Whale it sure is a good thing that it’s almost time for Formula 1 to begin, eh? As I was hunkerin’ for some racing action and decided to watch some of the craziest road racers out there, by dropping in for this weekend’s AMA Daytona 200, being held underneath the lights for the very first time in its 68th running.
Interestingly, the Speed Freaks very first guest Sunday night was none other then Ben bostrom, whose interview was followed up by the question: Which is more intense racing? Formula 1 cars or AMA Motorcycles; to which “Stat Man Caruthers pointed out even though the G-Forces are amazing in F1, try watching “Scooter” piloto’s throw a two wheel bike into a corner with one knee touching and ratcheting their speed down from 190+ to 50mph in just mere seconds!
And what a doozy of a race it was... As it seemed like a very chaotic event, as these ultimate Sports bikes have NO headlights and thus, when the lighting fails... Like it did during the midpoint of the race, that’s NOT a good thing, eh? Especially when it’s in the portion of track where the hairpin is, and thus after a Yellow flag was thrown and a pace car dispatched, one of the 75 competitors smashed into the back of another stationary Scooter causing a Red flag period. Then another Yellow flag had to be thrown as the Pace Car had waived everybody around, including the race leader... OOPS! And that’s not to mention the rider who’d repaired his bike with duct tape... So, it was a very messy race indeed!
And then the following night, going for a double scoop of Scooter racing... I tuned-in for the Supercross throw down, which pitted James Stewart against Chad Reid for the points lead as they were tied coming into the event... As I’ve just been informed that 20yr old Ryan Villopoto, who was picked as Stewart’s replacement at Kawasaki is a home grown talent, coming from Paulsbo, WA. And the Final Heat was a wild one, as there was the usual hole shot melee... Which saw Stewart go down and then try riding away on the wrong motorcycle! Uhm? Thanks for picking my bike up, now get off of it, uze hears! As Reid went on to capture his second win in a row while Stewart worked his way up to seventh with a broken fender, tweaked steering and no helmet visor...
And to think there’s less than three weeks to go until the Australian Grand Prix...
Bostrom wins Daytona 200
