Castlederg teenager Cole McCullough posts milestone result in Italy

The Trentino motocross meeting just south of Lake Garda opened with McCullough fresh from a maiden podium appearance and he posted the third-fastest time over both free practice and qualifying.

The 16-year-old claimed the upper hand across race one by taking advantage of a two-rider collision with four laps to go, ultimately stretching his lead to 3.447 seconds by the chequered flag for a milestone win and maximum 25-point haul.

“Last week I stood on the podium for the first time in the deep sand at Sardegna and it was important for me to carry this momentum forward on the hard pack of Trentino,” said McCullough. “I had a great week to prepare myself mentally and physically and taking my first European race win on hard pack conditions made the victory even more sweet.

"People have said I am a one-trick pony and can only ride sand...my time living in Italy, preparing for this season and now taking this race win, definitely proves this is not the case.”

Over race two, the Dream Team Fantic rider suffered a small technical issue that pushed McCullough outside the top 30 before recovering to climb the standings then experience another setback to cut short his appearance.

“The issue with my bike started to worsen every lap, by lap seven my Fantic machine came to a stop, ending my race and shattering my chance of another podium,” he said. “I suffered this same technical issue during one of my pre-season races.”

McCullough is off next to Switzerland for round five of the EMX 125 Championship before the Dutch Masters Championship on April 27.

“At this level of racing small issues can and do occur," said McCullough’s father, Philip. “But to have the same problem happen twice is hard to deal with, both for Cole and also for myself.

"Another podium was definitely on the cards and that top step was certainly a possibility.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​