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Daytona Fall Cycle Scene Saturday Report

Posted by Kenn Stamp
Monday, 29 October 2007
Page 3 of 5 While trying to find them I ran across the Richie Morris Racing Team frantically pushing their #8 Buell XBR1200 into their tent. Turns out that the chain had jumped both sprockets and they were frantically trying to fix the issue. It looked like it lunched the rear sprocket so they put a new wheel on the back. It also seemed that it might have bent an exhaust bracket or something under the bike as they were working under there as well. It really was cool watching these guys almost reading each other's minds and getting tools almost before they were asked for them. I finally found Alan and Marc and they were doing a great job with the interviews. Marc was doing so good that I figured I'd let him just keep doing them instead of doing some myself. He and I think a lot alike when it comes to what people want to see and I look forward to working with him and Alan again as they are both very professional. I've included a link to the video page at the end of this article so that you can go check out their work. In general everyone I met at the track was very nice from the privateer on up to the professional, they all were willing to talk with us. Not everyone was having a great day as endurance racing is a race of attrition. Brett Ray of R&R Racing was one of the unlucky ones. His Aprilia's were not having a good day out there on the track and they were unable to finish. Through it all though Brett still said that he was having fun and was glad they came. We did get an interview with Scott Russell on video as well. It is a quick one as he had just come back from high-siding his bike and was probably a little sore. Personally, if someone wanted to interview me right after I did a Superman impression I would probably have told them where they could stick their mic; Scott however was all smiles and good cheer and willingly submitted to having a mic in his face. He certainly is a world class guy. I saw some amazing spirit out there during the Moto-ST race; from racers willing to talk and laugh about their bike dying, to Jay Springsteen pushing the Pair O Nines crew to put a new motor in their #9 bike so they could at least go out and finish the race. The riders and crews dedication, persistence, and an unwillingness to give up, was a constant reminder of the passion that comes with racing. I was very impressed and a little awed by the attitudes of those around me. The high point of my entire weekend (I'm a little embarrassed to say this) was after the Moto-ST race on Sat night. I had met Cory West (we publish his race reports) earlier in the day and we talked for a minute. He said that he reads the site which I thought was cool and he would love to do a quick interview with us. After the interview we shook hands and we both went back to work. The Roadracingworld.com team won the event with Cory taking the checkered flag so everyone was very happy in their pit area. As the top riders were walking toward the podium, I felt a tap on my back. I turned around to find Cory West had tapped me to say goodbye and to thank me talking with him! Now I'm not one to idolize anybody and I certainly don't go all gooey when I'm talking to someone famous, but this was absolutely awesome! That was definitely my high point. There really was entirely too much that went on that weekend to write down in an article. Stuff like watching the #46 BMW's headlight dangling on the right side of the bike due to a crash with the #24 Ducati, as the rider flogged the bike for all it was worth down the straight trying to catch the leading #18 Suzuki. Walking 50 feet and seeing the yellow # 24 Ducati and it's 16 year old rider that caused the crash that made the light dangle on the BMW as the crew asked him if he was alright and stared at the bike. Trying to capture all the activity and feeling that go on during a racing event (especially an 8 hour event) is almost impossible. I had decided that, since it was the first race that I was able to attend as the editor of 2wf.com and Roadracingworld.com was covering all the details of the race itself, I would do more of an "experience" piece. I know that there was a lot more that I saw and experienced during my time at the track but unless I make this article 20 pages long I'll never cover it all. The next two pages are basically a photo album of all the pics that I didn't use in this article. I'll also post up a quick text and pictorial of my day at Daytona on Sunday as well within the next week or so. Click here for the video link. After you get to the video homepage go to the pull down menu on the right side of the page and click on Daytona Fall 2007. This will bring up all the video taken at Daytona. You can also go to our forum here to comment on the article and pictures << Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 Next > End >>

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