Anya Colley - British Limited Jet Ski Champion
I have become the British Limited Jet Ski Champion and runner up in the top class GP.
Last week I got my GCSE exam results and I am pleased to say that all my hard work payed off for me as I earned myself 12 GCSE A* to C grades which is just great news – a big relief!
In the European Championship I am currently in second place just 9 points behind Lisa Barsby – the current Pro Ladies World Champion but Julie Buteau (the current European Champion) is just 9 points behind me in 3rd place – so it’s a very tight close championship with the final in Cavalaire, France on September 19th to 21st. This is just before the World Finals in Havasu, USA which begin on October 4th – phew!
I am also trying to go to the King’s cup in Thailand at the beginning of December but it depends on the costing of this.
Below are my outstanding race reports to you…….
FFM Championship held in Couture, France Aug 30th & 31st 2008
This weekend I asked Mum and Dad if I could also compete in the GP class and they said OK! Originally my racing was spaced out between Saturday and Sunday but unfortunately due to an accident in the first ladies moto racing was halted earlier than planned on Saturday which meant that I had 2 ladies motos, timed trials and two GP races all on Sunday and my GP race was 15 minutes and immediately after that I had a twelve minute ladies moto. It was a good test for my fitness!
In the ladies I won the timed trials and got good starts on both my motos and took the lead on the holeshot and fortunately I stayed there throughout both motos. I would like to wish Mannon and Yuki a good recovery after they were involved in an incident on the holeshot in moto one (which was immediately red flagged and racing stopped for the day). I am happy to say that after an overnight stay in hospital they both returned to the race site and although they look sore they are both going to be ok thank goodness so get well soon girls – Girl Power!
Ski GP – well it was a tough line up with many of the Worlds top riders there for example Mica, Jeremy and Morgan Poret, Brice Lopez, Christopher, Botti, Zappata etc…. but I thought it would be good experience for me so I gave it a go. I finished 8th in the timed trials which then means the top ten do a timed super pole race – oh no me on the water on my own with everyone watching – my absolute dread and nightmare but I know I have to overcome this fear so now is the time to start and practice. I was very nervous and didn’t do too good finishing 9th I think but it was good for the experience – congratulations to Mica who took the win. In Moto one I didn’t get the best start but I gave it my best shot and I knew Mica was behind me pushing, pushing, pushing. I finished 6th in the end and enjoyed every minute of it. In moto two I really wanted to give it a good shot on the start – I knew they would all go by me but I just wanted to see where I could get for myself but again I didn’t get too good a start – gee the BOYS are fast out of the gate!!! There was a big bunch of us through the splitter holeshot and I just hit one of the wakes wrong and took a swim but I wasn’t going to give up and I chased the pack for the whole moto. I really enjoyed it (don’t think my mum was too keen though!). Congratulations to Botti, Lopez and Poret on their Podium finish. Thanks guys for a great race – I really enjoyed it. Thanks Thierry also for giving me enough time to refuel my ski after GP for the ladies race.
I had a really nice weekend and thanks again to my sponsors.
EJSBA Rd 3 held in Belgium on Aug 22 to 24th 2008
My Mum and Dad left for the race before me as I wanted to go to school to collect my long awaited exam results which were available only on the Thursday 21st Aug so Alex Fielder very kindly offered to bring me (not sure he knew what he was letting himself in for though!!). At the time I knew I would either be very happy so drive Alex crazier than usual or very down and be really miserable! I knew I had worked hard and had done my best in all my subjects so what was to be was to be.
Fortunately I was very very pleased with my results as I got 12 GCSE’S all A* to C grades, I really couldn’t have wished for more – my only two C grades were in the subjects I found most difficult Physics and Chemistry and I was pleased to get C grades in them to be honest.
Ok back to the serious stuff for me now – RACING!
The venue was a little like Wales but on a hill and unfortunately the weather was similar to Britain!
Moto 1 - I went on pole outside holeshot and had a brilliant start (which is unusual for me). Julie got the inside holeshot and took the lead and I took second. Throughout the race I kept taking the opposite splitter and I nearly piped Julie to 1st place twice but I just couldn’t manage to take the lead. I kept on trying but as the course was so big – just over 2 mins it meant we only did about 5 laps so I didn’t get as many chances as normal to try and take her through the splitters. So Julie took 1st, I finished 2nd and Lisa 3rd. It was a really good race and I enjoyed it. I also took the fastest lap time.
Moto 2 - Julie went pole inside holeshot and this time I decided to go next to her. Again I got a fast start and took the inside holeshot, Lisa got the outside holeshot but I took the lead with Lisa in 2nd and Julie in 3rd and this is how it stayed throughout the race. It was a hard race as I knew Lisa was really on my tail and I just couldn’t make one mistake.
Moto 3 - going into this moto any one of us (Myself, Julie or Lisa) could take 1st overall on the weekend it was so close – like a re-run of Portugal. So this time I was on pole inside, Lisa went on the outside along with Julie. I got a good start again and took the inside holeshot and Lisa got the outside holeshot. Lisa took the lead I was in second and Julie in 3rd. The top 3 positions stayed the same throughout the race. This meant I won overall on the weekend – my first European Round Win. So what with my exam results and good racing it was a great weekend for me. The one thing I really liked about the racing at the weekend was that all the top 3 riders – Lisa, Julie and I all won a moto each and it was tight on the points.
Thanks to everyone for this weekend – ALL OF MY SPONSORS, everyone at EJSBA and all the racers and thanks Alex for bringing me and to the Bushell family for my exam PINK Champagne. A massive THANK YOU to my Mum and Dad for all their support with everything.
My next race is in France this weekend in the FFM Championship followed by the final round of the British Championship at WillenLakes on September 6th & 7th.
British Championship Rd 5 at Nitrojet on Aug 16th & 17th 2008.
Well after a fun GIRL POWER week with everyone and with thanks to Nikki and Paul at Nitrojet it was time for Round 5 already.
SKI LTD
As you know this is my main class and the one I am concentrating on trying to take the title from my good friend Jason Young (Sorry Jas!). At this round former World Champion Lewis Goodchild was on his dad’s HSR so I knew I had to really concentrate and ride my best if I was to increase my point difference – I am always aware that anything can happen and that you can loose a championship by just one point so every moto counts! Well I got off to a great start and led moto one from start to finish so that was the best result I could have had. In moto two my ski had started to complain a little in ski GP but dad couldn’t see anything obvious so rather than ride my back up we decided to continue with my race boat. Graham got a flying starting and so I had a real battle on my hands as I really needed to beat Graham if I was serious about trying to win the Ltd title. My ski just wasn’t right but I knew there was nothing I could do about it so just had to ride it hard and hope it held out. Every lap was a challenge as Lewis was very close behind me and took the opposite splitter every time so knew I couldn’t make one mistake as he was right on my tail and would take second place from me. I just couldn’t make anytime up on Graham either until he took the opposite splitter for some reason so I nipped onto the opposite splitter to him and luckily for me it worked in my favour and I took him. So that gave me two firsts so I couldn’t have asked for more.
SKI GP
Well this was a real mish mash this weekend, with bad luck for some riders, lots of changes in positions etc. Also Renault and Marina Urbain had come over from Belgium to ride their FZ’s which made it an even more exciting to watch and to compete in.
I didn’t have my best moto’s though and then in the final moto my ski finally threw a real wobbler and so I pulled off the track for my dad to check I as I didn’t want to do further damage by continuing to race. Dad gave it a quick check over and gave me the ok to continue even though it wasn’t running well at all but I knew I needed to get some points if I could as I am currently in 3rd place overall in GP.
So a good result for me in Ski Ltd but not so good in Ski GP.
Sorry dad as you might have a busy week checking out my ski now in time for my next race this weekend in Belgium in the EJSBA Championship – after I get my exam results that is!!! Thanks once again to all my Sponsors who are very important to me.
Round Four, British Championship 2008
This weekend was round 4 in the British Championships and it was held at Nitrojet in Oxford. It was really nice to meet up with everyone and on Friday I helped the JSRA set up and on Friday evening everyone gathered together for a catch up which was fun.
SKI GP - Moto 1- I got out of the gate on time but went on to have a bad start as I think something went up my pump and it just spun up so I came out in 5th. I thought I best do something about that!!! I went on to take Lee Wheeler on the straight on the 2nd lap. I took the blue splitter and Graham Leech took the green splitter, I came out in front of Graham so I was now in 3rd. On the 3rd lap I started to chase Jason Young in 2nd, he took the green splitter and I took the blue and I got 2nd place. So my target was now to chase Simon Gill in 1st again Simon took green and I took blue and unbelievably I came out in front of Simon and went on to take 1st - I couldn’t believe it.
Moto 2- I got a little pushed out on the start and had to go really wide which meant I ended up in 4th. I managed to take Jason Young in the splitters to get myself into 3rd. I started to chase Simon Gill in 2nd & Lisa Barsby in 1st but the results stayed the same for the top three. Simon got very close to Lisa on the last few buoys but Lisa held onto her 1st place.
Moto 3- I got a much better start this time and didn’t take any pushing I came out in 3rd with Jason in 2nd and Simon in 1st. We were all chasing hard for the win, but as Jason went into the splitters he took a dive at the master card buoy so I took 2nd place and started to charge for Simon Gill. I kept taking green and Simon was taking blue and until the 2nd to last lap I was just gradually getting closer and then managed to just get into 1st with one lap to go. Unfortunately for a couple of my friends they had promised that if I won Ski GP they would pull mooneys for me on the last lap and they stuck to their promise and showed me their white bums. It was hilarious, I was just laughing my head off as I came to the finish line and it added a lot of fun into the racing, Thanks you two!
A big Thank you to all my sponsors who make my racing possible.
SKI LTD
Ski Ltd is my main class.
Moto 1- I got a good start in this first moto and came out in 2nd behind Lisa Barsby. Lisa was riding excellent – like she is always does and Lisa also makes very very few mistakes so I knew I just had to keep up as close as I could to her and I kept taking the opposite splitter but I couldn’t make up much time, then when Lisa was coming out of the green split and I could see her just I was coming out of the blue split and I saw her just make a little mistake so I chased hard and managed to take the lead.
Moto 2- This moto is usually 10 mins +1 lap but as we were running a little late today we only had 8 mins + 1 lap. This time I got a good start but being stupid I let go of my trim too early and jumped letting Graham catch up with me. All the way around the outside hole shot Graham and I were neck and neck but I took it too wide so Graham managed to pip me on the hole shot. As we came to the splitters I took the opposite to Graham and took him to take 2nd place. Then I had the challenge again of trying to catch up with Lisa Barsby – the current ladies Pro World Champion I managed to close the gap to 3 seconds but I didn’t get close enough to take her. Well done Lisa and it was Girl Power – Lisa and I were on equal points 113 but Lisa took the overall win on the day in Ski Ltd and I won Ski GP overall on the weekend. So a good Girl Power weekend.
I had a good weekend this weekend both racing and off the race track and I hope we are going to have a good Girl Power week this week at Oxford too especially the Girls that ride day on Tuesday.
Thank you to everyone at the JSRA for all their hard work and to my sponsors who without I wouldn’t be able to do all the racing I do.
Jim we hope your leg gets better soon. Happy Birthday to Mr Bushell too.