2002 Year Review
Best Racers of 2002? – Part 2
Rob / 07.01.2003
Nicky Davies – A Winning Streak
Nicky started the year with a win at the Indoor Championships at the NEC and there were many more to come in the months ahead, racing with her speedy siblings and others who joined Team Lythgoe and managed to keep up with the Davies’ pace.
They were leading at the Red Bull Northern Exposure in April and did cross the line first, but unfortunately unranked after John Lowther pulled out with an injury. By May the team had moved on to defend their title at the One.Tel Hebridean Challenge, and this time fortune favoured them. Compeed/Maxim were comfortably ahead when they were struck by injury, so Nicky was a winner again at one of her favourite races.
It was close too at Adrenalin Rush, where she won once more, this time with brother Jim, Noel Hanna and Gary Robertson. They were almost out of the race at one point when Gary was virtually comatose in a kayak, but stuck with it and lead on the final day paddling towards the finish. They were lost among the islands of Upper Lough Erne and Team UK were close, both were exhausted and either of them could have won, but it was Lythgoes who came out ahead.
In September Nicky managed to fit in the Salomon X-adventure National event in the highlands, racing with Team Wales and finishing second, and by the end of that month Team Lythgoe were the first ever British Champions.
A full and successful year you might think – but not for Nicky. She raced regularly with Team Saab Salomon against Europe’s’ best in the X-adventure Raid series, with impressive results, and before the year’s end was with her 3 brothers at the Southern Traverse racing the best in the world on their home ground and posing a real threat to the kiwi’s. The course wasn’t to their liking (too little running and too much paddling) but they finished third, and had it not been for a dark zone at the end of the race would have been comfortably second.
It’s a quite amazing record of achievement at the very highest level and it’s hard to know how she can top it in 2003. She’s going to the Raid Gauloises with team Saab Salomon though, so maybe, just maybe she can keep the winning streak going?
You can read Nicky’s Profile here.
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