11 bike pile up. Thanks Simon Fourie. One of the races at Kyalami, was winter bitterly cold out there on the bike. We used to race cars and bikes on the same day and qualify the same day. Well this day was not a good one. we started going out for our qualfying practice and I was one of the first guys to to go out. I get to Crowthorn, first lap fist corner (again) not going to fast but down I go. Get off the track and I see Robbie Petersons bike parked there.he had also crashed. A car had dropped oil and the marshalls had not dried it up properly. . Practice ends and we collect our bikes. Now his is more damaged than mine. I think Kawasaki lent it to him to race. So he lets me take the parts that are broken on my bike off his so I can race. thanks Robbie. My helmet and visor are a little bashed up so I duct tape the visor to the helmet. This was a race with the 550s and 750s racing together but different classes. I did not get a time in so I have to start on the left hand side at the back of the grid. now me being lighter than most I always got very very good starts. Those days we had a red light and a green light.As the red light goes off the green goes on. I always watched the red and dropped the clutch when it went off. Not when the green came on. we were away I dived off the track on the flipping concrete ripple stripabout 2 meters wide and tried passing there. It worked but the ripples in the concrete gave me a massive never ending tank slapper until I came back on track. By the time we got to crowthorne I was in 6th position in the 550 class. The one phot below shows Sinon Fourie on The rocket Ducati Pantah. we get into the straight and he thunders away sitting in the 750 slipstream. Could not even stay in his slipstream. By the time I get down to Crowthorne I brake very very late and make up my ground on Simon. He has the bike tilted over just before the apex and smoke pours out of the back of the bike. Me thinks ahh, he has blown his motor. i lift the bike a bit to go around him when Bam down he goes with me following. I get up run to the outside of the track take helmet off and kick it like a rugby ball, because i was so pissed. I thought to myself you had to go and over do it again, trying too hard. Next thing I see more bikes going down. The marshalls are waving yellow flags. The front 750 s come around and I am halfway in the track trying to wave them down at the same time screaming at them. They could not hear.the front runner went down I think it was Anthony Fourie on the Kawasaki, I scream at the marshalls to get hold of the Race director to stop the race on their two way radios. Those days they never used the red flag, I am not sure if they even new where it was. The bikes come around again and more guys go down. 11 bikes eventually fell that day and had an influence on the out come of the 750 championship that year. Later we find out that one of the side plugs that the Ducatis have fell out and as he leaned it over jt spewed oil all over his tire and backend. and onto the track. That was way too much oil to ride through.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 04:01:44 +0000
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