We packed the van for the last time as the Doohan Racing team as it stands now. Patrick hitched a ride to the track and got there before us. Things were slow in our house as I had goats to tend to and cows to check. Mary Mooo had food and muffins to make. We hit the road around 6.45. The old van has lasted to the end . She has clocked up 411000km now but is still going strong. Just another thing to worry about. Bike out and the pit area was set-up. We checked the bike over and adjusted the chain and fueled the bike for a warm up lap and qualifying. Rider briefing made a big deal about the sand on the track and how dangerous it was going to be for the riders. We sent Patrick out on the bike on the sighting laps with a degree of trepidation. He was fine and came in and said the sand was no big deal.
We sat around and waited for the qualifying laps. Out he went and we had great expectations as he came around the first time. Thumbs up from the bike but we noted a missfire as he disappeared down the pit straight. To our horror it was worse as he came around again and he gave us the hand shake that indicated things were not good. We watched him disappear around the track and out of sight. I noted he had his hand raised and pulled in to pit lane. The bike had been running so well for the last few race days and we ran it on Saturday and it was on song. But not today. We splashed more fuel in to the bike incase we had miscalculated and sent Patrick out again. This left him one lap to qualify in but the bike was still running badly. He came in and we all resigned ourselves to the fact that we had a problem.
We didn’t look at the qualifying time but started work on the bike. Pulling the spark plug told us we had a fouled plug. This could be due to all sorts of things so we replaced it and checked the fuel. Decided this would fix the problem and sat back to watch some of the other racing. And good racing it was too. The call went up for lunch and we had not gone out on the track yet. Due to an accident we were now 1 and a half hours behind schedule. We lined up for the start of the first race and had hoped the bike was back on song. Patrick ran around the track and took his place at the front of the street stocks. He qualified first. With only one lap to speak of we were amazed. But we will take it thanks. The flags dropped and Patrick had one of the best starts for the whole of the last 15 months. He lead the 250 out and around the first corner. We watched and started to count down the laps. The RG sounded terrible as he passed us on pit straight but Patrick was riding around the short comings of the bike and started to play with the clubmen’s bike. He had left his own field well behind and was having a ball passing the bigger bikes in the corners and being, in turn, passed down the back and front straight. Patrick won the race easily and had a great time out on the track with the bigger bikes.
We pulled the plug to find the bike was running seriously lean. It sounded lean to the point of not enough fuel to feed it up at the top end. Out came the carb and we pulled it to bits. It was as clean as, in that carb so it was not fouled or dirty in the jets that we could see. Put it all back together and decided we could not do anything else. Where to from here? No time or options to do much so we sat it out. Refueled the bike from the info we have from previous race days. The first call went up for Street stocks and Clubmens as they were being run together. We did a last minute panic and poured more fuel in to the bike incase she was too rich and we could run out in the last race of the meeting. Had a long delay on the dummy grid as bikes from the previous race were picked up from out on the track. Seemed to be a few bikes spread around. Finally they headed off but the RG was running badly. As they gathered on the grid I had a feeling of disappointment. We had this bike running so well and to end on this note was hard to stomach. But that’s motor sport Aye? The flag dropped and Patrick was eaten up by the field of riders around him. The clubmans had cleared off to a clean start. By turn 5 Patrick had taken the lead of the Street stock bikes and was after the clubmans. Again we counted down the laps and Patrick did his best on a bike that was running as badly now as it was in the middle of the winter season. Patrick ran a great race on a bike that was not up to the challenge. Well done Son.
So we stayed for the prize giving. We knew Patrick had won the championship for the season as he had won every race in the summer season for his class. It was nice to see him receive the trophy he so rightly worked hard for and won.
However there was a really nice twist to the prize giving. A memorial trophy was presented to Patrick as the winner of the street stock class. The trophy is to honor Tony Burrell. Tony Burrell took his place at the back of the grid in the sixth Onekawa grand prix on a little blue Suzuki AC50 that had been modified to compete in the Ultra Light TT class. Bikes up to 125cc. Tony took out that race and won the title for this event. Tony suffered from a crippling Muscular disease. He never let this slow him down but he sadly drowned in a yacht accident some time later. So it is that this trophy has been gifted to the Street stock class in memory of Tony and what street stocks are all about. I think it is fitting that Patrick holds this trophy for a year as recognition of his achievements in the last 15 months.
Well done Patrick In 15 months you have won the Vic club winter series. You have won the Pacific club summer series. You have come second in both the 2008 & 2009 Taupo Spectacular events and to finish off you now hold the Tony Burrell Memorial.
Thank you for putting so much in to this little team.
To FiveStar… So many thanks for your on going support and having faith in this little team. Your support has been noted and talked about and appreciated. You guys rock and thanks for being part of this fantastic ride.
Mr W Smith… With out you this would not have happened. Thank you mate. Thank you very much. So much of the success goes to you and your ability to keep this bike going strong. Well done for putting up with me for so long.
Gary Pywell for being Patrick’s mentor and our spanner man. You put in long hours to be at the track and keep Patrick focused. For your time on the spanners and great support around the pit. You too rock.
John and Janet and ISG signs. For all the art work on the bike helmet and pit board. Also for your regular support in the pits and interest on and off the track. Thanks heaps
Martin Doohan for all the great timekeeping and math for working out the fuel, oil and parts needed to keep us on track. You stayed focused and allowed the rest of us to keep things ticking along. You have put a lot more in to this team than you have been credited with. Well done.
And to Mary and Steve Doohan for providing a platform for all this to happen on.
And to all our supporters and friends that came to the track and helped out in everyway friends do. Thanks heaps.
What a great ride it has been.
Originally Posted by Gixxer 4 ever
We packed the van for the last time as the Doohan Racing team as it stands now. Patrick hitched a ride to the track and got there before us. Things were slow in our house as I had goats to tend to and cows to check. Mary Mooo had food and muffins to make. We hit the road around 6.45. The old van has lasted to the end . She has clocked up 411000km now but is still going strong. Just another thing to worry about. Bike out and the pit area was set-up. We checked the bike over and adjusted the chain and fueled the bike for a warm up lap and qualifying. Rider briefing made a big deal about the sand on the track and how dangerous it was going to be for the riders. We sent Patrick out on the bike on the sighting laps with a degree of trepidation. He was fine and came in and said the sand was no big deal.
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