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Our `Man on the Ground` in Europe writes:
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you about Holland SXGP, but work has been a bit out of control and I never got in to the office until yesterday.
Holland SXGP round 2...
Well this was a cold one, ice and rain, below zero outside... no fun there, inside was the place to be. The stadium was a good size, seating about 25,000. Holland had gorged on MX for years but starved of SX, so the crowd turn out was not so hot, only about 18,000.
They had a local support 125 class... embarrassing to say the least...! I\'m talking if I had ridden I would have finished on the podium... in fact if anyone had come over and ridden, it would have been a great opportunity to show up in front of the pickers and choosers of the industry, the level of riding was a joke. I was sitting with Davide Vuillemin during one race and he nearly had tears in his eyes watching them come over the triple jump and casing it on the double! not only once, but every lap! it was more entertainment than racing.
During the track walk on Friday, all gathered around the face of the landing ramp of the finish line double to take photos of a perfect imprint of a painful moment for one support guy... he rolled it on coming out of the turn onto the finish line jump during practice the day before, found himself in a too higher gear and fell from the sky 3 meters too short of the down ramp. he came up so short that he landed straight into the face of the double but at a perfect angle to leave a perfect impression of the bottom of the bike buried into the face... I\'m talking, he left wheel marks that were half a foot deep & between them was a perfect frame and engine stamp showing the sump plug and you could read the Alpinestars logo in the boot marks... The guy never broke anything and was able to ride the main... lets just say this same guy rolled the finish line double!
The race was good, Chad was on fire, but DV was full of the flue, so he never really showed what he had. MC had a shit start and never made a impression of any kind, but for me, I go not to see him win, just to see the guy ride... He is like no other, so much control, style, passion, the guy is a legend and never disappoints.
The track was really cool, big triples, timing sections, real technical like the USA so was good to see, but the race was a bit like follow the leader, but cool all the same.
I forgot to tell you that Ben Townley was at Geneva, we spent a heap of time catching up and talking about things, he is happy in the States and is learning heaps off the big MC, Jeremy is spending time with the 125 team helping them out and talks allot to Ben and Brett Metcalfe.
I have to say, I\'m used to seeing little Drop Bear running around Taupo with the boys, not sitting talking with Jeremy McGrath and Stefan Everts as he was in Geneva... ohh how our boys grow up so fast!
No more races for me now for a few weeks. I think GP and WSBK testing, so that will keep me out of trouble for some time. I stay here for Christmas and New Year. No time to go home this year... just have to get used to the -6deg, outside that it is.
I have just received word that I am to go to Daytona in March for the Speed Week... yeah, pretty cool, eh. I\'m going there to work with the AMA SBK guys and the SX boys again, needless to say, I do look forward to that...
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I think? this guy gets paid for doing this !!
