hey guys, i just got back from Anahiem and Anahiem 3 were i had press passes for the night.
i rote this for a US based website i belong to so thier might be some references you don't know, thought you may like teh read anyway
1st of all I would like to thank Davey and the crew at Racer X for making this happen,
After 6 long weeks waiting since I found out I had the card for A3 I flew out of Auckland on Wednesday night, it was a 12 hour flight which is pretty dam boring, we arrived to LAX on Wednesday morning (got to love that date line) after a rather interesting drive getting used to driving on the right hand side of the road we made it to our hotel, we had a view of Angel Stadium from the room.
On Thursday we did some MX sight seeing, 1st down to chapparel (the size of the place blew me away) for some shopping then over to Glen Helen to watch open practice, that place looked cool, and although the big hills were not in the track they were running they are pretty dam impressive, surprised me quads and bikes were allowed on the track at the same time but it all seemed to work ok.
We watched for about an hour and then headed over to lake Ellsinore, that track looked awesome, and really fun to ride, we called in and had a look though Langston racing, good to see both championship bikes on the wall.
After a few beers at a local bar on Thursday night I was a bit worse for wear on Friday morning, however we headed over to pro circuit, I caught up with an old friend who is Ben Townley’s mechanic, he showed us around, the championship bike display was pretty dam cool, my favorite bike in their was mike brown’s 03 125, the last of the breed, dam I miss two strokes,
When we got back to the hotel it was starting to recognize faces from pics I had seen on here and in the magazines, it was pretty cool to be around all these guys.
We got up early and down to the stadium by 9.30, picked up the tickets and headed to the pits, had a good look around, I was impressed by the set ups of even the smaller teams, I found the racer x booth and talked to Simon Cudby and Mike Farbar, handed over my money for the tickets (which by the way is cheap)
The track walk was awesome, I was surprised at how thin the lanes were, and how steep and small the timing sections were, the triple triple after home plate looked like it was going to be tricky, we stayed on for the riders briefing, I was surprised at the roll call but it was good to see at even at this level the rules were the same for everybody.
For the 1st set of practices we walked around the stadium taking pics, their were a lot of guys going this, it was awesome to see how the top riders picked up their lines so quick, RV looked a step above everybody in the lites, and James and Chad the same in the sx class (that names is still bad) Chad and James though down some whips and tricks for the crowd in their last laps which was awesome. Chad’s nac nac’s are pretty awesome and bubba gets that big kwaka upside down good.
We had been warned that the press box is really full at Anaheim so shot up their early to get a seat, I ran into Jim Holley, it was a good to meet the man I listen to Sunday afternoons (that’s when sx live plays here)
We headed back down to the pits to check out the pit party, on the way back in I ran into Davey, I explained who I was and he was blown away by the fact I had flown up for it, he introduced me to Rita, it was really cool to meet 2 icons of US MX,
I also caught up with Cody Mackie, a Aussie rider I met when he raced here last year, he is still recovering from a broken finger from R2 but hopes to be back at san Diego, it was good to see him again, he seems up beat about his time in the states and is coming back down under to race the aussie MX nationals.
We watched the second set of practices from the stands, their were some pretty ugly crashes as the guys started going quicker and quicker, Hanny’s crash was big and he took while to get going
We looked around the pits, which were pretty full by this stage, the promo girls were hard at work and the atmosphere was awesome.
We grabbed some food and headed back up to the press box to watch the night show, the opening ceremony was awesome, the videos of James and Chad were well done, unfortunalty you could not here the announcer particularly well in the press box.
The heats were exciting, and the battle for transfer slots were heated, the appearance of the Nascar was a good touch; it is cool to see a new manufacturer in this class,
The LCQ’s were good, JT Money put in two awesome laps to get a chance to have a go at his team mate for the transfer spot, he made the pass but then lost it on the next straight, I am glad my $250 went to him but I would have rather seen him in the main.
The lites final looked like it was going to be a great race with RV having to pass the top riders, but when Wiemer didn’t get up in turn 1 they red flagged it, I was surprised he was allowed to restart however the rule is the same down here, you can restart as long as it is not seen that you played up for the red flag.
The second start and RV put the hammer down and left the rest, J Law and Hill rode well to come from outside the top 10 and into 3rd and 4th, Hill looked really comfortable in the track and it would have been good to see him go with the start he had the first time. Grant rode a smart race for 2nd but had nothing for RV, Weimer rode well and passed Little Goose late in the race, not bad as he was dead last off the second start,
The sx main (that’s a bad class name) it looked like it was going to be the Bubba Show again, but someone forgot to tell Chad he can’t run with James, cause he proved he can, he was definatly quicker in the 2 rhythm sections after the start, Bubba looked a bit quicker in the whoops but Chad was making time slowly before Bubba made a big mistake before the triple triple section, he was so close to losing the front, Chad got him and then James found another gear in the whoops and made an aggressive pass on Chad, it was a hard pass but nothing malicious, the crowd were on their feet as Chad was on the case, once into lappers James seemed to get a bit of a gap, I was surprised at some of the guys who did not get out of the way quickly, the ama officials were doing a good job of telling the guys how close the leaders were but some guys did not get out of the way for 3 to 4 corners after the blue flag, I think the AMA needs to start being harder on these riders,
In the end Chad could not get close enough to put a move on James, but James did not have the space to show boat on the last lap either, it was a good race and I hope these continue. Run always get boring, it was good to see Tim Ferry in 3rd, the guy has been on fire this year but he is the best of the rest and a fair bit to go on the top 2
I was pretty shocked to here the booing of bubba, and to be honest the support Chad had all night, it didn’t think the American public would take to an Aussie like that.
We walked down to he pits for a final look around then headed back to the hotel,
I had a few drinks in the bar at the double tree hotel with a whole lot of guys who will remain nameless (some of them frequent here) thanks to you guys for making me feel welcome, it was an awesome way to finish the night.
Sunday we decided to tour come beaches on the way to the airport to kill some time, we flew out on Air new Zealand on Sunday flight, only to arrive back in NZ on Tuesday morning,
A big thanks again to Racer X, live Nation, motonews and everybody that I met, thanks guys, the only problem is the fact that I have to wait so long to do this again. I would happily pay double for these tickets,
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