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Round 13
29 September 2002
Donington Park
I went into this last round of the season knowing I had already finished 4th in the championship. This gave me that extra erg to get on the podium one last time. Qualifying 4th this time, with Sykes on pole, Jones 2nd and Buckingham 3rd, I knew they were all up to the task. I wanted to help my team mate Tom in his bid to win the championship ahead of Jones but I also wanted to ride my own race.
Getting off the line with Sykes and Jones was great. Buckingham came past on the first lap and I was just happy to sit and wait behind them all. On lap 8, Buckingham missed a gear coming onto the straight and I had to back off. This gave Sykes and Jones a two second lead over me and Buckingham. It was the same story as at Mallory when I had to make up the time and managed to shred the rear tyre. I pulled a massive gap on Buckingham and he eventually pulled out through mechanical problems. The last lap came and Sykes and Jones were still shoulder to shoulder, and I was riding a very lonely race 10 seconds behind them. I crossed the finish line in 3rd place doing a massive stand up wheelie. A bit of fun between Sykes and I on the slowing down lap showed everyone that we were pleased with a great seasons work.
Tom took the win, which meant he and Craig were on equal points which meant that the officials calculated the total number of wins for each rider. Craig had more race wins and therefore took the championship. Tom Sykes' appeal regarding the Cadwell Park incident was still pending at this point. The championship depended on the outcome of the hearing. |
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