The track at Rayong was a combination of a tight top section with switchbacks and off camber sections with a bottom jump section to the finish line. They are good at building bmx tracks round those parts and it showed in the bottom section, big jumps, nice lips and landings, nice to see such calibre of jumps. Me and Aaron had some trouble during practice, our 787mm deity black label bars a bit too wide for the top section and both of us ended up clipping the same tree. I got off quite lucky but Aaron had injured his shoulder quite badly. I also managed to case a double quite badly during practice and aggravating an old injury I was carrying. A quick call home to our trusty team doctor and we were given strict orders to get on the Voltaren, icing the affected areas and manning the f#^k up. Yes, those were pretty much what we were told to do word for word.
Race day came by, Aaron was still quite badly affected by his shoulder injury and unable to lift his arm. He still decided to race as it would be a shame not to after traveling all the way there. A clean but safe run down, unable to push hard with only work working arm though, keeping in mind that we were racing again the following weekend. I tried to push hard but only managed 5th in the end, what can I say, the Thai elite riders are fast. No surprise that the winner of the day was Goldenboy, winning pretty much every single race this year, DH and bmx.
Back to Malaysia and the few days free before heading down to Putrajaya were spent at the physio, I wont lie, it hurt a lot and I may or may not have screamed like a little girl at times. I got electrocuted, pulled apart and had my ass fondled by some lovely ladies. Still feeling quite sore and in a slight amount of pain I headed down to Putrajaya.
Picture by Tan Hong Chun's THC Racing
The track this race didn't have any PCP staff signature obstacles this time, just the unadulterated goodness that Didi intended it to be. The track was extremely dry all weekend, proving to be quite a challenge for many, caught out quite a few riders. Worth noting that the race was the biggest in Malaysia to date, attracting just over 150 riders. Dh is dead, long live dh. Quite amusing that the main sponsor for the race was Tissot but timing was done by Seiko, I don't think I've been to a PCP race with the same timer. Shimano, race boy, dirt traction and now Seiko.
Dim lights
Video of Ian Chin chasing Adam. Video courtesy of Ian Chin.
Being the biggest race in Malaysia, it also became the biggest wait in Malaysia, race organisers really need to start using 30 second intervals. It makes it far more interesting for spectators as it almost becomes non stop action and it makes seeding far more important so you don't get caught behind a slow rider in finals. Seeding started at 9.30am and elites came down at 12.30pm, finals started at 2.30pm and elites came down just after half past 5. It almost became a game of who could stay hydrated and cool for 3 hours, I even managed time to sleep before finals.
Racing it self was pretty straight forward, everything came easy and practice on Friday with Ian Chin helped loads in identifying where I was loosing time. Cheers buddy! Managed to get the turns good, carry good speed and pedal hard to insure you flat land all the jumps. Ended up seeding first which was a huge surprise to me more than anyone else. Kept it calm and managed push a bit harder in the finals to back it up again. Surprise result for the day really has to go to Aim, but then again is it really a surprise as he is now a bmx specialist and the pcp track is basically a bmx track with some bumps in it. Hong Chun rounding up the top 3 and Aaron coming in 4th. Two DVteq Fakawi riders on the elite podium! Booyah!
Official Time keeper did not have time to type in the names and teams of racers? More RESULTS HERE
-Adam
