Scorchio!
Published: 14th May 2007
Author: Billy MacKenzie Photo by Sutty
After the rain in Spain the action hots up in Portugal - any excuse to slip into your Speedos, eh Billy?
How nice is the weather? It's awesome - don't anyone try stopping this global warming thing they keep battering on about! In fact, instead of spending your money on trying to stop this beautiful weather, spend it on a nice pair of Smith sunglasses or some suntan lotion!
I wish the weather had followed us to Spain for the second round at Bellpuig. It rained non-stop for six days I was told and from halfway down France to the track it didn't stop once while I was driving. Saturday was called off and everybody in the pits were trying to keep their awnings from being a foot deep in mud and sh*t!
So Saturday was spent mostly making little trenches for our awnings to try and get the water away. It turned into a bit of a comedy sketch - me, Cairoli, Swanepoel and De Reuver all had our wellies on with our buckets and spades trying to outdo each other in the awning presentation competition! It was like being 12 years old again down the woods building dens and tree houses! Next round we all plan on building BMX jumps!
We were cut down to one qualifying session in the morning, kinda like the British championship. But there was no 15 minutes practice, it was straight into qualifying so watching the MX2 boys go out first was something to laugh at! They didn't even look at the track, they just nailed it from the moment they left the park ferme! They did every jump first lap without even checking how soft it was on the other side - I was scared for them! Seemed to be the right thing to do though - when I checked out the times everyone had put their lap in on the first lap...except Pourcel who took pole on the last lap!
It was insane! I was watching everyone trying to go faster and no-one was even getting within five seconds of their first lap. I found out later that Christophe actually had a bet with the Bridgestone guy about it. Apparently he was told he had to do it on the first lap but because he was TOLD to do it he deliberately didn't! He's so funny like that!
I'm guessing you probably know the results but here is a quick lowdown. I qualified eighth I think, crashed five times in the first race and had a 20th, then changed the set-up on the rear suspension and rode around in second for most of the race before being a bit of a divvy and choosing sh*t lines meant I ended up fifth. Nae gid!
After Spain we headed to Portugal where everyone meets up at a campsite close to the beach. I absolutely love it there - the sand is almost white, the waves are big and there is always someone around to go training with. Last year I took my bike onto the beach and played around on the dunes with Barty Marr and a few others but this time no-one was that keen - might be something to do with being chased by the police last year! We made our own fun though and me and Shaun Simpson got our Scottish Speedos on and had a wee splash aboot in the sea. Then after we got in, everyone joined the bandwagon and jumped in - I'll put some pics up on my website for ya to see! We even made a toy-sized Hawkstone Park in the sand for our imaginary toy motorbikes!
Next day I bought a bodyboard and met up with Stefan, Tyla and Priem down the beach again but Tyla was the only one who would brave the water with me so it was just us who tried our hand at body boarding. I was rubbish and couldn't catch any waves but Tyla was doing a good job - I need to practice!
In the middle of the week everyone goes riding at this scary track in the woods. The weather was so hot you could hardly breathe and it's a really crazy track too - you can't see anything but jungle! You always have the feeling you're gonna see a big snake or spider run out in front of you. The track is actually really nasty to ride though - I don't think it's been graded for about 10 years so you have to be so careful and concentrate hard! But it's somewhere where everyone goes and you have a good time riding with your competition - that's something that not many people do during the season.
The race in Portugal was going really well and all day Saturday I was around the top three to five in qualifying and I am sh*t at qualifying! I was getting too excited about it really and when the day ended I was feeling a bit tired. Every session I had put in about 15 laps to everyone else's nine or 10, I just really wanted to have my name at the top of a timed session! I came close a couple of times but in reality I did way too much and I was a little tired on Sunday.
The first race I started 10th and I passed everyone to come through to third. I felt really good and was even keeping tabs on the leaders but halfway through I made a small mistake and went down. I kept the bike running but I lost a place and nine seconds on that one lap. I came back with a second wind behind Philippaerts and really wanted my third place back! But with the race almost over I went down again and couldn't start the bike - I was gutted! But I'm getting closer every race and my speed is there so I just need to keep my concentration and be smarter in the next races!
On a good note though I'm leading the British championship now! I can't wait to see my bike with the red plate on it! I just hope it stays there until the end!
I just had a weekend off so went down to watch the elite youth championship at Matchams. However, when I rocked up I got forced into being the TV presenter! So I had a lot of fun interviewing all the kids before and after the races, asking them about who they fancy in the pits and stuff. It was really good to be at those races again and it looks like we have some talent coming through so keep an eye on them!