Hard day for Buildbase CCM Racing in Bulgaria

A complete reversal of weather conditions greeted the Buildbase CCM Racing team at Sevlievo in Bulgaria for the second round of the 2009 FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship.

Riders Tom Church and Jason Dougan enjoyed glorious sunshine and decent temperate – a contrast to the mud-bath they encountered in Italy for the series opener last week – but sadly the results did not match the good vibe around the paddock as the duo could only record twenty-fourth and twenty-sixth positions respectively.

The hard and fast Sevlievo layout turned into a bumpy and dusty terrain by the end of Sunday afternoon and the sheer pace of the course meant that decent starts were imperative and any mistakes would go harshly punished. The British team were entering the event on the back of some landmark results in Faenza but their fortunes would take a turn in the heat as both riders crashed in the Grand Prix motos and would only pick up three points between them; Church managing the best result of nineteenth in the first moto.

The twenty-seven year old came into the event after a bout of flu and rallied as hard as he could in the opening race for top twenty finish. His chances of further points-gain was wrecked in the second outing as he lost balance after a collision over the finish-line jump and crashed, retiring from that moment.

“It was a difficult day; no excuses,” he said. “It was a tough track and I struggled all weekend. I had a bit of flu this week and wasn’t feeling 100%. In the first race I pushed as hard as I could for as long as I could for two points. In the second moto I collided with a guy over the finish line jump and it threw me off balance and into the side barrier; that was a shame because I could have got some more points. Hopefully I will feel better this week before Turkey.”

Phoenix Tools CCM Racing’s Jason Dougan fared little better. He struggled to find a decent rhythm in the first moto and collected one point for twentieth place. He hit the dirt twice in the second moto and rode back to the paddock after jarring his weak shoulder. “In the first race I didn’t get a great start,” he recounted. “I was about seventieth and then mid-race I had a bad spell and dropped a few places. In the second one I made a good jump from the gate, but tried cutting in around the first corner and was boxed by a few riders. I got going and then on one of the downhills I lost the front end and landed on my bad shoulder. I was so far behind that I decided to pull in.”

Buildbase CCM Racing’s female rider Alix Dunlop finish twenty-first overall in the opening round of the 2009 FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship at the same venue, after placing eighteenth and twenty-fourth in the two motos.
The team will have little time to lick their wounds with the third round of the World championship, taking place next weekend in Istanbul for the Grand Prix of Turkey.

MX1 Moto1: 1: De Dycker 2: Coppins 3: Nagl 4: Barragan 5: Philippaerts…19: Church 20: Dougan
MX1 Moto2: 1: Barragan 2: Coppins 3: Philippaerts 4: Cairoli 5: Nagl…Church: DNF Dougan: DNF
MX1 Overall Result: 1: Coppins 2: Barragan 3: De Dycker…24: Church 26: Dougan
MX1 Championship to date: 1: De Dycker 60 2: Coppins 59 3: Leok 55 4: Barragan 54 5: Nagl 50…
16: Church 15…20: Dougan 11