CHASING THE CHAMPIONSHIP

I met Chrissy in 2020. In October that year he was looking at earning himself a National Championship within round rot spare if he had a good weekend at Donington Park. This possibility was the reason behind filming that weekend.

Chrissy gave me access to the weekend with introductions to his team and I filmed everything I could. The project grew to include off-site interviews all around the UK, from mentors in his early days to the surgeons who ha patched him up in the off season. During the lockdown months of COVID-19, I put everything into editing this project, which was my first feature length edit. We premiered it at Everyman Cinema in Barnet in the July of 2021 and it went on to be screened around the world, before now being available on Amazon Prime. It won the “People’s Favourite” award at the Toronto Motorcycle Film Festival, which was a big honour as I hadn’t yet promoted it at that stage. Chrissy and I travelled to France in 2022 to see it at a festival in Nice.

After the film launch, I continued doing some smaller projects with Chrissy at some of the race weekends. After enduring a tough year in 2021, he stepped up to the Superbike class in 2022, which had always been his aim. He made it happen through his dedication and unwavering belief in himself and those around him. He scored points throughout the year, beating much bigger and better funded teams.

In the penultimate round of the 2022 season, while racing at Donington Park, Chrissy was involved in a tragic incident on track. He passed away a few days later and in addition to the huge loss felt by his family, he has left a hole in the sport and in thousands of peoples’ lives ever since.

Chasing the Championship took on a new significance following this, and I am pleased that Chrissy and I were able to work on it together in 2020 and 2021. I am grateful for the experience of making it and in getting to know Chrissy.

My hope is that this film will continue to tell his story and to inspire people to pursue what is important to them.