Saying Goodbye - Where Was Everyone? - Rd Atlanta

One could say, the Championship is/was (and now has been won by Ben Spies) and that's why the crowds just didn't materialise at Road Atlanta. Typically, Friday's are easy to move around, Saturday and Sunday are really difficult. This weekend was so different. Less people camped out, the vendor area was full of people trying to sell their goods and services but to whom?
I think that there were possibly more people at an early season test at Infineon than there were at Road Atlanta. Shame. Could it be the DMG vs the OEM's is finally coming to a head? Maybe folks are upset that perhaps they perceive DMG are going after Mladin, being that he has been extremely candid on their plans for the AMA Superbike series. I'm not gong to get into it here, but for whatever reason, people were not there in their masses. Which saddens me. Humidity and heat aside, I like Road Atlanta and i like going to the South. I couldn't live there, but for four days I enjoy the hospitality, the weird clay and even weirder bugs.

On the ground and in the paddock with the teams and riders there was an air of reflection. This was the first race weekend since Toriano Wilson had died at VIR. There was a feeling reverence around the Red Bull Rookies bivouac. Outside of the entrance to the "garage" there stood a portrait of the young man aboard his KTM125 and a above it a lovely portrait of Toriano (taken on the stairs to the media centre at Barber). You could say it was more of a shrine. But an interactive one, whereby people were encourage to say a few words, whatever around his image. A nice touch. The epitaphs were extremely moving written my riders, fellow rookies, whoever felt moved to say a few words in passing.

Moving on, this week you'll find me going back to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to follow up the the test I covered back in July. This time, it's the whole MotoGP circus. 125's, 250's and the GP bikes. I am thrilled to be able to cover this event, even though my knees are finally giving up the ghost. Hopefully they'll last until I'm done with the season, my last race being the MotoGP at Valencia. With that in mind, I'll sign off, and we'll see you there.

Looking At The Sky - Maybe The Last Thing You'll See?

I was going to blog some race images here but...

It's taken me a whiles to look at my images from the entire weekend. To put things in perspective. As a motorcycle rider who was seriously injured, and almost died as a result of being hit on the road by a drunk driver when I was 16, I looked at the ambulances, the medical paraphernalia that was being deployed after not even a half of the first lap of Sunday mornings Red Bull Rookie Cup race and the first thought that came to mind was, you know, when you have a motorcycle accident you either don't know what happened (re: you're unconscious), your either look at the ground because that's the way you end up, or you look at the sky (again because that's the way you end up). Subsequently, you either watch feet run towards you, or you have lots of people fussing over you in this totally surreal "am I going to die" feeling akin to coming out of anesthetic where the nurse will gently tap your face and go "c'mon Andrew, wake up, wake up"...or you simply have no clue because.

In this image, the first ambulance on the left, a little 14 year old racer is being transferred to ultimately be taken taken on his last journey. Sadly, the 14 year old Bermudan was seriously injured and died of his injuries following an accident on the first lap of the Red Bull Rookies cup. When one knows what happens, the length of time it takes to do "things", watching the little guys leathers being cut off, and if this has happened to you, you know that things aren't going to turn out well. What struck me as this little boy, with huge dreams was being wheeled into the ambulance was the laughter and cheer cheer coming over the PA, obviously unbeknownst to the MC of the event. But for me, it just seemed so odd. It wasn't even sunny, it was grey, and less than two hours before I took a photo of this potential champ doing what he loved.

Sorry to be so gloomy, but as I wrote a whiles ago, I still maintain I wish I had this opportunity when I was a kid.

My thoughts, love and karma go to his parents. Also to Kevin Schwantz. Just spending 10 minutes in his prescence chatting with these kids could see they meant something special to him and the knowledge he imparted was priceless.

I leave for Atlanta early tomorrow morning 8/28. See you there. ..on a lighter note and to give you something a little happier to leave with, I spent a nice hour or so chatting with Eric on Rumblestrip Radio this morning about what I do...if you've got an Ipod and want a podcast and wonder what someone who comes from the West Country of England sounds like, click the link...!

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

I was only 11 years old."What do you want to be when you grow up" I was asked by my career counsellor just prior to the transition from junior school to secondary school. This question was being asked to help the counsellor pick the right "O level" courses for you to take when you finally arrived at your designated secondary school."A racing driver" I replied. For some reason this caused the counsellor to laugh at me as if I had just told him that I could fly or walk on water. My mum and dad knew this was what I wanted to do, but opportunities for go-karting or Metrakit bikes just wasn't there when I was only 11.When you consider how much I am involved with the racing industry these days, it is a comment that hasn't really resurfaced (nor affects my day to day life) but lurks in the back of my mind and pops up from time to time. One of those times was this week when I attended the Red Bull Rookies Testing last Wednesday at Laguna Seca (thanks Jordan).Watching and listening to these excited young men with very boyish faces being talked to and coached by Kevin Schwantz, I felt for a brief moment the same enthusiasm and pure joy of what I would've felt if I had been able to have that same opportunity. It was a lovely day for me. Lot's of smiles.Daytona next...