2008 BEARS Sound of Thunder- 25th Anniversary

[Joni]

Any photos of Diesel Pig?

He did great....

Had a small bin yesterday... but today he was out there showing bigger bikes how Neil Batchelor takes care of business... he was missing Black Betty though!

[dangerous]

He did great....

no he didnt... he sucked, gez Jo ya so one eyed... DP duno ok considering the POS he was riding

[Joni]

gez Jo ya so one eyed..

He did great considering the bike he was riding... however thank again for you very eloquent comment.

[MVnut]

So 'D', ya doin the other writeup or wot ???

[dangerous]

thanks again for you very eloquent comment.

no worries, you should know me by now babe, relax, love ya style... not

[Rashika]

nah sorry none of DP this time. I was going to stay out for the C bracket but 'cos I was worried where Flame had disappeared to in F1 (that was when she'd gone down in the dirt at the far end) I went back to find out, so missed the C bracket guys (Dp and MadkeenAndy)... sorry
Did get some beauties of Don from pitlane (chch) tho! But he aint a Kber so prob wont post em up

[TonyB]

Ha! That camera looks hard case stting on my noggin'
What an awesome weekend. I gradually got faster as the weekend went on, got some mint footage with the helmet cam, though I ran out of recording time after only three races- the last three were pretty awesome but didn't get any footage. Thanks to Stanko for the lend of the camera!

Race of the day would have to be the Flying Farewell. It was red flagged and restarted. Ended up behind Darryl Heman on his farken great Harely 1340. My gawd that man can ride! Its hard not to get mesmerised by THAT much metal going that hard! Got past him and a 750SS that was also having difficulty with him as well. Got to the hair pin thinking "That'll be the last I see of him", buggered up my braking, locked it up a bit etc and then this farken great Harley comes past again! WTF? So me and the SS start chasing him again. The SS got him, then as I was right behind him in the infield I noticed oil was splattering out of the engine or gearbox and onto the exhaust. I was trying to get the marshalls to take notice and when they didn't I backed off a bit. Then I realised that they weren't going to black flag him, and since I was still behind him I was in danger of being the first one to find his oil. So I took off again, went round him at the sweeper and went as hard as I could. He didn't manage to come by me on the straight so I just kept at it. And you know what? Being chased by an oil spluttering Harley which is being piloted by a very good loose unit of a rider is a bloody good way to improve your riding! All of a sudden it was "Mr knee slider, meet Mr Track" on every corner- this has been a problem for a while, I couldn't get them to talk to each other before. Suddenly I was way more comfortable and pushing much harder, winding the throttle hard open while fully cranked over and knee on the ground- awesome feeling....though probably not achievable on something thats actually got some power. I left Mr Heman behind and after the race came into the pits to find oil all over my bike, leathers and helmet....

Awesome racing. Can't wait for the BEARS Winter Series now!

[Rashika]

You were looking REALLY good out there TonyB, I was impressed watching you come round thru the dipper! Heaps of improvement during the day
That is quite a good spot for pics, and the marshall were very good to let me sit in their box with them out of that searing heat.

[Bren]

#6 A cool redneck wagon Chevy El-Camino

Bling for the Redneck Wagon!

[TonyB]

You were looking REALLY good out there TonyB, I was impressed watching you come round thru the dipper! Heaps of improvement during the day

Thanks R! I'm finally starting to feel like a half decent rider. The dipper has always been my worst corner, and funnily enough it finally clicked on the warmup lap for the last race. Once I got past Heman I had my knee well down in there, which I honestly thought would never happen! One thing I have noticed is that I tend do what the guy in front of me is doing and just follow them through the bend instead of pushing for a way around. Watching the footage I took, I also take about two or three laps to get into it, loosing ground initially then getting faster as it goes on. Now I seem to have the mid corner and exit sorted I just have to get the entry and braking nailed down and I'll be happy.

[alley cat]

Wicked day again! Scored the wee box at the back of the bar with the best view (apart from denny hulme) and shade, company and grog.
No grizzling from me.
Loved the indian with the dirt bike bars, pure class

[TonyB]

Loved the indian with the dirt bike bars, pure class

Did you notice the hand gear change and foot clutch? That must be interesting

[desmo dave]

Thanks for the pic's Rashika.Allways a top day out at the SOT

[Drew]

Cheers for the pics guys, and every thing else you did for us over the weekend. Too much to say so it can wait for my race report, except how awesome you were, and how proud I am of my girl for coming so far with her riding in just three days, you were amazing all weekend gorgeous.

And that after some set up and tyre problems I managed to finally gell with my bike, really stoked to have it doing what I'm telling it now, rather than just being along for the ride.

[flame]

oh yeah and did we mention it was 31 degrees today... AT LEAST that at ruapuna. So all the racers and even a few of the spectators did exceedingly well to survive the heat and the racing.
Well done guys!

Thanks so much for the pics Rashika! (except the weirdo chick with black hair posing on MY bike! who the hell let that happen) and you and Dangerous contributed to our weekend in so many ways. Your hospitality and entertainment help make the whole weekend outstanding. We want to do the same for you both sometime real soon. (dont bring the cat though eh!)

No race report from me, the sad news of a very special friend of ours misfortune on the road yesterday has made the hype and excitement seem distant for now.

but some highlights of the weekend that I will share,(there were many....but too many to list)

Adoring a track I had never seen before
Coming front half of F1 and lapping back markers
Qualifying front row of Grid B, and after crashing in F1 and feeling a bit second hand and the ass ripped out of my leathers (today discovering I had torn lots of the ligaments and ruptured a tendon in my hand )managed to come in 12th both races.
Meeting some fantastic KB'rs (Joni, MVNut and lovely family, TonyB and many more) and loads of other great peeps
Being interviewed by some foreign magazine
Watching Drew totally obliterate most of the A field in total style!

BUT MOSTLY....our more than FANTASTIC sponsors and pitcrew that worked SO hard after I binned to get 99 back up and running for my 1st grid race. There is not another crew in the world that make racing so fantastic. They are stars and I am so fortunate and honered to ride for them.

But then there was the weekend lows...

The disapointment of being taken out in my 3rd F1 race in the 1st lap by some tard on a bike less pretty than mine! knowing it was my best start of the meeting. But the poor guy come of a lot less fortunate than me. (truely hope he is ok)

Seeing Drew's bike burst a fuel line after he moved into 4th and gapped it in A grid on near the last lap

But the biggest low...hearing the sad news of one of our most closest friends having a very nasty incident. And not being able to do squat to help him in any way. A much loved friend by many and I know many peoples thoughts are with him right now along with mine. Heal fast Sean!!! We are all with you.

And....well I guess that kinda turned into a 'race report' afterall huh!