Buildbase CCM riders Tom Church , Alix Dunlop and Phoenix Tools CCM rider Jason Dougan all score good points in both moto legs at Uddevalla in Sweden to move further up the leader board in both MX1 and the Woman’s World Championships.

With temperatures touching 30 degrees on the Saturday, the track conditions were perfect for racing with the heavily watered track proving a tough challenge for everyone.

Tom Church on the Buildbase CCM produced his best qualifying form yet with a strong ride to 10th place, with his team mate Jason Dougan on the Phoenix Tools CCM a little further down in 16th place. Meanwhile young 16 year old Alix Dunlop produced one of her best rides of the year to secure 15th place in the sweltering heat in the first leg with the second leg staged on the Sunday. Track conditions had improved somewhat on the Sunday with lap times coming down as the overcast weather allowed temperatures to cool.

Sunday morning’s free practice nearly turned to disaster for Dougan on the Phoenix Tools CCM. 22 year old Dougan was as high as 4th in the free practice session when he hooked a neutral over the start finish table top. Jason cleared the table top but not on the bike as the factory CCM cart wheeled down the track. A monster crash but luckily Jason just coolly got up and made his way back to the pits to finish the session on his spare bike.

Tom Church’s day was nearly scuppered also as  his bike was knocked over in the parc ferme holding area by Gregory Aranda’s mechanic resulting in the fuel tank being holed. Despite quick repairs none of this seemed to knock the spirit of the CCM teamsters as both riders produced good points scoring rides in the first leg. Poor starts from both Tom & Jason hampered their progress through the pack as they finished 18th & 16th respectively.

Both riders were disappointed with their first leg performance and this only spurred them on to do better in the 2nd leg. This time Dougan made the best start within the top ten and ran as high as 6th alongside the MX1 elite. Dougan held his own till half distance as some of the more established front runners, Coppins & Leock included, struggled to get past. Inevitably Dougan couldn’t hold the early pace for the full race distance and started to slip down the leader board preferring to secure vital points to finish 11th in moto 2 and 11th overall on the day, his best overall finish to date in the GP season.

Tom Church meanwhile had recovered from a mediocre start to tag on the back end of the group of 6 riders headed by Dougan. As ever Tom Church kept pushing to secure 13th place by the end. A slightly disappointed Tom Church commented after the race, I thought a top 10 finish was on after qualifying but I made 2 bad starts. The track was so fast that everyone was on a similar pace and I just had to grind away to secure the points in both races.

In between the MX1 action Alix Dunlop, one of the youngest girls in the class scored again to finish 17th overall on the day and now aims to finish her first year in GP’s at Leirop GP with a top 20 finish overall.

The final member of the team Ray Rowson was not at Uddevalla, his first ride on the factory Buildbase CCM was at the KWS meeting at Landrake in the UK. Ray’s return from an injury plagued season went without any further problems to his most recent scafoid injury. Managing Director Gary Harthern who was present at the Swedish GP and was kept informed by Dave Thorpe on Ray’s progress during the day commented: We all know Ray’s desperate to get back racing and he knows he has the speed to win at British Championship level. We all just have to be patient because he’s been out of action all year and he can’t just step back in at the level he was at last year. As the team dust themselves down after a 3 week tour of the GP’s, the next outing for the full MX1 squad is at Lyng in Norfolk on the 12th July.
Results MX 1:

11th    Jason Dougan
13th    Tom Church

Results Womens World Championship:
17th     Alix Dunlop