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Jason Steel - Our man on the ground - in Europe and other places - from time to time keeps us informed on what it is like being a Kiwi boy in a pretty big pond..
His MXoN account is a great read.
PS: I think Jace actually gets paid some money too!
It is well worth taking a trip to - AlpineStars.Com
Hello Bill.
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, however as usual work has been calling and shipping me round more than a UPS parcel !
Where do I start... I don\'t remember where I was the last time we spoke so I guess I will go back to Laguna Seca WSBK, that was a goodie!
It was exactly 5 years earlier that I last went to that race, I was 23 and working with Yamaha and decided I was just going to hop on a plane and go. I remember that year I meet up and traveled with the guys at Yamaha America and we had a great time, I met Haga, Rainey and Russell all for the first time. I now work closely with Nori and we get on great, I dare not tell him about that first meeting and the photo I had with him as a simple fan...
Laguna this year was a big achievement for me, I left that race 5 years ago telling myself that the next time I go back it would be `cause I was working there, and this time I was. I had been to three other rounds of the AMASBK this year working on the technical development there and training up our two Racing guys, so I was in California this time to continue that as well as follow the WSBK, which as you know was racing there with them.
At the same time the first Red Bull AMA Supermotard was on, so my main reason for me being there was to gauge this and dial in some new gear on our top AMA riders. I have to say, it was very cool to be apart of this event! I\'m talking - I was able to work with guys like Jeremy McGrath, Jeff Ward, Mike Metzger, Mike Cinqmire, Kenny Bartram, Jeff (the chicken) Mastavich (spelt wrong), Mickey Diamond, Kevin Scwantz, Doug Chandler, Travis Pastrana, Chris Carr and Kurt Nicol. I mean it was the who\'s who of American racing both road and MX, it was a serious buzz to just watch all these guys ride together let alone get to talk and mix with them all in the same days... very cool. The best part was watching Kurt Nicol (Now head of KTM racing) kick their arse! He is the man. Kurt was a hero of mine when first starting as a Moto fan back at school!
Anyway, that was a cool event, but no time for rest, Sunday night it was 6 hours back to LA to have meetings, then back on a plane to Italy and off again to a GP somewhere. I think, then it was to England for Brands Hatch WSBK and a huge after party on the Sunday night (lets just say I have many incriminating photos of many people...)
Brands ended a 3 month solid stint of work... I had a weekend off then was to Brno in Czech Republic for the GP then back on the Monday and fly to Majorca for a week holiday. I got back on the Wednesday morning and got a call 6pm Thursday night telling me I had to go back to America at 12 the next day... cut a long story short, left at noon Friday, 8 hours to Boston (was meant to be Washington but missed all flights) arrived at 9pm, left by rental car at 11.30pm for the second round of the AMA Supermotard, got to the track 5 hours south of Washington at 11.30am Saturday (yeah, a 12 hour drive through the night, I was popping no doze like candy). Did the race there working on some new gear for McGrath and Ward, left the race at 10pm, straight to hotel, up at 8am 5 hours back to Washington and 8 hour flight back home, hours drive to office and walked in at 11.30am Monday morning... Tuesday in the office and 4am Wednesday was off again for a 2 day, 2500km drive to Portugal for the Moto GP, left again 5am Monday ended up 26 hours home - 2 days, in the office for two days, then up at 3.30am Friday and 14 hours to Erne on the other side of Paris for the MXGP final round.
Yeah... time for another holiday...
Anyway, this sort of brings you up to where I have been recently... I was able to do the Des Nations and this was to be a big event. I sorted the boys with customary gray/Black/White riding gear with an addition to Townley pants... check out photos if you can, lets just say T-Dog is the man!
I admit I am a bit patriotic and had a few euros on the line to who was going to win, well that we would beat America anyway...
I think BT got a bit weighted down with the pressures of everyone banking so strongly that NZ will do the business. For me and what I have seen this year, I was more than positive the the boys could come away with a 2nd finishing only behind Belgium, as both BT and JC have been so strong over the last GPs. BT had a not great Saturday Qualifying and I think it pissed him off more than anything, Josh was on the gas and so was Kingie. We finished up with a perfect position at the end of the day with Belgium 1st, NZ 2nd and America 3rd. This was perfect as we beat America (right up them it was!) but more so, when the groups were picked, odd numbers went to group 1 and even numbers went to group 2, so this meant Belgium had to race America in the first one and NZ had to race... well lets just say Josh holeshoted from the middle of the gate (he is doing this allot lately... legend) and ran away uncontested to win the race by 15 seconds.
BT gated not too bad and despite his not so good day Saturday, he dug deep and was carving everyone up putting NZ into 1st place with a third of the race done... then he went down somewhere and was back in 25th! But BT has the one thing that will lead him to a World Championship one day soon... GUTZ, man that kid rode twice as good after his crash to what he did before and went from 25th to 5th... it was as if everyone else was riding a different track s BT just rode past them all, then at 5th he went down hard again dropping him self back to 12th. Despite a lovely raspberry on his inner thigh, the kid gutzed it back to 8th to give NZ the win. BT the Legend a real T-Dog!
Again this position gave NZ second pick after America as they beat Belgium in their race. Josh went to the center of the gate again and I instantly put a 100 euro bet with the guys with me that he would holeshot... he was even with Everts and Smets round turn 1 and second at turn 2. He settled into 5th and finished the race there. BT never got a great jump from the gate and as he came into turn 1 he slowed up to miss a downed rider only to be hit and fully taken out by someone behind him... game over! BT rode back to the garage devastated. The first thing he said to me after the race was \"Sorry...\" Sorry for what, I said? Ben Townley has something in him that is rare. It is something that will take him to where he belongs... on top! I\'m not sure if it is just his Guts determination, his Passion, but there is something! Ben was not only broken that he went down in the first turn but he was more upset that he let everyone at home down. He never told me this, but I could see it.
Josh and Kingie were also down. Kingie rode like the legend he is and was able to finish 14th with only one hand grip! We were unfortunate to only come 4th, but America was lucky to finish 2nd, Hughes went out early on in the race, and Ferry had a big off near the end and was luck to get going again, it could have easily been a different story.
To look at the what if\'s... if Ben had not have been taken out, he would have been top ten with out a doubt, if Kingie had not lost his grip he might have gone top 10, if Josh was able to get past Gordon Crockard it might have made a difference and put us on the podium and no doute ahead of America. But it dont matter, the boys gave it there all and did better than what they should have considering all the injuries they are recovering from between them. As far as I am concerned they did me more than Proud!
For me, the guys looked great, all the team had really cool team gear with the silver fern on the back, the guys all had matching gear, Josh and Ben with Alpinestars and Kingie with No Fear, however the colors were a perfect match. All the guys represented NZ proudly and had rave review from all those I spoke to.
In addition to this event was the New Zealand supporters... oh my god! All I will say is Scrimmy and the boys came out from London all wearing there Red Alpinestars T-shirt printed up with Team NZ on the back, the sliver fern on the chest and there name on the front. I was in the beer tent Saturday night and the boys were doing the Haka, singing the National Anthem, doing running scrums with each other and anyone who got in the way and all in all, representing the home land well! Check out the AWESOME - Pics Here:
Anyway, Des Nations is over for another year as is the World Championship. My work isn\'t as I head off to France for the last round of the WSBK and another big after party... I will take photos. I come straight back from that Monday and leave again Tuesday for the World Rally in Barcelona for a week, then stay on and head down to Valencia for the final round of the Moto GP and a legendry after party Sunday night. I think I have a weekend off after that, then its Bercy SX, a Supermotard, then into Worlds Championship SX in Spain and Holland, so that will be fun.
Finally I think I will be home on the 22nd of December and there for 5 weeks. Currently I\'m on the hunt for a MX bike for that time so I can get away from everything, so if you know anyone who can sort one out, there could be a set of Tech 8\'s in it for them! [Offers of a bike for Jace Here: ]
Anyway, I hope this is enough for you and you can get some idea on what things have been like.
Take care,
Jace
Jason Steele
Racing Development
AlpineStars.Com
