Cycle News

IN THE WIND P30 working in during their testing phase," McWilliams said. "It wasn't until we started making steps back towards that setup that I started feeling confident. We virtually just ran out of time on the day to make another couple of steps where I wanted to go, to change a little bit more to suit me. But it was a last-minute test and we had very limited time on track. I thought the bike was pret- ty good for what it was. I didn't go with any preconceived ideas of what to expect. I just rode the bike and spoke to the team and they reacted to what I wanted and we got to a point where I was pretty happy with the bike." Even at 50, McWilliams has still shown to be competitive. But he is being realistic about racing in Moto2 with a new bike. "It's, of course… you don't know how competitive that bike will be and certainly I've got to consider that me jumping into an- other championship which is far more competitive than just step- ping into an XR1200 race at Indy," McWilliams said. "This is the real deal. This is going to be really dif- ficult to be competitive, but there are no big expectations. We want to test and race at the same time and get feedback so that the team can make a decision on what to change and where to go forward in the future." McWilliams said in addition to helping the project and the team move forward, the opportunity was something that he felt had to be explored. "I had the organizer call me and ask me would I be prepared to do it, you know, that means a lot," McWilliams said. "When you've got Dorna and IRTA call- ing you and asking you, would this be something that you think you'd be interested in, you have to take a little bit of notice. They're very sure what age I am and op- portunities like this don't pop up for 50-year-old riders to race in what is deemed to be a young class full of really hot-headed rid- ers. It's a cutthroat class. If you watch Moto2 you can under- stand it's really competitive all the way down to the very last group. I had to consider that before say- ing yes, but I think an opportunity like this is something that needs to at least be explored. And if we completely bomb, it won't be from the lack of trying. We'll be putting in one hundred percent on the weekend." Andrea Wilson SHEEHAN CROWNED IN X-FIGHTERS T he 14th Red Bull X-Fighters season went out with a roar on Saturday at the first-ever World Tour final held in Africa. In a no-holds-barred battle, Australia's Josh Sheehan was unstop- pable, winning the event and his first Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour title in front of a sold-out crowd of 22,000. The 28-year-old Aussie dominated the competition, winning every heat by unanimous decision to earn his first championship. Spain's Dany Tor- res finished strong in second for the day, with American Adam Jones earn- ing his first podium of the season in third. Australian Josh Sheehan is the 2014 Red Bull X- Fighters Champion after a victory in the season finale in South Africa. PHOTOGRAPHY BY RED BULL CONTENT POOL continued on page 32

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