CCM’s MX450 scores points on its British Championship
debut
 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 2X1 Overall: 1: MacKenzie 50 2: Gunderson
42 3: Anderson 38
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