|
enduro
news |
|
Chris Hockey |
 Chris
Hockey Morris Lubricants YamahaRound 2 European Enduro Championship 2009 Tokod Hungary May 2009 = E1 4t Class - Yamaha WR 250 Result - Day 1 - 18th Day 2 - 15th The European enduro championship has certainly become a lot more competitive since the world championship became more restrictive on entries. Now there are plenty of world class riders competing in this championship. So while 18th and 15th don't look to be the best results these were pretty good given the competition and certainly among the British contingent were very comparable. Details The event of course came with the precursor of an 18 hour drive from the ferry. The course featured a typically hard pack motocross-style test and going, with a seven minute long enduro test which was more like a goat track with some very steep descents... Dust was the major problem for everyone on the first day - it's dangerous when you can't see where the track goes! As I didn't compete in the first round of the champs, in France, due to work commitments, I had to start near the back of the class - which meant eating a lot of dust and almost zero visibility when overtaking slower riders, both on the going and in the tests. I did quite enjoy the two tests, particularly the motocross test which very fast and flowing and yet safe too. I started very average and steadily got faster towards the end of the day, before I stubbed my leg out on the going, twisting my knee, which became very sore. That was the only problem I had all day. I finished the day in 18th.
Many thanks to all the Brits out there helping in the service areas, awesome to have you there putting on such a crucial service. Kiwi Many thanks to: Team Morris Lubricants Yamaha; Yamaha Off Road Experience; George, my pit crew, and of course all my other sponsors...... Ribco racing, EMG Ford, Core, Matrix Helmets, Alpinstars, Cti, Reef, Dragon Goggles, Morris Lubricants, Acerbis, Dunlop, DEP Pipes, Renthal, Fro, Dr Shox, Rock Star Energy Drink.
Hockey takes the lead in the Eastern Centre Championship Round 2 EMG Ford Eastern Centre Enduro Championship 2009 Iken Enduro, Suffolk 22nd February 2009 - E1 4t Class - Yamaha WR250F Result - 1st Overall A win at the second round of the Eastern Centre Enduro championship, backing up a fourth at round one has put Morris Lubricants Yamaha rider Chris Hockey at the top of the championship standings. The Iken Enduro was, for the first time in the history of the series, a hare and hounds type event (3hr) rather than a traditional time card enduro, largely due to large amounts of land not being available these days. After a week of glorious weather leading up to the event the track conditions couldn't have been more perfect. The Woodbridge Motorcycle Club had laid out a superb course in the coastal village of Iken, Suffolk made mostly of fast sandy stubble fields with some small woodland areas and even some slippery peaty inclines and descents. At 10.30 sharp the flag dropped and the Expert and Championship class riders ran, Le Mans style, ten metres to their bikes. Chris Hockey and Tom Braddock led into the first corner with Braddock sweeping round the outside to take the lead with Hockey right on his tail. Hockey soon made his move and slipped past a few corners later and pushed hard to open an early lead. "I could see Braddock behind me for a couple of laps, he was riding real good, then on about lap three I could see Julian Harvey had passed Braddock. I wanted to build a big lead as I only had an 8-litre motocross tank and the track being very fast (my fastest lap was 7.24 minutes which is an average of nearly 50mph!) I knew my Yamaha would only do about 45mins on a tank so I would have to make three stops.
Results: 1st Chris Hockey 2nd Julian Harvey 3rd James Yearley Many thanks to: Team Morris Lubricants Yamaha; Yamaha Off Road Experience; George, Rich and Vicey my pit crew, and of course all my other sponsors...... Ribco racing, EMG Ford, Core, Matrix Helmets, Alpinestars, Cti, Reef, Dragon Goggles, Morris Lubricants, Acerbis, Dunlop, DEP Pipes, Renthal, Fro, Dr Shox, Rock Star Energy Drink
Round 1 Muntjac, Thetford Forest Kiwi flies to podium finish! Okay it should have been a win, being on home turf. And I've won here before. But this year, on a new bike with a new team - I just got nervous! As you read there, the big news is the new team. After six years with Husky Sport (and many successes - huge thanks due to Mike Carter) it was time for a fresh challenge. So PAR Homes Honda is my new home. It's an awesome team and this bike they've developed for me - essentially a CRF250 bored to nearly 300cc is an absolute weapon. Racing against 450cc four-strokes it's giving nothing away. It handles so sweet too. Yep, I'm looking forward to a cool season. Anyway, the race. It's not unusual for the first round of the BEC to be held in the Thetford Forest. But what is unusual, especially after recent years, is the fact that there was no snow! No ice! And not a puddle in sight! In fact the conditions could not have been more perfect, with even some sunshine thrown in! The day started quite slow as I let nerves get the better of me in the very competitive championship class. After the first special test I was 16th overall. This wasn't where I wanted to be but my time wasn't that far off the front runners so I kept confidence for a good result; I was very pleased to get that one out the way. As usual the Diss Motorcycle Club had marked an awesome course and special test, and it was cutting out just how I like it, very fast and whooped out with lots of nice berms to turn on. So my second special test was faster, and posted the 12th fastest time, and 3rd in the E2 class - and very close to the riders in front. Then it was time to head into the woods for four more laps of the 20-mile track. I hadn't paid much attention to the lap times but knowing they got tighter and tighter and knowing that I was very fit, I thought I would put my fitness to the test and basically rode the next four laps at full pace. Great fun and I had no real problems except one close encounter with a tree at high speed, where a solid sawn off branch caught my helmet and cut my face. My face went totally numb and I felt blood dripping off my chin, but after checking at the pit area it turned out to be only a couple of scratches. The CRF made very light work of the sandy conditions, I absolutely loved it. At the final check I arrived with two minutes in hand where most riders had to go straight through.
Butterflies kicked into touch, I'm looking forward to round two in Scotland at the end of March. Kiwi Many thanks to Paul and Joey at PAR Homes Honda, my pit crew and of course all my other sponsors...... Ribco racing, EMG Ford, O'Neal, Cti, Reef, Smith Goggles, Rock Oil, UFO, Pro Clean, Renthal, Fro, Dr Shox, Rock Star Energy Drink. RESULTS Round 1 2008 BEC Muntjack Enduro E2 (450cc four-stroke and 250cc two-stroke) 1 Si Wakely Husqvarna 450 2 Greg Evans KTM 250 3 Chris Hockey Par Homes Honda CRF300 4 Kev Murray Yamaha 250 5 Tim Forman Kawasaki 250
Chris Hockey is one of Britain's top enduro racers, having won three ISDE gold medals (France 2001 Czech Republic 2002 and New Zealand 2006) and is a former British Clubmans and British Expert Enduro Champion. In 2003 he was runner-up in the 400 four-stroke championship class and in 2004 he was third in the 250 two-stroke. He is also a former winner of the gruelling Dawn til Dusk 12-hour enduro. In 2006 he is a member of the Husqvarna UK 'Husky Sport' national race team competing in the Championship E1 class on a TE250 four-stroke. Chris is also MotoX magazine's enduro tester where as well as authoring monthly enduro tests he also writes the very popular 'Top Tips' and is the inventor of the infamous 'Kiwi's Endurometer' (patent pending). EnduroTech was set-up by Chris to meet the need for specialist enduro suspension tuning and servicing in the UK. Chris is a qualified Marzocchi service engineer, but also has a vast knowledge on other suspensions brands including Showa, Kayaba and WP. His excellent understanding of the mechanics of suspension has led to requests for him to work on other motorcycle suspension, including desert rally bikes, motocrossers and supermotards (supermotos). His services are retained by the official Husqvarna and Yamaha British Enduro teams. Some recent events
2007 British Enduro Championship 2006 Tunstall - Premier 2006 BEC Brandon - E1 winner
The lap was approximately 7 mins long & the top riders managed to accumulate 32 / 33 laps during the 2 hour session in the morning. The course was reversed for the 2 hour session in the afternoon. Although Elliot (right) beat Chris by 10 seconds on the one whole lap timed test Chris managed to win the day by beating Elliot by 1/6th of a lap including all the time penalties. Chris and Elliot also managed to beat all 2 man teams in the process. Results Photo by Grud
|
After
overnight rain the course was in superb condition for day two, and this
meant no more air filter changing too! Oh, and more grip. But then at
the end of the first lap the heavens opened and the rain just kept
coming. This made the hard pack trails and tests very very slippery.
This was dangerous, but I did prefer it to the dust, and with no pain
coming from my knee and with no dust I was able to give the tests a much
better go and so was much happier with the my times. My only problem
coming in the final test where I stalled the bike - but the Yamaha fired
up straight away to minimize the damage. I finished the day 15th and
much closer to the guys in front.
"I
got a bit of arm pump a couple of laps before my first stop but after my
stop I was able to push hard and open up the lead again. By my second
fuel stop I had a 2min lead on Harvey with James Yearly on his BMW 450
now in third ahead of Braddock. I stopped half an hour from the end for
a splash and dash and took the win with over a three minute lead, Julian
Harvey came home the only other rider to complete 23 laps, in third was
James Yearley the only rider to complete 22 laps. I had no problems
during the race, I really got to enjoy the ride and my Yamaha was, as
you can imagine, awesome."
Chris
Hockey PAR Homes Honda Race Report 2008 Metzeler British Enduro
Championship E2 Class - Honda CRF300
For
the final go at the special test I was very relaxed and ready to give it
everything I had and it went perfectly for me, hitting all the corners
right with great speed in the straights. I was hoping for a blisteringly
fast time but it wasn't quite as good as I hoped. Good enough to secure
that final podium spot in E2 though.
Name
Chris Hockey
Kiwi
wins Ironman
ISDE team member Chris Hockey (pictured left on a Husky
Sport Husqvarna TE
310) decided to enter a local race last weekend in the Iron man class as part
of his fitness preparation for the fast approaching 6 days, The race -
organised by Stowmarket MCC - was in Kenton & was part of the East Anglian
2 Man Enduro Championship. Chris' main competition would come from local
British & World MX2 Championship Moto X rider Elliot Banks Brown (Swift
Suzuki Team) who also decided to have a blast.