Wrecked!
Published: 13th March 2007
Author: Words by Gordon Crockard Photo by still-mx.co.uk
A stormy start to the season sees Gordy's gear looking slightly second-hand - and he's not even made it to the first British round yet...
Hey there people, it's waffle time so listen up! I'm now back in the camper en-route to race after race after race for the next eight months. I raced Hawkstone at the weekend and what a mess it was - new equipment is no longer part of my set-up! Bikes, gear, trucks, awnings - you name it, it's been half-wrecked before the season's even started properly...
Now you're possibly one of those people who thinks 'oh shut up Crockard, you get it all free anyway' but whether I get free product or not there's still the heartache of seeing valuable equipment getting a hard time in wet, gritty conditions. Big mess or not we all had a relatively successful/productive weekend. Sixth and 11th were my finishes and some much needed race laps were put in.
Unlike some other riders I haven't really been doing much motocross practice in recent months but now the weather is improving it will allow for plenty of practice between race weekends. And I've had a great two months of physical training which I'll have in my back pocket as a vital tool to bring in the results I want right through the season. I may not be ready as a whole race-winning package for March but I don't mind as I've prepared for the full '07 championship, not just the beginning of the '07 championship!
During the whole 'preparing for the season' nonsense I became a victim of circumstance. I created the 'circumstance' and I along with Amy was a victim of my personality. I'll paint the picture... I was chasing the clock during one of those 48-hour days I have every now and again but, it turns out, it was a 24-hour day and I was late, late, late. I was dropping off a bike at a friend's house and needed diesel on the way but didn't want to be too late so decided to get diesel afterwards. But afterwards it was so late that all the garages were closed so I decided to get diesel the next day when I was on my way to the ferry. So...on our way to get diesel, to get the ferry, to get on the road, to get to Hawkstone, to get some prize money, I ran out of diesel (don't you normally carry some spare in your water tanks? - SL). Call it an oversight or bad organisation or stupidity or whatever, the bottom line is it happened and I wasn't feeling too well 'prepared' on my way to the season opener. Luckily, reliable good friend Burnsy came to the rescue and we bombed up the road and only just made the ferry.
Hawkstone was so wet I got stuck on the way into the paddock - no big drama compared to getting out which was a full-on pulled-out-by-a-tractor job in the pitch dark. A big, big thank you to all the club workers who helped!
On the Monday after I was booked in for an awning to be fitted to the camper and that was happening at the Awning Company in Bolton. We were there all day so headed into town for a look around the place and to get some lunch - a little shopping, coffee, that sort of thing and quite a difference to the day before when I felt like I didn't have time to see anyone. There were so many people I had been in contact with prior to the event and said 'see ya at Hawkstone' to who I never got to see.
Well done to Paul Rowlands of PAR Homes Honda! He had a massive job on his hands getting the entire team put together for the deadline. New truck, new riders, new mechanics, new sponsors, new pitwear, new riding kit, new everything. Phil Roe (Factory) worked his northern backside off on my bikes and his enthusiasm is infectious. Between Phil and Steve Clitheroe they've given me a great bike to start from. More testing of different ideas will progress the level even further but for now I'm pleased with what I'm riding. Geoff Walker or Sutty might even be lucky enough some day to get a spin on it in a mag test - if they're man enough?
One of the associate backers in my PAR Homes Honda set-up is a telecommunications company called KP-Equipe. I'm running their brand logo on my bike and gear and have their full support at many of the race events. Keith and Stuart who I deal with at the company attended the wet Hawkstone meeting and I'm grateful for their input into my racing. Support from outside the MX industry is hard to secure and hopefully we can both get the success we have planned from our arrangement.
Yesterday I was asked if I could take some non-MX media guests out to Mexico for four days to explain and co-witness the Red Bull X-Fighters that's taking place there on March 21-25. Of course, I wanted to agree immediately but that wasn't going to happen as I'm booked to race at the second round of the British champs which will be at Landrake. Bummer! It's part of the build-up press campaign to promote the X-Fighters that's coming to Slane Castle in Ireland on May 26 but I'm likely going to miss that too as it's the same weekend as the Japanese GP.
It's a hard life sometimes...