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CCM MX450 scores points on its British Championship debut |
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Monday, 10 March 2008 |
Following last weekend’s return to the International paddock after a prolonged absence, CCM Racing made its debut at the 2008 Maxxis ACU British Motocross championship for the first time in nearly twenty years.
The ultra ambitious CCM MX450 has thrown the Bolton based company right back into the spotlight, with their revolutionary bonded aluminium chassis bike taking centre stage alongside the many Japanese supported factory machines.
The famous Donington Park road race facility hosted the opening round of this year’s domestic series, with several thousand race fans making the trip to the East Midlands circuit to witness the British designed and built motorcycle in action and up against the country’s top riders. Once again the lone responsibility of putting a bike, which is less than six weeks old, through its race paces was left to nineteen-year old Oliver Sandiford-Smith. CCM racing’s second rider Richie Worrall could only watch from the sidelines due to a leg injury, but is recovering well and is looking to be back on his factory bike within the next two weeks.
Sandiford-Smith used the morning qualifying session to acquaint himself with the awesome Donington Park motocross track that features some of the biggest jumps seen anywhere in the UK, and which hosted the British MXGP in the summer of 2007. The CCM MX450 looked very much at home on the ultra technical track, with Oliver posting his quickest time on lap six of the session to qualify just outside the top twenty.
The first MX1 race saw CCM’s lone warrior struggle to get to grips with the worsening track and fast pace of the front-runners. Despite not feeling totally confident in the difficult conditions, Oliver fought his way back from thirty-first to finish twenty-fourth come the chequered flag. A few carefully chosen motivational words from Team Principle Gary Harthern, put the teenager on the line for the second moto in a far more focussed mood.
A stalled engine early in race two put pay to a far better result for Sandiford-Smith, with the youngster showing some great speed and fight to work his way back up from thirtieth to a respectable nineteenth position come the end of the moto. This gave CCM Racing two valuable British championship points, their first for nearly two decades.
Team Principle Gary Harthern reflected on the day’s events. “The second race has proved Oliver’s potential, without him staling the bike, he could have well challenged for a top ten position. It is still very early days for us, but already the bike is showing great reliability and strength especially on a track like today. We need to remember the bigger picture, and must not expect too much too soon, despite all the excitement that seems to be surrounding us at the moment.”
“Our aim is to be finishing in the top ten at the end of the season, not now, just a few weeks after the bike was first built!”
Results:
MX1 Moto One: 1: MacKenzie 2: Gunderson 3: Church 4: Noble 5: Anderson….24: Sandiford-Smith
MX1 Moto Two: 1: MacKenzie 2: Anderson 3: Gunderson 4: Noble 5: Church….19: Sandiford-Smith
MX1 Overall: 1: MacKenzie 50 2: Gunderson 42 3: Anderson 38….23: Sandiford-Smith 2
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