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
2 4 H o u r s of W illow With J immy EXTREME DANGER TAY (Left) The crew hard at work. (Above) The sign on the wall says it all. (Bel ow ) Celebrations begin. Seventh overall and second in class, and only two bags of saline dri p along the way. Mad Jimmy makes the Poms proud. H a v i n g never r un for any t hing lo nger than a 20-minute sprint race, I am starting to fee l very ropey . The ambient air temperature is 114 degrees and the acrid , super-heated , desert air is somehow stream ing in through the visor and scorching a turbulent path up m y nostrils . Each time I complete a lap I wonder if I can make it to the end o f the next - I obv iously didn 't drink enough water before I went out. My hands are totally numb from the vibration of the slim grips and as I apex turn nine the blazing orb is right in my face. I nearly run off the track and I' m so weak I' v e barely got the streng th to ha ul it back on line. I m oti on to the p it crew t hat I'll be co m ing in next '.ap - I ca n' t see m y board an d they don 't get my sign al. D amn . As I pu ll into th e pits th e ne xt l ap th ey 'r e n ot r ea d y for m e , a n d whe n I pull in the m ech an ics st art pil ing o v er t he wall like WWI foo t sol dier s coming o u t of the t r en c h e s . Poor old Eva ns is ca ug ht off g ua rd . He runs across t he p it s and we lose so me time, but not m uc h . The b ik e is bei ng re-fueled during t he confusion and Eva ns gets out cleanly . I've pitted about 10 minutes too early. 5 :10 p.m. A s I climb over the pit wall I'm shaking and my limbs don 't seem to be r esp o nd i ng . Sitting in front of a huge fan I can 't feel the chunks of ice bei ng put on m y head and stuffed down my T-shirt. Th e ice packs jammed o n eithe r side of my neck may as well be hot water bottles. Th e next thing I know I'm on a saline drip and I have a serio us case of the DT' s. It wi ll be two so lution bags, fo ur lit ers (o ne ga ll o n) of w ater an d fiv e ho ur s before I c an actua ll y p iss aga in - a sign th at I'll be safe to ride. 8:29 p.m. Scott Brown comes in aft er saving th e ' A' bik e w hen t he brak es fa il o n the start/ fini sh st raight and he slit he rs 28 N OVE M B ER 1 , 2 000' eye to a halt at 16 0 mph on the d irt j ust inches away from a fence . He brings the bike in and the problem is sorted in three -and -a -half minutes. Looking at his face , ther e is no doubt in my mind that he has seen God . 9:58 p.m. Another red flag . Sc ott te lls me that i t ' s an R6 Yamaha. He knows because he was watching. We reckon he rode off the edge of the track flat out in top ... 10:25 p .m . The second restart. The 46 bike is in fourth and our bike - good old number 64 - is sixth . T hat means we 're ru nning fi rst and second in class! Sonic has noticed the speed of the A t t ac k Ya maha's a nd we speak to Curt is Ada ms. He say s that they are d e fin it ely t h e t eam t o b e worr ie d abo ut - after all , th ey are pack ing some serio us ma chinery . 10:45 p.m. Cu rtis says th e 4 6 bike is i n t he pits . It looks like it has been down and Jimmy Moore , who by all accoun ts has been rockin' today, has gone dow n with it. I feel bad . I have to see if he 's okay. 11:01 p .m. Jimmy is in the pits he 's alright. It appears the transmission has seized , bu t the bike hasn 't been down. I ask him how he 's getting on and he tells me " ok ay " but there's some thi ng troub ling him. "What?" I ask . "Theyer jest down't seeem t 'be thayat minny cridderz out t 'naart. " He explains , a frown playing across his b row . "In Ar down 't urnda-stayund waaah h ..." I leav e Jimmy to pon d er the m y steries of nat ure. > S U NDAY 1:3 0 a.m. I feel better and dec id e t o ex peri ence n ight rid ing - and I'm not tal k in ' abo ut D av id Hasselh off here .. . EO n e vv s For t u na tely , I o mit t o t ell th e team t h a t I' m t ec hn i c all y b lin d at n igh t thanks to a rath er tasty ast ig matis m. T h e racing is a lot fun k ier at n ight, but I' m having a p roblem with the corner floodlighting. They should either let you do it i n co mplete dark ness or ligh t the whole track , but this is crazy. As you come up to a corner there are angular shadows created by the halogen bulbs that disguise the actual shape of the corner and in the split second that your eyes get used to the dazzling display it 's gone and you feel as though you 've ridden of the edge of a very high cliff. The whole thing starts to turn into some kind of 'B ' rate acid flashback when a Vik ing with flashing horns riding an R 1 muscles through on the back section . I blink hard an d shake my head a few times. I'm getting target fixation an d I miss t he apex bea con on t he last turn and c li p the dust . Everything appears t o be oka y till Curt is squ e eze s m y ar m o n t h e sta rt /fi nish stra i ght at a b o u t 1 5 0 mph l I'm ru nni ng ab out three sec o nds slower th an du rin g th e day . 2:40a.m. I hav e a very long , ver y th o ro ugh m assag e. 4a .m . I put o n leath ers and go to pit lan e - so meone has gone out in m y place . Do I ca re? Act ua lly, yes . F all aslee p . 6:45a.m. Sonic comes back in dribbling incohere n tly about t he su nrise - he a ppears to have been ta king intravenous caffeine and popping amphetamine suppositories. 7:40a.m . Our 64 bike is running fifth overall, firs t in class. whilst the 'A' bik e has slipped back thanks to their gea rbox failur e. 8:40 a.m. We 're up to fourth ove ra ll and just two laps away from third . A nd rew is back on the bike and he's looking consistent. 8:42a.m . He pits with a punctured rear. 8:44 a.m . He's back on t ra ck . 8:46 a.m . He pits agai n with wh at ap pears to be a blown g ea rb o x and , after 2 1 hou rs, our rev olution has ende d .