Cemetary circuit 2007: Farce

[White trash]

As a wanganui virgin (bike 34 mobile stroud chicane(sorry andrew)) and junior member of Team Hard On Racing I'd like to add my 2 cents worth. Quite frankly I was very disapointed with the way the meeting was run, I like the majority of the non factory backed riders went out in the very wet qualifiing (hell I new I would be starting at the back but at least I went out) I slipped and slid my way to 29th (out of 30 who went out) and was extreamly stoked to find that the rest of the team had pulled out a stunner and managed a credible 6th Dave Less (thanks for lending me your 750 after you saw what I did to the harris) and 8th Neil (Doc) Martin both of whom had qualified in front of Andrew stroud 12th (Good on him for going out in the wet like the rest of the kiwi's) like the rest of us I was stunned with Glen's amazing front row qualifier (dude your a Leg End). I must say here that it was good to see at least the kiwi boy on the yellow bike went out and qualified (unlike his team mates).
Stoked and scared sh****s I rocked on up to the dummy grid to find out we had all been pushed back so that a bevy of yellow (fitting color) yamaha's could be slotted into the 2nd row and Andrew had also been moved forward.
Ok not much that we could do about it there and the boys pulled out a another bliner with credible top ten finishes and davey kicked a bit of yamaha butt even with them burgling his grid position but the bit that really got us going was the attitude of the "officials" when we went to lodge a formal protest (royal runaround comes to mind) the boys were literally sent from one person to another right up to the point where the boys needed to get back to there bikes for the robert holden rnd 1. And even when they did get to voice their very valid concerns they were then given the safety concern BS.

It seems to me that rather than a safety concern (lets face it if they cant get past us backmarkers they shouldn't be there anyway, and they didn't seem to have any problems towards the end of the races, n) it was either done to nake good TV (why even have qualifying lets just line the front rows with big names) or to please the people with the big $$$$, and while I applaude the big guys for supporting these races us little guys also put huge amounts of time and money into putting together a prossional team.

Brian if your reading this I and the rest of the guys are very dissapointed that you would allow a team running under your banner to act in such an unprofessional and under handed mannor Thats just not Criket dude.

Andrew while you at least qualified I noticed you didn't turn down the front row when it was offered.

Questions MNZ and the Wanganui MC need to answer
* Whats the point in the rules if you guys are going to change them on the fly?
* Why weren't the riders told about the grid position change before they got to the dummy grid ? (we all got the sheets to see where we would be placed).
* Why wasn't the riders rep anounced earlier ? (not that he seemed to be much help anyway)
* Why were we given such a run around on the day ?
* Exactly how much does it cost to get on the front or second row? (I think I will get out a mortgage for next year).
* Who do I give the money to ? (un-marked bills in a plain envelope OK?)
* What if anything can be done now?.
* Brian Will you do any thing? maybe the prize money your guys burgled should be put up as prizes for the none factory riders at Paeroa.

Thanks very much for your perspective mate.

If you talk to Neil or Dave can you please ask them to PM or email me on wtrash@ihug.co.nz I want to make sure the wording on my letters is exactly how events transpired, not based on emotion in anyway.

[Teambwr47]

(thanks for lending me your 750 after you saw what I did to the harris)

Were you by any chance the rider who crashed going into turn 1 at Pukekohe the other week on what looked like a Harris framed bike when the engine let go....??

[anarchy]

white trash, will do they are checking out the posts as well.

And Yes that was me and my Harris Magnum 4 trying to learn to fly. ouch hurt me little finger. oh and bent the bike, still cant believe dave lent me his old bike after he saw what happened to mine.

[anarchy]

Looks like the engine didn't let go, one of the bolts in the cam cover cam out and it had a high pressure oil feed behind it, oil every where, lots of smoke and a slippery slick on the rear resulting in the spectacular crash. Its taking a bit to get my head around that one by hey at least I'm out there again.

[Shaun]

fivemacs@xtra.co.nz Lloyd McKenzie

Are you saying that Lloyd M was the boss on the day?

The same Lloyd, from Ssangyong cars?

[jrandom]

Just logged on for the first time after the racing and saw this thread.

Jimmy (and all you other racers who got shat upon), I'm very disappointed to hear this. It really takes the shine off what should have otherwise been an awesome day.

I hope that an appropriate amount of noise and fuss gets made, because this sort of blatant corruption tarnishes and devalues the sport terribly. We racing fans don't want to ride thousand-kilometre round trips just to see a faked-up spectacle.

Keep us up to date!

[sunhuntin]

i think some letters to newspapers need to go out. as a spectator, i knew nothing of what happened on the grid until i read this thread. im betting many of the other spectators dont realise either.
trashy, and others who were shoved back in favour of the big names, i suggest you bombard the wanganui chronicle with mail... enough of it comes through, they might write an article, which will help spread the word, and also put the pressure on locals who assisted with the grid shuffle.

[Kickaha]

We racing fans don't want to ride thousand-kilometre round trips just to see a faked-up spectacle.

pfffffft only a thousand?

I was very disappointed when WT came back into the pits and told me what had happened and fully support any letter that is sent, that was complete and utter bullshit, but certainly not the first time I've seen the rules changed on the day at a meeting to suit the big names

[Teambwr47]

Saw the whole thing unfold mate as i was stood right by the race control...........

The bike was smoking when you came over the hill onto the straight and i shouted to the marshals at the finish line who were at the time not looking at the track at all. You'd passed the flag point by the time they realised and as you passed i could see oil was all over the back end of the bike and the tyre was wet with oil....

I kept watching in dread knowing what was going to happen and sure enough it flicked you in a high side as soon as you entered turn 1. Even with my limited knowledge of the circuit i know turn 1 is not a good place to get off and as you disappeared into the turn and out of view of few a us stood there feared you would be badly injured.

Very pleased to hear you were relatively OK....

[Deano]

Yes, however WT was referring to 'Ssangyong Speedmachine' and 'Ssangyoung Speedweek' which screen(ed?) on Prime TV.

I thought the inference was that Ssangyong sponsor both the event and the Yamaha guys.

[slowpoke]

I was pretty dirty on the Bernard Team, Stroud etc but it's occurred to me they could very well be innocent parties in all of this.
They may have been told something that was not communicated to the bulk of the field. That being the case should they now be punished and have their reputation rubbished for an organisers cock-up in not communicating vital information to the rest of the competitors?
They could have been just as suprised as WT was when they rocked up to the grid that someone was already camped in their position.
Has anyone spoken to Brian Bernard about what transpired from their perspective?

[Kickaha]

I was pretty dirty on the Bernard Team, Stroud etc but it's occurred to me they could very well be innocent parties in all of this.
They may have been told something that was not communicated to the bulk of the field. That being the case should they now be punished and have their reputation rubbished for an organisers cock-up in not communicating vital information to the rest of the competitors?
They could have been just as suprised as WT was when they rocked up to the grid that someone was already camped in their position.
Has anyone spoken to Brian Bernard about what transpired from their perspective?

Whichever way you look at it they accepted grid positions they had not earned

[White trash]

I was pretty dirty on the Bernard Team, Stroud etc but it's occurred to me they could very well be innocent parties in all of this.
They may have been told something that was not communicated to the bulk of the field. That being the case should they now be punished and have their reputation rubbished for an organisers cock-up in not communicating vital information to the rest of the competitors?
They could have been just as suprised as WT was when they rocked up to the grid that someone was already camped in their position.
Has anyone spoken to Brian Bernard about what transpired from their perspective?

Agree completely. I don't know Brians position on the matter however I aim to find out.

As for someone camping in their grid spots, they didn't have any. That's the bitch.

The fact that they were all smiling and covered in Pirelli clothed grid girls for the cameras, without so much as a rearward glance at their fellow competitors whose spots they had taken, indicates they weren't too fussed about the iregularitys.

[Dak]

Are you saying that Lloyd M was the boss on the day?

The same Lloyd, from Ssangyong cars?

As far as I know, he was the event director, the man running the show. And yes untill very very recently he was selling Ssangyong vehicles.

[Clivoris]

Hey Jimmy.
All I can add is that I too am dissappointed with the treatment received by those who went out and qualified. Even if the organisors can fabricate a safety based argument for what happened, the way it was done smells like arse. Complaints may not change the past but they may change how things are done in the future. Good luck with it.
I wasn't able to be there on the day to sample the racing but I'm stoked that the riding itself went well for you and that Mr Shirrifs ripped shit up, again.