 6th in hot temperatures but eventually had to accept 7th with an overall position of 13th.

Shaun Simpson led the team’s representation in the MX2 class after missing the previous two rounds due to a dislocated shoulder. Scott Probert and Martin Kohut could not make it through the qualification heat and Last Chance session. The Scottish teenager showed signs of rustiness and a lack of preparation in the wake of his injury by falling twice in the first race and needing to retire with a damaged gear lever and chain. He narrowly missed out on 20th position to British Championship rival Tom Church in the second sprint after a much improved start saw him running mid-pack but struggling in the sweltering conditions.

Crockard is currently seventeenth in the World Championship standings with just four races remaining; one of those includes the team’s home Grand Prix at Desertmartin on August 27th.

Wulfsport Honda now head directly to southern Belgium where the twelfth round of fifteen will take place this weekend at the atmospheric and historic venue of Namur.

Gordon Crockard:
“For the first race I was disappointed that the track had been watered, it was slippery enough as it was. I did not have a good first turn and was right at the back. It is a difficult first corner to get right. The little stud on my tear-offs was smashed by a rock so I lost all my visors to the wind and had to try and wipe my goggles with my hand which wasn’t ideal. I was having a nasty time. I stalled and crashed the bike and wasn’t going anywhere, so the first race was an absolute disaster and I was pissed off about it. I got a better start in the second moto and came round in about eleventh on the first lap. I progressed up to seventh by the end of the race and my pace was OK but I found it physically hard-going. I was about three quarters of the way in and didn’t feel as energetic as usual. It came at a time when I was catching De Dycker and Ramon. I passed De Dycker with great respect because I approached him really quickly and I thought he must have had a problem with his bike or his condition. As soon as I came alongside him he suddenly came alive and took off. He must have got a second wind just then because he took about two seconds out of me and it was a bit confusing. I found it hard to catch him again and find new reserves to make a better lap-time from somewhere. I ended up seventh which was fine and much better than the first race.”

Shaun Simpson:
“Today wasn’t too bad considering that I probably wasn’t going to be here after the crash at Desertmartin. I felt strong on the track but it was very fast yesterday. The second race was definitely better. In the first moto I started badly, made a few mistakes and crashed inside the first few laps. I bent the gear lever so I was struggling to find the gears after that. I kept going but near the end I had another small crash and damaged the front brake and the chain also became slack for some reason. We fixed the bike and I started better in the next heat. I was running in about sixteenth and was thinking ‘this is alright’ but then ran off the track slightly and over the tapes so I lost about three places in that ‘moment’. I was going for that last point but with a few laps to go fatigue set in. I need to get some more training done and bike time, and hopefully in the next few weeks I can get back on it.”