CJC – Bisley Racing end the year with another win
The 2009 privateer champion Craig Coxhell finished the season with another victory in his final track outing of the year in what has been an impressive debut season for the new team. Following the spectacular crash at Phillip Island during the previous round of the Woodstock Bourbon Australian Superbikes Championship, Craig was only able to step back onto a bike last weekend where he rode alongside Russell Holland and Gareth Jones, taking a solid victory for the Demolition Plus team in the 6hour endurance race at Oran Park.
Craig Coxhell:
‘Not the most conventional recovery for sure! I wasn’t sure how I was going to go last weekend but I needed to get back on a bike and when Demolition Plus’s Richard Perry asked me to ride for him I thought it would be a good way to try and get back to race fitness. I didn’t figure on it being 40 degrees for the race, but we still managed to keep it together and take the win which was great to be a part of.’
Craig had spent the entire lead up recuperating from the crash that saw him break some ribs while the team spent the time putting the bike back together for the final round of the ASBK series.
Crew Chief Rob Coxhell:
‘We got out of that crash better than we expected to be honest, both with Craig and the bike – however when we were went out on the bike on Friday we soon realised there was some fine tuning we need to do to get the bike right again after the rebuild. Ultimately we didn’t get it back to the pace we had run at the previous round, but we performed well again and I’m really pleased with the way the year went’.
Craig Coxhell:
‘We picked up a 5th in race one and were looking good again for 5th in race two until I out braked myself battling with Dan and Kev into turn 4. I lost the rear and had to pick it up and run straight which put me back to 14th or something. From there I was able to claw back up to 10th in the remaining laps and I think I still held onto 6th overall in the championship. So although I’m annoyed at myself right now for not finishing better in race 2 I have to look at the overall result and winning the privateer championship and 6th overall is a pretty awesome effort for a brand new team. To top that off we had the Harvie Wiltshire Memorial race to end the day and I was able to take the win there as well in front of a Shannon and Krusty. It was good to see Adam back on a bike again and a great way to finish the year.
Congratulations to Josh and team Joe Rocket Suzuki. He’s ridden so well this year and now has the title under his belt to show for it. That the top step of the championship was still being fought between three riders on the last day of the last round shows just how competitive this series is and is why we all love doing what we do.
It’s been one hell of a year and we need to thank the people who have made it possible. Bisley Workwear first and foremost, who have been nothing short of incredible this year and as always we’re very proud to wear Bisley. But we need to mention our other sponsors and supporters as well, Shepparton Motor Body Builders, Wurth, Metabo, Bell Real Estate, V3 Design, AGV, Dainese, Akrapovic, Sportsbike Tyre Warmers – the list goes on.
Which brings me to the team. To Rob, Geoff, James, Troy, Wayne, Ben, and of course Gayle, Dianne, Anna and Jess – my heartfelt thanks and gratitude for all of your efforts this year; We’ve had a awesome year and it has genuinely been a pleasure to work with all of you. Without everyone’s help this year would simply not have happened.’
Craig and the team now look forward to next year.
You can keep track of the team’s progress for the 2010 season right here on www.cjcracing.com.au
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 3rd place in race 1 of the weekend, beating home reigning champion and current championship leader Glenn Allerton, behind Wayne Maxwell and Josh Waters in a blisteringly fast race. In fact 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 6 of the 8 factory riders behind him.
Race 2 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 the race for third, however the 4th place secured the privateer championship for Coxhell and the CJC – Bisley Workwear team.
Race 3 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 going 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.
Race 4 looked set to continue the impressive weekend for the team with Craig fighting for 2nd position before a spectacular highside on lap 2 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.’
Coxhell delivers first win for CJC – Bisley in tricky conditions
Against the odds, CJC – Bisley Workwear’s Craig Coxhell thrilled the combined V8 Supercars L&H 500 / Insure My Ride Australian Superbike Open crowd by taking his Honda to victory in spectacular fashion. The come from behind win in race 2 at Phillip Island this weekend was the first win for the team and secured an overall 3rd for the weekend and top privateer.
With the field starting on slicks for the 10 lap race, Coxhell made his move mid race after a shower swept across the track, pushing hard from 5th to 1st position in an amazing lap and a half, sliding past his factory backed rivals for a crowd pleasing win in the treacherous conditions.
Craig Coxhell
“I was riding by feel rather than looking at the surface! It was pretty slippery out there we were sliding around everywhere. Everyone slowed down when the rain came, but I just kept my head down and bum up. I’m really happy for the team, we don’t have the resources of some of the other guys and I’m stoked to be able to give our sponsors their first win and repay their faith. Huge thanks to everyone behind us, particularly the folks at Bisley for their ongoing support and encouragement, I hope they enjoy this as much as we did!”
Earlier in the weekend Craig had literally wrestled the bike home to sixth place in the first race after having a rear tyre self-destruct.
“We were struggling chasing a good setup in the dry here this weekend, so the decision was made to try a new and relatively untested tyre. In theory it was worth a shot but as it turned out it had less grip and then threw itself to pieces at about half race distance. Made for some pretty spectacular TV shots I’m told, but it didn’t do what we’d hoped obviously. We’ll need to do some more work down here testing before we’re back for the next ASBK round’
Crew Chief – Rob Coxhell:
“What a race – that makes all the efforts worthwhile! It was pretty humbling to see Craig out there riding like that, we’re just so proud of the team. To cap off the weekend with our first win here was just fantastic. We’ve really enjoyed being amongst the V8s here this weekend, quite a few of the V8 teams are customers of ours at Shepp Motor Bodies and it was nice to show them first hand what we can do on two wheels. From all the feedback we had from the crowd they were really into it – I think both the V8 supporters and superbike supporters like to see the underdog getup and take it to the factory teams, so we made a lot of people happy today.”
AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE OPEN, PHILLIP ISLAND GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT (IN CONJUNCTION WITH V8 SUPERCARS L&H 500)
SUPERBIKE RACE ONE (10 laps)
1 Wayne Maxwell (Vic), Honda 15:44.1230
2 Josh Waters (Vic), Suzuki
3 Shannon Johnson (Vic), Honda
4 Shawn Giles (NSW), Suzuki
5 Glenn Allerton (NSW), Honda
6 Craig Coxhell (Vic), Honda
SUPERBIKE RACE TWO (10 laps)
1 Craig Coxhell (Vic), Honda 16:10.2690
2 Josh Waters (Vic), Suzuki
3 Wayne Maxwell (Vic), Honda
4 Shannon Johnson (Vic), Honda
5 Shawn Giles (NSW), Suzuki
6 Glenn Allerton (NSW), Honda
Overall Points:
1 Wayne Maxwell 45pts;
2 Josh Waters 44;
3 Craig Coxhell 40;
4 Shannon Johnson 38;
5 Shawn Giles 34;
6 Glenn Allerton 31;
