Divisionals, Deal's Gap and one dead Moose

The trip to Virginia for the SCCA Divisionals was a complete success. Brother Ed and I each brought home first place wins on both Saturday and Sunday for Team W.A.R.P. Speed.



As soon as we evacuated Danville, and brought Edder back to SC, Mark and I headed for Tennessee with the rockets to experience the legend that is Deal's Gap. Nobody could have prepared us for what we experienced up there. We've heard stories, and seen pictures and videos, but they just don't do it justice. It's definitely something every rider should do at least once. We had trouble stopping at once..... we managed to get in six runs at the Dragon's Tail.... each one a little faster than the last. We swapped out the Busa and the CBR so that each of us could experience the heft of the pig, and the flickability of the agile RR. There weren't many Busas attempting to "slay the dragon" while we were there. It's apparent why....now ;)



I wrestled the Zuki over the mountain on day one. I was fairly comfortable with what it had to offer and how it handled, so I was bitch slapping the twisties in no time. I was thankful for my mirrored shield.... the photographer was unable to capture the retarded ear-to-ear grin (and the occassional flicker of sheer terror) that I wore through all 318 turns. Below is a photo that was snapped of Mark and I at the bottom of the mountain after our first run.



Contrary to the photographic evidence, we were very happy at the time. The detached expressions on our faces were due to the fact that we were still taking a mental inventory of our appendages and digits, as well as utter disbelief that the bikes were still in one piece.

We spent the night in a cottage at the Tapoco Lodge in Robbinsville, NC, which is perfectly situated at the beginning of the Dragon's Tail. Beautiful scenery, local wildlife and the tranquil sounds of waterfalls kept us company during the evening hours as we sat on the front porch of the cottage and relived the excitement of the day.



There was nothing to distract us from the pristine beauty of our remote location..... and I do mean NOTHING. No cell phone service, no land-line and no TV. We barely even noticed the lack of technology though.... a few tasty adult beverages, good conversation, and a lot of laughs.... once the adrenaline wore off, we slipped into our respective comas, only to wake up the next morning and do it all over again.

Most of the conversation that first night consisted of Mark trying to convince me to ride the CBR the next day. I was reluctant. The Busa and I had gotten along so well, I didn't want to salt my own game...... muck up my mojo... if you will. Eventually, I gave in... and damn am I glad I did!! It took a few turns to get adjusted to the Honda, but once I did, there was no turning back. Needless to say, I bogarted the RR for the rest of the trip :)



The next night we managed to snag a room at the Tail of the Dragon Resort. Still no TV or phone service, but the atmosphere was fantastic... nothing but bikes and riders.... bar-b-que... beer and good times. We hated to leave.... so much so that we have already planned a return trip the beginning of June :)

Mark was so impressed with the handling of the RR, and frustrated with the fact that I refused to give it up, that he went out and purchased a rocket to add to the paddock upon our return. The next trip to the Dragon's Tail will be made with the '07 1000RR and a brilliant new 2007 Yamaha R1..... what a way to break in a new bullet!

This will do it for me for now. As I type this, Pops and Mark are attempting to extract the now-blown engine of the Moose. This terrible tragedy occured last Saturday during an NCCC race at Reynolds Industrial Park in Green Cove Springs. Pops was piloting the Moose when the engine detonated.



I would have been present for the race had I not been hunting parts for the bike. Apparently I can maintain my composure and keep the RR upright through the 318 turns of the dragon, SIX TIMES, but when it comes to backing out of Sue and Steve's driveway..... not so much. Dragon Slayer I am.... Driveway Slayer.... I am not.

So, as they complete the surgery on the Moose, I will be strapping the pretty new CRG shortys on the black beast. I think it's time for a tasty adult beverage, as I leave you with these parting shots of the flurry of activity going on behind me at MO headquarters......



Almost Clear

4 hours , 75 pounds of cat litter and countless beers later... it hangs there.... like so much CARcass :)





Until next time......

Rubb'er Down :)

Okay, I did say several months ago that if I had gotten slack with the posts again, I was fired. Well, I got slack..... REALLY slack, but I am not ready to fire me yet. I have a good excuse or four.

The new season of MotoGP is well underway. Although I have not been posting results, or updating rider profiles, or blabbering on about the races, I have indeed been watching them. I choose to call this "behind the scenes participation"...... cause it makes me feel better about me :)

Now for the excuses.... first, there's the move. Yes, MO has moved into new headquarters. We're not 100% moved YET, but the computer is functional, and the bikes and cars are here.... what else do we need?? Here's where I boast of the new toy. She's pretty, and she's fast, and she's black, and she's shiney.... mmmm hmmmmm

Mark and I will be hauling the new black bullet, along with one of the Busas,

up to Virginia this weekend to compete in the Divisionals in Danville... which brings me to my next excuse for my slack-ass-ed-ness..... my racing schedule. It has been rather hectic thus far this year. Not only am I attending the divisional and national events with the Moose, but I have also been lucky enough to snag a ride sponsored, owned and provided by none other than Mark (mmm hmmm it's ALL good!)

As for my final excuse, which subtly ties in with the rest of the crap..... Mark and I have been doing a lot of traveling in the last few months. Last month we took 8 (ish) days and drove down to Key West with the two Busas in-tow, by way of Ponte Vedra and Stuart, FL. We stayed in the Keys for a few days, and came back up north by way of Naples for a night and then Tarpon Springs, FL (for a little longer stay than we had originally planned). Last weekend, we straddled the RR and the Busa and took off for Leesburg, FL with Sue and Steve, for the bike festival down there. We arrived back here Sunday night, just in time to pack for 6 days in SC/VA beginning tomorrow morning.

SO.. there will be no updates this weekend... but, I promise I will be more vigilant in the future :)

Until next time......

Rubb'er Down :)

Qatar Spoiler

Once again, the fastest men on two wheels have provided 45 minutes of heart-pounding, twitch-inducing entertainment. Here's your spoiler.... Casey Stoner clinched his first ever MotoGP win on his fresh Ducati rocket. Casey was SOLID throughout the entire race. It was a righteous win, a perfect win, ultimately..... a fair win. Vale took the lead several times, only to be overcome (every time) by the raw power of Stoner's Ducati on the long straight to the finish. In the end, the former World Champ just couldn't pull it out.

Our reigning World Champ, Mr. "Number's Don't L1e" himself, finished toward the back half of the pack in 8th. I don't enjoy seeing someone get their own ass handed to them like that. I couldn't help but feel bad for the young pig farmer. I have nothing personal against Nicky.... really I don't. I'm glad he got to experience the thrill of winning such a prestigious title, even though I strongly feel that he won it by default. I would be the first to say congratulations if I met him face to face. But his fans..... yes, his obnoxious, overbearing fans..... have totally turned me off to him. They have managed to bring a tast of NASCRAP to MotoGP. Apparently there's a law against being a respectful supporter of The Kentucky Kid... instead you must don your wife-beater, crack open a can of Bud and verbally bitch slap anyone who doesn't think Hayden is God.

I digress...

Rizla made a fine showing this morning, with the injured Hopper putting up an excellent fight to land him just off the podium in the 4th place spot.... right behind Dani Pedrosa. The victims of today's race.....Loris Capirossi, Randy DePuniet (dammit Randy!!!) and Carlos Checa, all skittered off the track (on seperate occassions) about mid-way through. Andrew Pitt suffered from mechanical failure on his Ilmor bullet and didn't finish the race.. his teammate, Jeremy McWilliams, wasn't healed up enough from his qualifying crash to start today.

It was indeed an exciting way to kick off the 2007 season. 1 race down, 17 to go!! I wonder what Yamaha's answer to the fierce power of Ducati is going to be? They had better strengthen their pimp hand and smack down some more grunt. If today's race was any indication of the way Casey and his Duc are going to perform on a regular basis, Rossi might just have his hands full!!

Here's the official results of todays race:

Position	Rider	Manufacturer
1	Stoner	Ducati
2	Rossi	Yamaha
3	Pedrosa	Honda
4	Hopkins	Suzuki
5	Melandri	Honda
6	Edwards	Yamaha
7	Vermeulen	Suzuki
8	Hayden	Honda
9	Barros	Ducati
10	Nakano	Honda
11	Hofmann	Ducati
12	Jacque	Kawasaki
13	Roberts, Jr	KR212V
14	Elias	Honda
15	Guintoli	Yamaha
16	Tamada	Honda

Practices for the next race will begin in just under two weeks on March 23rd in Jerez, with the live coverage of the race (on MotoGP.com) beginning at 7:00 a.m. Sunday morning (EST). FRICKIN YIPPEE!!!

Until next time......

Rubb'er Down :)

QP results from Qatar

The 2007 season has FINALLY begun. The boys completed their practices over the past couple of days, and dropped the hammer in qualifying this morning. Rossi, in his irreverent Rossi style, took pole (was there ever any doubt?). He sported a furry 46 on his leathers for the premier event, stating that he had managed to pull a rabbit out of the hat in '04 and '05 to clinch the championship, but the rabbit had died in '06. The rabbit-fur covered 46 was in memory of the aforementioned hat-rabbit.

Rounding out the top three for this weekend's race is Casey Stoner in position #2 (didn't see THAT coming) and Collin Edwards at #3 (Go!!!!!! Yamaha). Toni Elias rolled in to claim position #4 on the grid, followed by Dani Pedrosa, John Hopkins, Loris Capirossi, RANDY DePUNIET!!!, Nicky Hayden and Marco Melandri to seal the top ten.

The race kicks off at 7:00 a.m. our time tomorrow morning, available live online at MotoGP.com, or, if you can wait for it, it will be televised on SpeedTV Sunday night at 6. I personally can't wait for SpeedTV to air it, so I will be here, like a moron at 7 tomorrow morning to catch it live :) If you want a spoiler, check back after the race.... if not, stay away until after Sunday night.

Jeremy McWilliams, who rides for the virgin Ilmor team, suffered another crash in today's QP. There was a concern that he had re-injured himself (re: the crash during winter testing) but X-rays confirmed "no break", so he will grid-up as planned for tomorrow's race.

Okay, I'm off to participate in whatever debauchery I may find for the weekend :) Damn, I love me some debauchery!!!

Until next time......

Rubb'er Down :)

So close I can taste it!

March 10 is right around the corner (Happy Birthday Spaz!!!!) and so will begin the 2007 season for the boys of MotoGP. The camps have been busy running tests over the past few weeks, dialing in their new 800cc rockets. Casey Stoner binned one of the shiny new Ducs last week in Jerez (who's surprised??). He suffered a concussion which resulted in some blurred vision in his left eye, but after a visit to the local hospital and a subsequent MRI, he was released with a clean bill of health. He chalked it up to "tyre" discrepancies (that one's for you Mikey!). Rossi walked away with the Beemer :)

Most of the teams have unveiled their '07 liveries, with the exception of Yamaha, who ran the factory colors this past weekend to honor Yamaha and the crew for all of their hard work. I don't buy it.... they are working the suspense angle!! The unveiling of the '07 Yamaha bullets will take place on March 5th, just 5 days before the season opener. I have my money on Fiat as the team sponsor.

Ducati clearly dominated the boards this weekend. Dani "Pudrosa" was firmly in the mix atop his snub-tailed Honda, rolling in with the fastest non-Ducati time (2nd, 2nd, 4th , 6th and 3rd respectively). All of the Ducs present held top-ten times all weekend. It's been rumored that Honda is running special "power-up" parts on the RC212V's, but judging by the times of the reigning "world champ", the Hayden who is knownst as Nicky (19th, 9th, 8th, 11th and 6th) , me thinks this is not the case. Unless, of course, Honda really has strapped him with the lesser bike in order to groom "The Pud" for a championship. "The Numbers Don't L1e" do they Nick???

Okay, on to the visual portion of my post... first up, a few pictures of the Yams. These are the "commemorative" colors that flew in Jerez this past weekend:

Kenny Roberts, Jr. on his freshly clad rocket:

Nicky Hayden:

Marco Melandri and Toni Elias of the HANNspree Honda paddock (Gresini)

Randy DePuniet (YAY!!)

Olivier Jaque :

Alex Barros (Pramac d'Antin Ducati):

Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki):

Dani "Pudrosa":

On a personal note, I will be traveling to Daytona this weekend to support my good friend Mike Haile (on his trusty Kaw) who will be competing Friday, Saturday and Sunday (March 2nd-4th). Also, my buddy Jeff from Colorado, will arrive in Daytona the evening of the 5th with Jessica (Jessica Zalusky - Pro AMA #172... www.roadracinggirl.com) to kick off her 2007 season, riding for Kawasaki as well. I expect to see all of you there!!!!

I would like to take this opportunity to promote the efforts of my good friend Jim (Jimmy with the bad ass bikes!), who is participating in the 2007 Racing To Save Lives charity event that will be held in Utah, May 3rd-the 6th. This event is a 4 day showcase of motorcycle road racing, which raises money for children’s' charities. Local and national competitors will ride from sunup to sundown for 4 full days.

His goal is to raise over $ 2500.00 for the various charities. Contributions of $50 or more are tax-deductible, and Racing 2 Save Lives is a 501(c)3 charitable organization. At the conclusion of the event, you will receive a receipt via postal mail for any donations of $50 or more. If you can’t give $50, he'll take contributions for as little as $5 or $10, every little bit helps. If you are in a position to support the effort (and I KNOW you are), please make it happen!! I did :)

Alright, that will do it for me... it's time to lighten the load on the Smirnoff "jug", it's lookin' a little too full.

Until next time......

Rubb'er Down :)

Test Pilot

The world of MotoGP is slow to return since testing has resumed. Not much new and exciting. Phillip's Island was inconsequential as a couple of the key teams did not attend the session.... hence Honda's domination.

I have been taking supreme advantage of my "down time" for the past few weeks. The SV has undergone a few upgrades, and is poised for several more. It has officailly been dubbed the one and only SV1000R in all the land. That's right, the spec sheet on the beast includes a fully integrated exhaust system that will entertain a 3 or 4 bolt flange. She now runs with a couple of Two Brothers cans strapped to her. How you ask? Well, that's a secret, but I can tell you this.. it involves one Mark, one Spazgyver, a welding machine and a grinder...... and, of course, none of it would have been possible without one Steve.



I had a chance to play test pilot over the past few weeks to a couple of different bikes. First up was a 1999 Suzuki TL1000R (Thanks Spaz!!!!). Although the TL and the SV are basically the same machine on paper, I found that this is not so much so on the asphalt. The TL packs a little more punch when you get down to the nitty-gritty. A beefy machine indeed! On the straight, it tends to be a little light in the front end.... all good for a power wheelie (the hottest of the hot!), but the corners are a different story. The SV sticks solid during hard cornering.... get in right, set your lean and throttle out... she'll stick. The TL...... spot your line, set it up, throttle out.... she'll row like an Ivy League team after the gold medal. As long as you know it's coming, it's all good.... loosen up and ride it out. If you are not aware of the "special characteristics" (Have you seen my wiener??), it can surely take you by surprise. All-in-all, though, a fun bike with some interesting quirks.

Round 2....



the 2005 GSX-R1000. Sweet Jesus! First of all, thank you Steve for letting me ride that beast (sorry about the spot on your seat!). We'll address the down-side first... the right peg and I didn't agree. I had to be conscious of my position 100% of the time in order to stay on the ball of my foot and not let it slip back. Other than that.... it was indeed "all that (and the gratuitous bag of chips)". You would be hard-pressed to pry the smile off my face while I was riding it. Light, agile, flickable, and TIGHTLY WOUND.... no matter what I asked of it, it wanted more. The last I looked at the speed-o, we registered 165, and it was still pulling.... still pulling!!! Granted, I consider myself a rookie when it comes to top end. The SV and I visited 155, and it whined and cried as it tapped out. The Gixxer? At a buck 65, it giggled like a school girl in health class. The shifts are smooth as silk.... no effort, two fingers and a tap and you're in. I was, in a word, impressed.... too impressed.

I have been a die-hard Yamaha fan for as long as I can remember. I have said I would not rest until I was straddling an R1... I can only hope that the test drive goes half as well as the GSXR's did. I am notorious for sticking to my guns.... loyal to a fault (if you will), but my head has been turned and it's going to take one hell of a ride to change my mind at this point :)

GAME ON!!!!

Until next time......

Rubb'er Down :)

Fodder

The testing ban has been lifted.... YAY!! All of the MotoGP teams, except for Ilmor, will be back on track Monday to continue smacking around the new herd of 800's. Ilmor will not take part in the first session in Jerez, nor will they be present for the second session in Phillips Island. They will patiently wait for Jeremy McWilliams to heal 100% before they continue with testing. As for the rest of the teams.... GAME ON!!

In recent news, Casey Stoner got hitched. Yea, I didn't think it was legal for 12 year olds to get married either.... but as it turns out, he's of-age, as is his new bride, Adriana. All the best to you kids :)

YAMAHA!!!! When are you going to announce a sponsor?? They have signed on for the 2007 season as Factory Yamaha naming no official sponsor. It's very possible they will self-sponsor... but why? Telefonica (Movistar) will not sponsor Renault in F1 in '07. It just makes sense that they would come back to MotoGP. I have also heard rumors or Fiat throwing their wallet into the ring. It's all interesting, but I am growing tired of it. I suppose we will all find out soon enough.... patience is a virtue (poppycock!!!).

Ducati unveiled the new bullet. It is indeed stunning ....

Team KR also revealed Kenny Jr's ride for 2007. The KR212V....

And I am sure you have all seen the new Ilmor X3, but I thought I should plaster it on here anyway.....

I am excited to see the new livery this year..... if March 10th will ever get here!

That's about all that's new-ish on the MotoGP stage. Since things are beginning to crank back up, I am sure that I will have some more fodder soon.....

Until next time......

Rubb'er Down :)