Dougan column: Fired up for 2006.

In the first edition of what will be a regular Crash.net column by rising motocross star Jason Dougan, the young Brit reviews his pre-season racing activities - then the opening rounds of the 2006 British and World Championships...

For those of you who don't know much about me, I'm nineteen and competing in both the British and World Motocross Championships, riding in the MX2 class on a 250cc 4-stroke for RWJ Honda Racing.

I started riding motocross at the age of three and have worked my way up through the competitive racing ranks, on the British and International scenes, since I was nine. I won't bore you with my life history in this column, but if you'd like to know more I've included a few personal details and a brief career summary at the end of this column!

Anyway, I am totally fired up for this season and have had a pretty good start to the year so far.

My season began with a non-championship International race in France, which was close to where we had been testing the week before. I qualified in twelfth and was the top Brit, which felt really good at being ahead of some current and former World Champions.

I had a really good start in the first race and got up to second, but then on one of the corners I got on the throttle a bit too soon and it was game over for that race unfortunately and I injured my back. I was adamant I wanted to compete in the second race though and adrenaline overtook my back pain to enable me to hold a solid eighth position for the majority of the race. But on the penultimate lap, my back was feeling very stiff and achy and I couldn't hold off the guy behind me any more, so I had to settle for ninth.

I've never ridden in such freezing and snowy conditions as we had at the next International event at the legendary Hawkstone Park in early March, so that was an experience. My bike set-up was great and it handled really well all weekend, so it felt good to get a seventh placed finish in the first race. The second race didn't go quite as I'd hoped though as I crashed out on the sixth lap whilst running in eighteenth, although I had managed to fight my way back from 37th after a first lap incident!

The following weekend was the first round of the British MX Championship at Lyng in Norfolk and I had a top three finish in sight when my bike developed a gearbox problem in race one so I had to retire. Then in race two I experienced suspension issues which gave me massive arm pump and I dropped down the field from third to sixth. I was gutted to lose my third but was determined to finish the race in a top ten position, so at least achieved that.

And I was absolutely pumped to get two race wins the next weekend at a British Masters round at Culham in Oxford, which I entered for practice as much as anything. It was a great feeling to take the double and also to beat the current British Masters Champion, Brad Anderson, with over a twenty-second lead in both races.

Having the next weekend off was a welcome break and I headed back 'home' to Portsmouth, for a weekend with my family, friends and own bed as, since the end of January, I've either been away racing or pretty much based up in Bury St Edmunds near the team, so that I can spend as much time as possible with my mechanic and going out practising. I'm certainly becoming very well acquainted with my motorhome that's for sure!

I was both excited and nervous about the opening round of the World Championship a few weeks ago at the GP of Flanders in Belgium. That track has never been a good one for me and it was pretty hard going in the deep sand and also as the track was quite rough. I was happy with how things went during free practice but during the heat race, to qualify for Sunday's races, I crashed and struggled to re-start my bike. I could feel my frustration level soaring but was able to claw things back in the 'last chance' qualifying - where only the top six riders get to go through - and I got fourth, which was mega.

Race one wasn't great as I didn't ride well at all and couldn't get into a rhythm, so finished in a crap 28th place. I was really tense, partly because of nerves because I was over eager to do well with it being the first GP of the season, and also partly because I had a mental block from my past results at that track.

Race two started out well and I was holding a good points scoring position in fifteenth, when I got my ankle caught in a rut and twisted it, so couldn't attack the track or make the jumps as well and lost a lot of time, so finished in twentieth but collected the last point. The positive thing from that weekend though is that I've not managed to qualify or score points there before, but did this time (albeit only one point I know!), so that's a small demon put to rest.

Next stop was Canada Heights in Kent, last weekend, for the second round of the British Championship. I was really ill last week with tonsillitis, sickness and a high temperature, so wasn't feeling anywhere even average form when I arrived at the track on Saturday! Despite feeling quite weak, I gave it everything I had and had a blinding qualifying and qualified just four hundredths of a second off pole, in third.

I gated badly in race one and was lying in 34th on the first lap, but there was no way I was going to be satisfied with another weekend being out of the top ten, so I just got my head down, rode the pants off the bike and climbed my way back up to finish in seventh. I got a better start in race two, but it was a similar situation to race one and I was 24th at the end of the first lap, but battled back to finish eighth in that race, and seventh overall. But what with not feeling well, I found the second race in particular really tough, and I threw up and collapsed when I got off the bike! Nice eh!

In between every race weekend so far this year, I've been out running and training every day and have also been riding and practising two or three times each week as well, so it's been pretty full on. But there's no doubt I can feel and see the benefits of that at every race weekend.

And the rest of this season is set to be equally as action packed, with fourteen GPs, six British rounds and one International race still to come - the next ones being back-to-back GPs in Spain and Portugal over the next two weekends.

I'm more motivated and focused than ever this year, so hopefully we can really build on the good progress we've made over the first few rounds. I'm riding a great bike with a good team behind me and my aim this year is to finish in the top three in the British Championship and top fifteen in the World Championship, so watch this space!

Until next time...

Dougie

Jason Dougan - personal information:

DOB: 26 February 1987Lives: Portsmouth, Hampshire, EnglandHeight: 5' 7"Weight: 69 kgEyes: Murky duck pond (greeny brown)Hair: Brown (with blond bits)Hobbies: Mini biking, motocrossing and BMXingRace Number: 46

Jason Dougan - career summary:

2006: World MX2 Championship and British MX Championship. (RWJ Honda Racing - 250cc 4-stroke).

2005: 7th in British MX Championship and 29th in World MX2 Championship. 1st in Kendall Hall Trophy annual race competing against the top MX1 and MX2 riders in the world. (Motovision Suzuki - 250cc 4-stroke).

2004: World MX2 Championship and British MX Championship. Only competed in a few rounds - season marred by a right ankle break injury at the end of 2003. (RTT Honda - 250cc 4-stroke).

2003: 4th in British MX Championship. Was battling for second in the championship at the final round when a crash with another rider, also racing for 2nd, broke Jason's ankle and relegated him to 4th overall. Two 2nd place MX2 race finishes at Culham - coupled with an 11th place finish in the weekend's grand finale of top MX1 and MX2 riders - made Jason the youngest ever winner of an overall British Championship race weekend. Second in Under 21s British Championship - missed out on championship victory by 1 point as unable to compete in final round due to a broken ankle.

2002: British MX Championship (Dixon Yamaha - YZ 250cc 4-stroke). Season marred by injuries, including a broken right collarbone at the start of the season followed by two dislocated shoulders in the June and September.

2001: 4th - French MX Championship (85cc Honda).

2000: 1st - National Britannia (North France) MX Championship (85cc Honda).

1998-99: Competed in local races in Northern France on a Yamaha small wheel 80cc.

1997: 6th - BYMX (British Youth Motocross Championship) (Kawasaki KX60).

1996: Began competitive MX racing at local club level with the Portsmouth Schoolboy Scramble Club on a Kawasaki KX60