    |
 |
|
|
|
Whack! Crash! I got taken out of the F2 TT !
After all the hectic work during the week to install the new head gasket on the Thundercat I was hit from behind in the 9th lap of the F2 TT on Sunday.
During Saturday\'s practice the bike ran perfectly with no water consumption so things looked like they were going well. I managed a personal best of 1:08.14 during the 2nd practice session and was hoping to keep on the tail of \"Jase the Ace\" who managed to post a 1:07.56 in qualifying.
Sunday morning weather was fine and warm with almost no breeze. I was starting in 13th and last position alongside Jason and didn\'t get the best of starts. And managed to let Jason slip away from me for about 100m before I started to bring my lap times down. Dad said it was in the 9th lap and my times were in the low 1:09\'s when the crash happened.
I had just turned onto the right hander going over the hill onto the front straight when I was hit from behind just above the elbow. I must have been at about 13,000rpm in 3rd around 180km/h and was forced upright and I braked as hard as I could. The last thing I remember is not quite running off the track, and then waking up in the ambulance 10 or 15 mins later.
Off to Middlemore where I was diagnosed with mild concussion and a broken left ankle. So here I am within 1 day of exactly 3 years after I broke my right ankle on the farm at 8km/h...stuck in plaster for 6 weeks over Christmas.
You should see the bike! It must have cartwheeled down the track as almost everything is damaged. The motor itself looks OK though.
Here\'s a list of what I saw this morning:
It\'s going to be a while before I go racing again as financially I can\'t afford to rebuild the bike. I know I\'m not the fastest guy out there but I did do the 4 hour without incident and I had just been passed by the 3 front guys and was keeping a constant line to be passed predictably. So my only fault was to be on the track. Hopefully I can salvage something for next year.
