Coxhell takes out 2009 privateer championship during an action packed weekend
Team CJC – Bisley Workwear’s impressive and ever-improving form continued this weekend for the penultimate round of the Woodstock Bourbon Australian Superbikes, supporting the Iveco Australian MotoGP races at Phillip Island.
After missing out on a front row start on Friday’s qualifying by .01 of second, Craig Coxhell took a stunning third place in the opening stanza of the weekend, beating home reigning champion and current championship leader Glenn Allerton in a blisteringly fast race. The pace of the local superbike riders was such that their lap times would have put them well inside the top 10 in the MotoGP field – a remarkable effort. Even more impressive considering that Craig is on a privateer bike, with six of the eight factory riders behind him.
The second bout saw a ‘cannonball of old’ style start and jump to second place early in the race and after another intense battle, this time it was Allerton who got the better of Craig in the race for third. Fourth place did however secure the privateer championship for Coxhell and the CJC – Bisley Workwear team.
Race three on Sunday morning saw another titanic battle. In possibly the closest racing seen this year the top 5 of Maxwell, Waters, Allerton, Coxhell and US AMA Superbike regular Jake Holden went bar to bar for the most of the 8 lap race before Holden dropped off leaving the 4 Aussies to take the fight to the line, finishing with less than a second between 1st and 4th.
The fourth and final race of the event looked set to continue the impressive weekend for the team with Craig fighting for 2nd position before a spectacular highside on lap two which ended with the former Aussie champ’s Honda Fireblade landing on top of him before cart wheeling end over end. Trackside and TV footage later replayed, showed Coxhell lose the rear end and hold it spectacularly sideways – speedway style until it finally bucked him off. Craig remained conscious and was airlifted to the Alfred where initial scans show no internal bleeding or breaks. It seems they breed them tough in Shepparton.
Crew Chief Rob Coxhell:
‘Firstly I want to thank the trackside medical staff for getting to the scene so quickly and giving Craig the world class expert medical care we’ve come to expect. I’m sure I speak for all racers, team members and family members when I say that its reassuring to know we have to best in our corners when our riders put themselves on the line. Craig has had the results back from some early scans and it all looks pretty good. He’s banged up as you’d expect, the bike came down on his lower left ribs, but it would seem at this point that there is thankfully nothing major to report.’
‘We also managed to win the privateer title earlier this weekend and I want to thank everyone of our extended team members who has helped make that possible. Without the help of all of our sponsors, supporters and fans it simply wouldn’t have happened. Obviously Bisley Workwear has been pivotal and we look forward to an ongoing relationship with them and all of our supporters, including Wurth, Metabo, Jeffrey Honda, Bell Real Estate and V3 Design. I want to congratulate Craig and our crew, Geoff, James, Ben, Wayne, Troy and of course Gayle, Anna and Jess. It’s been a hell of a first year. Let’s hope we can continue our form at the final round in late November and into next year.’