Motocross: Etheridge rides straight through the pain barrier: A mangled shoulder was not going to stop the sidecar champion defending his British motocross title. Mike Rowbottom reports

THE statutory warning notices at yesterday's final round of the British motocross championships - 'Motor Sport Is Dangerous' - were for the benefit of spectators. The riders know all about it.

Of those who negotiated the dusty, flint-embedded track which snaked through the beech trees on Jewels Hill in Kent, none was more aware of that fact than the eventual winner of the sidecar event, Chris Etheridge.

A week earlier, the chances of this 28-year-old mechanic from Staplehurst winning a fourth consecutive title had been placed in jeopardy by a serious crash during the final round of the world championships in Switzerland. Both he and his passenger, Gary Withers, were catapaulted off their bike - Withers sustained knee ligament damage, Etheridge a broken and dislocated shoulder. 'They went round like a tumble drier out there,' said Peter Langmaid, one of the team's entourage. 'Considering the type of accident, the injuries were relatively minor.'

For all that, Etheridge's condition was such that when he consulted a sports medicine specialist last Monday and announced his intention of racing within six days the doctor simply laughed.

Daily laser treatment, and stubbornness, enabled him to turn up in some sort of shape to race. He needed 13th place or better in one of the three scheduled races to ensure overall victory. He managed it with 10th place at his first attempt, despite an early pile-up which overturned his machine and dropped him back to 24th.

Ignoring a sign from his team to pull out, he set about making up the lost ground. 'In a way it was the best thing that could happen,' he said. 'The adrenalin was flowing, and I didn't have time to think about anything else except getting back.'

During the last three laps, however, such was Etheridge's pain that he was riding gingerly down the jumps which punctuate the course. 'I was counting every one of them,' he said. 'There were 16.'

Still pale with the effort and with his shoulder heavily strapped, he reflected upon the race as he reclined in his travelling camper van. Or, rather, attempted to recline, jammed as he was between celebrating friends and family while his girlfriend, Bridget, changed one of their three young children.

There were plenty of family groups in evidence yesterday on an area of land at Highams Hill Farm which has hosted race meetings for more than half a century.

When the massed bikes revved up for each start at the bottom of a steep grass bank the noise was that of an aicraft taxiing on a runway - and not the kind of aircraft that regularly takes off from the nearby Biggin Hill aerodrome.

The noise, carefully monitored by the Auto Cycle Union to ensure it does not exceed 100 decibels, co-existed with a picnic in the paddock car park where the racers were based. Throttles and Thermoses. Burn- ups and baby buggies.

The race commentary, evidently confident of a shared knowledge with the crowd of around 300, confirmed the close- knit nature of the sport. 'And there is Alan Clark, Brian and Joyce Clark's boy is . . . and here comes Simon Holloway, Dennis and Jackie's boy . . .'

Among those lunching with friends and family outside camper vans was Martin Hagon, a 32-year-old from Waltham Abbey who was formerly a speedway rider for Hackney, Sheffield and Ipswich, and the British and European grass racing champion. He was drawn into competitive racing through the career of his father, Alf, 11 times the British grass track champion, whom he describes proudly as 'the premier drag racer of his era.'

Grass track and speedway races, intense bursts of activity, tired Hagon's upper body and arms. Motocross, involving races of 20 minutes plus two extra laps, affects him more. 'You are tired all over,' he said, 'mentally and physically.'

There was plenty of both yesterday for the sidecar team of Colin Philpott and Jason Peters, who won all three races but finished four points adrift of Etheridge and Withers.

Perry Leask, the runaway winner of the overall individual title, competed with a knee which, according to the commentator, had been 'swollen like a pumpkin all week.' It didn't prevent him matching Philpott's achievement on the day.

Hagon, who works in a family business, has spent pounds 10,000 this year. 'It's an expensive hobby,' he said. 'At least it's not a drug habit.' He paused for a moment. 'Well, I suppose it is, in a way.'

(Photograph omitted)