2004 Cr250r Motor Honda !! on 2040-motos

Moto blog

Schwantz and Mackenzie on the Nurburgring box

A 500GP bike never fails to stop me in my tracks and that’s exactly what happened when I spotted this Schwantz example from the early nineties, proudly displayed on the Arai stand at the recent Motorcyclelive show.  On loan from Crescent Suzuki and accompanied by a rostrum publicity shot from the 1990 German GP at the Nurburgring, I felt the urge to write a few words on that special weekend. I started the year running my own 250 GP team with fairly standard TZ Yamahas but was drafted in as Kevin Schwantz’s team mate after Kevin Magee suffered a serious head injury at the second Grand Prix in Laguna Seca.  With no testing and some major Spanish food poisoning I finished 8th at the next round in Jerez then followed that up with a 5th place in Misano. Next up was the Nurburgring and after qualifying on the second row of the grid, my crew chief Geoff Crust informed me he had a premonition of a race day rostrum finish. He also told me I better make it come true as he was already looking forward to a few post race celebratory refreshments. While I hoped Crusty was the new mystic meg, the truth was I would have been more than happy to buy the beers if I made it to the flag inside the top five. I had an outside chance of catching one major scalp as Wayne Rainey was riding with a nasty hand injury but I suspected adrenalin would see him through the day. I also followed Mick Doohan a fair bit in practice but he was beginning to find his feet on the Rothmans Honda so was going to be another problem.  When the lights went out Schwantz and Rainey went straight to the front I while I hung in behind Doohan and Pier Francesco Chilli, and then it happened. Coming out of the bottom right hand hairpin, Doohan and Chilli simultaneously high sided in one of the most spectacular crashes of the season. I never liked seeing any fellow riders crash but I made the most of this early race gift and rode my 160bhp/115kg RGV hard to the flag, claiming my first podium of the season.  We partied hard (win or lose we always did) that night and I went on to have my best ever season finishing fourth overall in the championship. After the last round in Australia, I finished second to Kevin at Sugo in Japan then won in Malaysia at another international race that KS didn’t attend. I also tested at Eastern Creek for the following season but then was flicked from the team for reasons that still remain a mystery. Hey Ho!       

Isle of Man TT 2013: Monster Energy Supersport Race 2 Results

The Michael Dunlop Show continues with the 24-year-old Northern Irish racer winning his fourth race of the 2013 Isle of Man TT. His latest triumph was a victory in the second Monster Energy Supersport race, making Dunlop just the third rider to ever record four wins in a single TT week. Like his win in the Royal London 360 Superstock race, Dunlop ran most of the race in second place before setting a blazing final lap time for a come-from-behind win.

Stocking filler suggestion: 3

Before going out on my high-powered motorcycle I always like to make sure that I'm wearing clean boxers with good elastic. Having once been admitted to A&E in a tatty pair of shreddies that weren't only on inside out (improved mileage) but were also on back to front (got dressed in the dark) and - if that wasn't already embarrassing enough - the elastic in the waistband had gone, too. Deep shame.To avoid any similar thunder-pant faux-pas, Red Torpedo have decided to run a Christmas offer so that everyone can get a pair of funky Crawford pants in a tin to put in their stocking as well as a "pick your own" brand new PRIMO quality t-shirt all for £25 - a festive saving of ten, whole English pounds.