Hanson: A surprise and surprised winner

1:26pm Friday 2nd May 2008

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GREG Hanson waited his whole career to win a World Championship race, and then missed it when it finally happened.

The Wycombe motocross ace was making his debut in the Veterans World Championship in Spain.

But after watching two rivals fizz past him when he stalled early on, he didn't notice either of them stuck in the mud later in the race and thought he was still third when he crossed the line.

The 44-year-old said: "Most of the crowd were on their feet and cheering, but I thought it was just because I'd brought the bike home in difficult conditions.

"I didn't even realise it when they took the last lap board down and gave me the checkered flag.

"I was still in race mode and didn't think anything of it. It wasn't until a photographer said nice win' that I realised."

And then the floodgates opened.

Hanson said: "I couldn't take it all in. My whole career flashed before my eyes and it was a bit too much for me. I just welled up.

"My wife and two daughters were there and it was fantastic to win in front of them and show them what Dad used to do."

Hanson had another reason to celebrate. In 1989 he signed with CCM Racing, promptly broke his femur and was out for ten months.

They stuck by him though and the following season he led them to their one and only British Championship.

In January this year the relationship was rekindled when CCM asked Hanson to test ride their new MX450 bike. That led to another contract and Hanson has delivered again with the team's first World Championship win.

He said: "My first season with CCM was cut short by injuries.

"But the following year I won the first round of the British Fourstroke Championship and winning in Spain recently reminds me so much of that day.

"The odds were stacked against me after all the injuries sustained from the previous season, but I came through and got the job done.

"I experienced the same sort of emotion then as I did in Spain, riding for the same manufacturer 18 years down the line.

"I guess it's quite a story when you think of it like that."

Hanson had to settle for 15th in the second race, after heavy rain made the track unpassable and the race was abandoned with positions after the first lap counting. It did not suit Hanson, who had fallen at the first turn.

He is still fifth overall though, with the second round in Mallory in the first week of June.

He said: "My personal goal is to win both races at Mallory. It would mean so much to me to do it on home soil and for me and the team, it can't come soon enough."

Hanson is team manager of Hanson Racing in Wycombe, which focusses on youth development.

He was competing in Cornwall at the weekend but was rocked on his return by news of a fatal accident involving 17-year-old Grant Benford from Bracknell.

The teenager died while using the practice track at Hanson's Z Racing club in Heath End Road, Flackwell Heath.