Andrew McFarlane dies in crash

[Danger]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10642314

[arj127]

Shit, thats really sad. I really enjoyed watching Andrew ride in the world mx. RIP

[Crasherfromwayback]

A real bad buzz. The ugly side to our sport.

[scott411]

i had the pelasure of meeting Andrew a few times, first time when he raced one of the Mystry Creek supercross races, and then later on when he was racing in europe, he was a pretty down to earth guy and good to talk to,

this is a unfortunate part of racing motorcycles, and it hits harder when it is someone you know, the kiwi's that were there are all pretty shell shocked,

RIP Andrew, and my best go to his wife and child, and to all his mates,

[FlangMasterJ]

That's very sad. RIP

[paturoa]

Just found it myself while crusing the net. Feckin bad.

I don't remember the last mx fatality... at that level.

[vazza]

So sad. Heart goes out to his wife and kid, family friends etc..

[Toaster]

Very sad to hear. Thoughts with loved ones left behind.

[theblacksmith]

Very sad news. Condolences to his wife,child and family.
Talented rider.

[denill]

Pertinent comments by Chad Reed:

It's been such an emotional high and low. To welcome your first child into the word - it's such an amazing feeling - to be excited about that. And then you pack up from the hospital, throw everything in the car, and you drive home about 35 mph. Then you get home, you're all excited, you have your wife and Tate, at home, and 30 minutes later, I get a phone call, and one of your best friends has passed away. It was just a crazy event of emotions.

And then you left for Australia?

I was there 30 hours - landed Monday morning and left Tuesday morning. It was a crazy trip and something I had to do. I loved Andrew and his family, and they played a huge role in our life - Elli unfortunately couldn't go. Tate didn't have a birth certificate, so we couldn't get him a passport fast enough, so I just went to lend my love and support to Natalie. I stayed at the house and tried to get some jobs done there, like move his bike into the house, just a lot of things that she personally wanted done. Michael Byrne and I went down there; it was a good thing to do.

The emotions. I got to let a lot out and got to say good-bye the way I wanted to, now it's come back and race for Andrew and try to get holeshots like he always did and try to make him proud.Reed practicing yesterday at Hangtown.

After all that you have been through the past couple of weeks, how can you stay focused on racing?

I think, any racers will tell you, that when anybody is close to someone and you lose 'em in an accident, at a point, it goes through your head: Why in the hell am I doing this? I don't need to work, I don't need to do this [race], financially, we're set for life, then a couple of days later, you really understand. Especially at the funeral and the service, I really took it all in, and I understood that racing was his life. I was sitting next to his wife, and she's holding his medal when he got second in the World Championship in 2005, I think, and his race jersey. It's just you would think that she wouldn't want anything to do with motorcycles - it took her husband away, and here she is holding on to all of that. Those are the memories that she has and the amazing fun times that they had came all from motorcycle racing. So you switch up your mood a little bit.

I feel like I achieved what I wanted to do and that was to say good-bye, and I felt like I let go some of my hatred against motorcycles a little bit, but it's what I do. It's my life, it's all that I've ever known, and I'm ready to give it all I've got and win this title.

They say defending your title is harder than winning it in the first place, is that true?

I love having the number-one on [my bike], and I'm excited to keep it and keep it red as well. It's a long season; it's hard. You have to be in it to win it, and I've got some fierce competition. It's going to be a tough season, but I think I can win this thing.

Last year at this time, you had pretty much just decided to race the outdoors, this year, you knew it all along. Do you feel better prepared this year than last year?

Last year I totally came in behind the eight ball. Probably the hardest thing last year was that I had a teammate [Mike Alessi] that was winning races and going for the championship, he was all happy, and I wasn't necessarily comfortable. We weren't close on settings or the way we rode the bikes, so, it wasn't like I could lean on him for settings or for anything like that. From my experience with Kawie and riding with Ryan Villopoto, we are really close to settings, so he had a great base from last year. Basically the first bike I rode for the outdoor this year was unbelievable - it's kind of hard pick it apart, because it was really solid and strong, so that helps a lot. Just a tweak here and there a little bit. I think I'm coming in with a full head of steam; I'm rested from my time off from Supercross and just really motivated.

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/motocross/2010/05/21/interview-chad-reed-good-times-bad-times

[Pornstar]

Jeez That guys a homo. I love to see him get beat, cos he cant take it. those "pertanant words were all about his gay self.
Yea, Sux about me mate but least I have a shiny red plate. wanker.

[Latte]

Jeez That guys a homo. I love to see him get beat, cos he cant take it. those "pertanant words were all about his gay self.
Yea, Sux about me mate but least I have a shiny red plate. wanker.

If you read closely you'll notice there are three seperate questions and he's just answering each one, he wasn't rabbiting on about himself. Was the interview taken from the the last SX or the first MX ? Sounds familiar.

[denill]

Jeez That guys a homo. I love to see him get beat, cos he cant take it. those "pertanant words were all about his gay self.
Yea, Sux about me mate but least I have a shiny red plate. wanker.

You obviously have a dislike for Reed - but you should have clicked on the link to the whole article and read the interview in context.