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Photo - Whibs. Photo courtesy of Andy McGechan:
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Whibs and Katherine are keeping us updated whenever they are able on their 2005 European campaign with John Shirt GASGAS UK::
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Well already the first two WEC rounds have been and gone. When I left NZ back in January I thought I had plenty of time to prep and develop a new bike for the WEC season. In a perfect world maybe but a foot injury cost me a month of testing and racing so come the first race I still didn't know what suspension set up was best and still developing my race speed on the bike.
The first WEC race in Spain was held in Gaudalajara near Madrid. Three
tests. One cross test flat, really tight, rather boring. The Extreme test
was in the middle of the town. Logs, bogs, rocks, sand pit and double
jumps. Two big ones about 20 metres. The Enduro test was cool. A real
Enduro test up and down this valley full of tussock and small bushes. Some
fast, some tight, big hills, and it took two hours to walk it.
Results were very average: 8th on day one, 11th on day two.
It rained on Friday and the track was really wet and slippery. I didn't lose any time but many other top riders did. On Sunday times were easier and less rain meant next to no one lost any time, so results were a lot tighter. I think time was given back to the ones who had lost it anyway.
The second WEC in Portugal was in a place called Fatima near Lisbon.
Three tests again. One MX test, flat grass paddock. More like waht we
would call a club MX flat track in NZ. The Extreme test was ok. More of a
natural extreme, with rocky hills, bogs, logs and all other good things that
extreme tests contain. The Enduro test was a full on MX track with big
jumps. I really liked the layout of the test, but the ground was kind of
gravelly and quite hard in some places, kind of like a gravel road.
Results: 11th on day one, 14th day two.
Crap really, my test times in the Enduro test really let me down. I liked the layout and jumps but racing on a gravel road was a bit foreign and I didn't produce good times. My extreme times were good most of the time (as high as 4th) except one time where I got stuck on a log. Also I had some good MX test times but a crash here on the second day dropped me back in the results.
We are back in the UK now. After the 2,250 odd km drive back from Portugal and the three weeks living in a sprinter van, (which Katherine really loved) there is a bit of clean up and sorting of gear and bike preparation to be done before the BEC race this weekend.
Paul and Katherine
