4 guys and their ducatis taking to the track.
Timmy has edited together Ed’s unfortunate incident at Morgan Park 8-8-10.
Unfortunately Ed lost the front at turn 11 on first race of the day on Sunday (Race 2 for the weekend), he was a bit sore but with the help of the trusty pit crew was able to make it back out for the remaining 2 races.
Pictures are up from the Qld Bear meet run at Morgan Park in May 2010.
Visit the Photo Gallery page for loads more pics.
The long awaited BEARS meet, Tim and I have been looking forward to this for a mighty long time.
The cancelled 2009 QLD meet, the bickering on the BEARS forum admittedly dimmed the gloss, however all was forgiven the minute we arrived amongst all the gorgeous machinery.
And yes I did arrive late, albeit with a fresh haircut and a packed lunch …..
Fri practice started with a 5 minute run followed by waiting for the recovery van, that damn clutch drive plate got stuck behind the slipper clutch hub again leaving me with six speeds of neutral ….ARRGGGHHH… Thanks to Alex from LAE it was a quick fix and I started the search for my 2009 1.12 pb ….alas no such joy
Sat qualifying and I try to take some video footage just as Timmy comes sailing past ….and promptly takes of into the midfield through the dirt mounds and grass to show me just how much more composed the 900M is with the new Ohlins rear shock. Impressive stuff …though I would have reduced the rebound a tad …
Qualifying does not go too well as my pb is nowhere to be found and Timmy is insufferable as he gets quicker and quicker and he’s pipped me by a nano-second to qualify ahead of me…. First you have to beat your team mate … I try to hit him with a mallet but his sixth sense sees him duck and weave through the pits.
Sat racing and true to form he takes of like a scalded cat in both races as I am relegated to the back of the pack and I weave my way through the hordes and catch him under brakes ..finally …. After epic T1 braking manoeuvres that have spectators and flag marshal’s in stitches…… the RAD02 ran well, the rider …well he just kinda sat there going along for the ride …. Must relax and get my vision issues sorted.
Sunday morning racing and we are suitably rested. Race one … and more of the same… wave goodbye to Timmy and then reel him in … super smooth until I keep clicking into false neutrals …bugger bugger … everyone floats past as I avoid the carnage of bikes crashing all over the place in T4, I work my way back into the tail pack and I get past Timmy keeping the score at 3-0 in the Timmy vs Ed tables.
Race two … I stall it on the start (oh dear … here we go again) and work my way back from last into the middle of the pack, I pass Timmy and frustration sees me going quicker and quicker I start catching some riders …. Until target fixation sees me spearing of the track and onto a new section of track that’s still not open…. my mind registers the crash barriers blocking the new track …. Arrgghhhh…. World’s snappiest u-turn and rejoin from dead last again … I chase down the tail group and hunt for Timmy, getting on his tail on the last lap metres before the line …Timmy gets me with 0.026 close …. Watch the video …. Well done Timmy!
Race three and I stall it again … woefully and watch everyone take of around T1 as I get stuck behind a mobile traffic jam too long and watch Timmy take line honours in the distance …well played young man …well played ….
Thanks as always to the Cuskelly gang for their hospitality, beverages and aspirin and our supporters who came out and helped and joined in the laughter. Stay tuned for the next instalment.
I’ll admit, I was a little aprehensive going into this race meet. I mean, these guys are serious, national racers with fully sorted and trick machines. What will they think of two numpty’s rocking up in a smurf van with bikes that look like they’ve been cobbled together from left over parts in the garage? I needn’t have worried and all my fears were allayed within the first 5 minutes of meeting the BEARS racers. They’re actually just as crazy as us.
For the first time ever, I managed to get to Pete and Jo’s before it got dark on the night before practise, giving us a chance to put some time into working on the Monster. Seeing as how the engine actually started this time, the most important task was to fit the Ohlins rear shock. We were in what could only be described as a state of confusion when twenty minutes later, the new shock was fitted and we were sitting around scratching our heads looking for things to do. We settled on drinking beer.
Ed was a bit late to Friday practice. Apparently, a hot cooked breakfast, a haircut and a packed lunch were his priorities that morning. Yes boys and girls, Ed rocked up to the race track with a neatly packed lunch, a vast improvement over our usual canned tuna and stale bread rolls. And wasn’t he proud of it too?
Most of Friday was spent trying to relearn the track, but I’m pleased to say I knocked 1.4 seconds of my time and set a new PB of 1.14.0. Finally, my laps are measured in minutes and seconds not the lunar phases.
Qualifying on Saturday morning taught me another valuable lesson. Always, always, always check you have fuel before you go out. I managed to make one lap before the engine cut out, leaving me with the indignation of the walk of shame back from Turn 2.
Race 4 on Sunday was when it really started to get interesting for me. Ed, still having clutch problems, got off to a shocking start but managed to reel the pack in over the first few laps before taking a rather unorthodox line into turn 8 and inspecting the new (and as yet unopened) track extension. I was right behind him at this point and I will admit to a sense of relief when I thought I wouldn’t have to worry about our personal tussles for the rest of the race. With two laps to go I decided that despite making gains on the motard in front of me, I didn’t have enough laps left to catch him. So I backed off a little. Big, big mistake. Ed had managed to pull a rapid u-turn and was back on the track hunting me down. I was only a couple of corners ahead of him going into the last lap and thinking all was sweet with the world, but Ed was under the influence of the red mist and was determined catch me. I really had no idea he was anywhere near me, until I saw his front tyre as we came out of the final corner onto the straight. If you want to see what a margin of 0.026 seconds looks like from on board, check out the video below.
I’m told that Ed and I provided much entertainment for the crowd over the weekend with our late braking manoeuvres into turn 1. I will neither confirm or deny rumours that we were sitting side by side on the straight at 100mph, looking squarely at each other (not the rapidly approaching corner) waiting to see who was going to brake first.
I ended up with three 4ths, a 5th and a 6th putting me 4th overall for the weekend in Formula 5. I’m happy with that and all in all it was a fantastic weekend of racing and plans are afoot to catch up with the BEARS boys at the Phillip Island round at the end of the year.
A mention in despatches and my heartfelt thanks must go to:
Cus – For picking me up on Thursday and sending me on my way with the mighty Kia van and an Ikea bed jigsaw puzzle.
Pete & Jo – For giving us a bed, feeding us beer and chilli liqueur and putting up with my hopeless darts playing abilities. For the record, I will not hear a bad word said about Jo’s cooking, it was absolutely delicious.
Dean & Paul – For putting up with our antics in the next pit bay and kindly replacing my fuel cap which, for some strange reason, I had decided was superfluous to my requirements.
Timmy
The boys have unloaded the vans and started writing their race reports but we have on board footage to check exactly how big the tales are…
Timmy has edited up a full length race video with on board footage from Edu’s Rad (Radical Ducati), complete with a slow start so he made sure he got everyone in the movie.
Hopefully Cus will edit up a highlights package soon… Watch this space.
After a year of carefully planning their assault onto the BEARS (British European American Racing Series) Team Hustler is as ill equipped as they were a year ago.
With batteries charged, oil changes completed and clean socks the boys are entering their trusty 900M Monster and RAD02 in round 3 of the National BEARS round at Morgan Park.
It is destined to be a weekend of excitement, with practice, qualifying and racing over 3 glorious days, tactics, tuning and preparation will, as always, have no part to play in this team. The worship of false idols, tequila and rounded spanners will again determine the success or failure for this fearless duo.
Their race pace will be determined by crowd support, hugs, tequila, laughter and cheering, motivating them to avoid the wooden spoon and strive for midfield mediocrity
Timmy and Ed are pumped (which is more then can be said about their rear tyre pressures). Their steadfast crew of Philthy and Cus have abandoned them for the weekend, due to imaginary family obligations (the reality is that humiliation on a national scale is too much for them …. whereas Timmy and Ed have tinted visors to protect their indentity and pride)
So come one, come all and marvel at how two clowns can lap Morgan Park in lunar cycles whilst there is actual racing taking place around them.
As always our riders are happy to sign autographs, and unlike other teams we sign whilst we race….. just wave from the sidelines to attract their attention and run along with them whilst they sign your team Hustler shirt. It’s all about the fans after all…
Some would call it a highlights package, some call it a lowlights package… =)
Following footage and few pics are taken from round 3 of the southern downs championship run by Motorcycle Sportsmen of Qld @ Morgan Park.
Big thanks to Kenty for the footage, Pete for putting us up all weekend, Eddy and Timmy for the “entertainment”, Coopers for the hangover, Phil for tuning and last minute prep, and Bevan from Eurotwins for trying to get Cus back out and racing on the Ducati TT2 to no avail (not this round anyways).
Will look alot better once its painted by still looks the goods now, this is the TT2 after the post race bonding session:
Email us or leave a comment if you want a hi res version for whatever reason.
Edu has wisely invested in a GOPRO Motorsports hero camera, it took a while for us to figure out but we are currently downloading and editing the videos, here is a teaser of Edu, Cus and Pete trying to get it working….
Hopefully the next few videos will be better quality! at least visually….
More pics will be added in the coming days so check back to this post regularly.
Johns trackday/race report to come soon!