Guitar Hero!
Published: 08th May 2008
Author: Words by Billy MacKenzie Photo by Andrew Ferguson
Billy rocks out at home and abroad and starts to pile on the points…
I've had to force myself off Guitar Hero to write this and yesterday I had to force myself to go out training - I’m that addicted! It was one of those decisions where I was sat there on my sofa 'rocking out' and I just threw the guitar down, got my gear on as quickly as possible and was out the door within a minute! I went for an awesome run though, pushed hard the whole way and a run that normally takes me about one hour and 15 minutes took 53 minutes! So not only was I rocking Guitar Hero, I rocked my run too!
It all started when I stopped in to visit Tommy on the way to Torrington. He had Guitar Hero set up at his flat. I was completely new to it but after about the fifth try I started to get the hang of things and was hooked instantly! It even got us in the mood for a bit of music so it was another spontaneous decision to go out for the night! On with the dancing shoes and off we went! All the pics are up on my myspace - it was an awesome night but the best nights are always the ones that aren't planned I think. We danced our asses off – it’s like an extra training session when me and Tom are on the dance floor together. It was the same at Cairoli's party last year, we just go for it!
Next stop was Torrington and it was out with the poker chips again. This time it was BC who took the pot, although I did manage to put Brad out the game again! He is like the poker god so it p****s him off big time when I put him out. The FUNNIEST thing though is when Brad puts Hayley out the game! You've never seen a strop like it before in your life! It's fantastic!
Everything looked amazing when we arrived for the race - I walked the track and it looked awesome, proper old school. I've raced at Torrington since I was on a 60cc and it made a really nice change coming back to a natural track. However, that night the rain came down and it turned everything on its head. The track looked wrecked and I felt for the MXY2 guys as they were out first.
I also felt for Stevie - he only managed two-and-a-half laps before breaking his leg in the whoops which to be fair were a total slop and he still had the balls to attempt doubling them. Since being home he told me what happened and it was simply a case of him getting out of shape a little and putting his foot down for balance. He actually heard it – never mind felt it - snap! I stopped to see if he was okay before being handed a message to deliver to my old man in the pit box. But it wasn’t just Stevie that the whoops caught out, it was also the paramedics who washed out on them, dropping Stevie on the stretcher! Ha ha! And the ambulance had to get towed out by a tractor. Anyways, five operations later to save him losing his leg and he's back on the mend and if any good has come of this the Compartment Syndrome Tribute Band was formed! See my youtube page at billymac211…
Torrington went amazing though with two wins again and the biggest holeshots I've ever pulled! The second one was insane! Because the start was so far from the pit box no-one could be arsed doing their gates so while I went to watch the MX2 I did my gate and packed it full of this dry clay I found. I didn’t even have a rut! So when the gate dropped I was gone! I loved the track - it turned out brilliant and really technical with lots of ruts and tricky parts and I had a really good day.
Next I was off to Spain and as most of you know it totally p****d it down. Saturday was fine although the track was a bit fast so everyone was on the limit putting in fast laps. But come Sunday the track was barely rideable. All the MX1 guys protested the start of the second moto. I didn’t really mind if we raced or not as it was quite fun in the first race but the track was way worse after we had more rain so I went with the majority and stayed clean! I had an eighth in race one which I wasn’t too happy with. I had come from the back and moved up to fifth at one point but then had a few silly crashes trying to get to the front.
Off to Portugal next and me and Brownie drove the camper on a little road trip to the campsite on Sunday night – the quicker we got there the quicker we could relax for the week. We had the mini bikes out down the beach again but I stayed out the ocean this time as the waves were huge! It was like a GP at the campsite and all the British teams were there - us British just love a camping trip don’t we? We played football and caused mischief all week, it was really nice. Oh and I got sunburnt from running with no shirt on - got a nice big white strap where my heart rate monitor was.
The racing in Portugal was going so well - all Saturday I was second behind Pourcel and we were having little battles between ourselves for pole each session. He always snuck one in at the end. It was super, super hot that weekend and I led both races but couldn’t keep it till the end - small mistakes and bad strategy cost me my first win away from Japan! But things look promising for the rest of the season, I'm in fourth place in the championship now and only 20 points behind the leader so time to put in some consistent podiums!