JSTGGUK No.1 rider Michael Brown has just ended his 2013 World Championship season on a high with a superb 7th place on Day 2 in France on Sunday. He rode very confidently after a shaky 11th on Day 1.
His lap scores on Sunday got better as the day went on with a great last lap of 17. The goal of the weekend was to try and go from 12th to 10th in the overall championship. 11th was made easy with Dani Oliveras absent due to a shoulder operation. To try and overhaul Jack Challoner who was 10 points ahead was going to be difficult but not impossible because Jack is not at best form at the moment.
With Michael having a bad day on Saturday we kind of accepted that his bib for 2014 would be #11. This is not where Michael should be but having a knee injury in the middle of the season (May SSDT) was a major blow and missing 3 rounds of the WTC was not ideal. You should never say ‘if and but’, but im confident that if he’d not missed the three rounds he would have probably finished 8th in the Championship, maybe 7th battling with Team mate Grattarola who’s had a great year.
Michael’s knee is now good and will hopefully continue to get stronger the more he trains. He has the Trial Des Nations this Sunday and then the final BTC the weekend after where he will fight his rival and friend James Dabill for the title.
Thanks to #1 Minder Sam Haslam.
Thanks always to GG Italia for providing Michael with the best bike and support and also keeping me fed!
The weekend in France was also a World Championship weekend for the girls and the GGUK girls rode well. Katy Sunter and Nikita Smith were 6th and 9th respectively on Day 1 and 4th and 9th respectively on Day 2.
4th place was fantastic for Katy on Sunday and Nikita is consistently pushing hard. She is still on a 125 which is frustrating especially at high altitude but she’s a tough girl that will stick at it and better results will come for sure.
The last round is this Friday also in France to conclude the 5 round series where the best three results count. Katy and Nikita will be joined by GGUK girl Joanne Coles who will be pushing for the podium. The girls then have the TDN the next day, Saturday before the men’s on Sunday.
Congrats to Jorge Casales for winning the Junior Class World Title for GG
Congrats to Toni Bou and Montesa for winning the Champ Class and also Adam Raga for pushing him to the wire.
Congrats to Dec Bullock and Billy Bolt for their respective podiums