Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128637
(Right) If you 've got 'e m smoke 'e m : Training the British way. Mad J immy and Sonic prepare for 24-hour endurance races the same way most Americans prepare for bowling. (Below) Thirty-two degrees Celsius, multiplied by 9/5ths, added t o 32••• Holy, cripes, It ' s hot out here. T he lightweights are ou t pract icing and t he noise is a little an noying at first , th ough after a whi le thei r dwarflike, aura l dalliances stop. It's actual ly a healthy rem inder of what we are actua lly here fo r. lO a.m . We go out for practice but , after only half a lap on a brand new rear, the bead pops and the t i r e defla tes rather q uickly. I, however. don't k now w h at' s h a p p en ed a nd , as I t r y an d powe r o ut of tu rn seven to lat ch on to the ta il of a ram p ant R7 , the E BSCO Corona Su zuk i sta rts to buck alarmingly. The ba rs ar e wobbling ha rd fro m side to side , but I hang on and try to get my head down f or th e t op -gear t urn e ight. As I tip the snarling Suzook in , th e bars actually beg in to "wa lk " and sudd enl y a hing e seems to a p p ea r i n the h ead st o c k. I hit a rather large bump . m y st eed unload s, kicking o u t fro m th e rear and then decides t o do a runn er for the nearest pile of rocks . As I look up I'm posit ive that I c an s ee raven ous v u l t u r e s wh eeling o verhead. T ruth fu ll y , I feel a b it tast y to ha v e made it back t o t he pit s at al l. J ust as th e crew fin ishe s cha ngi ng th e gu il ty boot the sess ion is red flagged. I am able to ge t out for about fo ur laps o n an oth er new t ire be fo re it's time t o co me in . Uh oh ... 11:12a.m. We have a rider s' meeting and discus s t act ics and our ridin g order. Th is is go ing t o be to ug h. I hav e never see n Wil lo w Springs before tod ay and afte r fou r and a hal f laps I don 't feel all th at much better ab out th e wh ol e thing , 12 p .m . Let's get it on ! The riders li ne up o n the g rid . The heat is sti fling , intense, b ut the atmosp here among the rid er s is electric . b u t somehow cas ual - I like that , electric c asu a l. Ni ce , 12:12 p .m. The fie ld sets ou t nonchalantly on the warm-u p lap. This passes wi thout incident , 12 : 15 p .m . Before lo ng , those j et -bl ack visors are down , and 20 -plus lit er s of ri c eburn ing apparatus are revv in g and 23 Supa -powerful , techno -m ira c le mu scle m ach ines are st r aining th e lea sh at fever pitch . Th ey seem to qu iv er in th e awes ome midday swelter and someone hopefull y j um p s th e st art. No on e really c ares , though - after all , wh at' s half a second in 24 hours? Th er e is a murd erous . drawn -out boom of thunder as the k aleidosco pic herd of sparkl ing hardwar e stream s away from th e fla g. I wat ch th e screaming grid o f high tech machinery lace it's wa y ar ound th e first lap of many hundreds at W il low like a string of g littering pe arl s in th e m olten . m idd ay sun. It su dden ly dawns on me wha t a pr iv il ege it is to be given t he o pportu nity to get involved wi th an eve nt like th is, 12:35 p .m , T he fi rst c rasher is broug ht in o n the bac k of a truck . A r ath er so rry look in g R 1. So nic say s it' s the same guy who ran int o t he bac k of him d uring n ight pr ac t i c e yeste rday. It h as clea rly bee n a ba d weekend fo r hi m. 12:55 p .m. Kent K u ni ts ug u come s in o n o u r j ourno bi k e (64) and he 's tot all y fried th e ti res. aro und 'em - I was lik e. hey . I'm so pumped I'm goin' any way !" he jokes. in tensely . 3 :3 0 p .m . Ca l gets ready and gets back over t o the pits so he's ava ilab le to get straight out for the restart. A bea d of sweat rolls down the side of his nose. 3 :43 p .m. The bikes are all out in p it lane, the pilots hop on board at the last se cond and blast o u t f or an other warm -u p lap. The re-start is go od fo r some and bad f or o t h er s. Basi cally , ev ery o n e gets on th e grid i n ord er , b u t all adva ntages an d disa dvan tages a r e negated . It' s getti ng hotter. .. 3 :5 0 p.m . Kent comes ba ck in . H e d o esn 't lo o k h a p p y . " T h at t i r e is f*£, 'ke d up !" The te ch ni c ians c hec k i t. O ne shouts over, "Ten pou nds !" I wou ldn't pay t hat for it. We're lay ing th ird overall. 4:30p. m. It' s my se ssion and, frankly. I'm g agging to get out. Sonic co m es back in - he lo oks swe aty and t ired , bu t happy . J i m my M o or e has br i efed me i n his in imitable South ern twang and I'm fe eling a l ot less st re s se d when I squirt th e 3/4- li t er Suzook up th e p it lane . I' m o n fresh tires b ut , afte r the morn ing's rat her hai ry debacle, there i s a ce rtain p a r an oi a cree pi ng through the back of my mind. E ver ything goes smoothly and I'm fee ling good . Th e 750cc mi ll is looseni ng u p nicely , b ut t he fro nt still feels lively ove r bumps a nd crests . It' s all good da rts, t ho ug h . as we say in Engl an d, and th e second tim e I lap the Bu ell I smile to m y self! The f at C ali su n i s b e ating m e vicio usly and I am lite rally stea m ing! On e of th e Atta c k Yam ah a R l ' s sc orches past me o ut th e back of th e ci rc uit. F ar ou t , m an . 1:1 9p.m . Th e Arm y of D arkness GSX -R600 appears in pit -l ane on the back of the t ru ck . The heat is alread y pro ving a n immense stra in on everyone's rubber. I dread to th ink how E il een 's dwarves are getting on . 1:3 0 p .m. Number 46, the real racers' bike in o ur team , is in th ird. Scott Brown is out d o ing o ne-and -a -ha lf sessions and the word i s that conditions on track are brutal. 1:4 6 p .m . The journa list bi ke is running i n ab out 10th and Andrew T rev itt comes in for a rest. T hat means that we ar e presently firs t and second in class . T he crew cha nges t ires, Kent goes back out. b ut A nd rew says the b ike feels a lit tl e l oo se at t he bac k . T he Du nlop guys are g iving o ut the hardest tires th ey h ave due to t he 130 plus degrees of o n-track te mperature. If we we re pizzas , we 'd be com ing ba ck in reasonably well done after an hour on track . The Dun l op m en reckon it'll be afte r 6 p.m . before softer c om po unds co m e in to p la y . At night, the bikes make a noticeable im p ro vem en t in performan ce so th ings will change on ce more. 2:1 6 p .m . On e o f the Buells ge t s dumped heavily - th e rid er is in t he b ack of the t ru c k , he looks o kay, if a little d usty. 2 :45 p .m. The re d fl ag i s o ut as so meone t h rows it away big time between t urns fou r and fiv e. T he am bula nce makes an unwelcomed appea rance . 3p.m. Ca l Raybo rn. one of t he fi rs t team's riders, c o mes in t o th e t rail er and in fo rms us th at it was th e second Buell that went down . " I was h yped up. I was goin g o ut of pi t l an e and th ose gu y s turn ed m e rig ht aro u n d . I damn near r ode cue I e n e _ S • N O V EM B ER 1 . 2000 27