Kiwi Rider Battles To Ninth Place In USA
APRIL 1, 2015: New
Zealand's Callan May encountered a few unexpected obstacles at the
latest round of the Grand National Cross-country Championships
(GNCC) in the United States at the weekend, but still he managed to
come away with an impressive result.
The 22-year-old Yamaha rider from
Titirangi, in Auckland, in just his second season of GNCC racing,
tackled the third round of 13 in the GNCC series at Steele Creek,
in Morganton, North Carolina, on Sunday with high hopes he'd be
able to build upon his solid work from the previous two
events.
And he achieved this with a
hard-fought 19th overall and ninth in class on Sunday.
Racing in the XC2 (250cc) class of
the championship, May has now taken his Yamaha YZ250F to finish
among the leading riders in two of the three rounds thus far,
although his 37th overall and 18th in class, after mechanical
problems at the series opener in Florida in March, meant he has
been forced to play catch-up on the scoreboard.
"Track conditions were perfect for
the weekend, with only a few little muddy spots and minimal dust,"
May reported. "I was going to sleep at the track, as I normally do,
in my van but the temperature was getting down to minus three
overnight, so it would have been too cold for that.
"Luckily I had been staying at
Australian rider Josh Strang's base the week before, so I stayed on
at his place and I didn't freeze.
"I got a good start in the race,
heading into the woods in about sixth position.
"A few miles went by and I was
ready to make a pass on the rider in front on an alternate line
but, as I was slowing down, a racer behind ran up the back of me
causing us to crash. We both remounted and carried on, after losing
a few positions in the process.
"A couple miles later, my luck got
even worse and a vine overhanging the track wrapped around my neck,
slicing into my neck and ripping me off my bike.
"Winded and slightly in shock, I
got back up and carried on. I came around on the first lap in 13th
and managed to work my way up to ninth by the end of the
race.
"It's been two days since the race
and my neck is healing but still very sore. A few rest days to heal
is needed and hopefully I'll be good to go by the weekend (and also
for the next round of the series at Big Buck, in South Carolina, on
April 12)."
After yet another top-10 result in
the class, the young Kiwi has pushed into the top 10 for the
championship and he is now sitting eighth in the XC2 class
standings.
Jason Thomas finished ninth overall
to win the XC2 class ahead of fellow Americans Layne Michael (10th
overall) and Trevor Bollinger (11th overall).
Meanwhile, in the XC1 (450cc)
class, American defending champion Kailub Russell celebrated his
third consecutive victory, winning the day ahead of Strang and Thad
DuVall.
May is supported by Yamaha Motor
New Zealand, Kiwi Rider magazine, BikesportNZ.com, MotoSR, Golden
Tyres, Fox, Graphic Creation, GYTR and Yamalube.
Words and photo by Andy
McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com