Favorite race moment of all time, can be yors, a buddies or one you saw on the little screen.
Mine? Roger's win in the rain at BFR. He was an AM and he beat the winning Ex by almost an enitre straight! Now there's some rain ridin'! :D
Mamola in Austrailia riding after dislocating his wrist is good...
The 250 race from Turkey this year is among the best...
My personal favorite could be the FX finale from last year, DuHamel vs. Zemke. There was a lot of talent displayed and what made it so freaky was how the laps led points made it so the entire season literally came down to the last lap... too bad Jake crashed it would have been a great finish.
2002 Edwards vs Bayliss. Last race(s) of the season
for the championship @ Imola. I was on the edge of
my seat :o
Skidding across the grass upside down at Laguna Seca in a Formula Continental. ;D
Quote from: morepower on May 13, 2006, 06:05:22 PM
2002 Edwards vs Bayliss. Last race(s) of the season
for the championship @ Imola. I was on the edge of
my seat :o
Oh, +1! That was the best, cleanest, most honorable bike race of all time!
For a personal moment, it would have to be my first win. I got the holeshot, and didn't know my main rival had crashed out just a few turns into the first lap. Leading, I was too afraid to look back, and absolutely sure I could hear his SV right behind me in every corner! My poor teammate had seen what was going on, so he abandoned his own bike preparation and sprinted to the pit wall, screaming and waving frantically for me to slow down before I binned it and threw away an easy win. I never saw him! I rode that whole race (unnecessarily) at 110%, finishing second overall behind Ed Key, and lapping almost the entire amateur field in the process. Hair on fire and imaginary demons nipping at my ass, I actually grazed a haybale as I slid up to the wall on my final lap, and got straw stuck in the muffler clamp!
When I took the checker, there was this overwhelming sense of relief. Then I looked over my shoulder. All I saw was empty track. I just couldn't believe it! About then, a lifetime of trying and dreaming caught up with me, and my head and heart nearly exploded. I'd finally WON! To this day, I can remember the face of every cornerworker I waved to on that cooldown lap.
Coming down pit lane, I saw good old Burt Munroe the race director standing there grinning and clapping. How many times before had this good man taken the time to slap me on the back and say, "Don't worry K3, you'll get 'em next time!" At the last possible moment, I ripped a huge wheelie directly at him, finishing it with a stoppie. I was looking STRAIGHT into his eyes when I did this, and the guy JUST LAUGHED, PUT HIS HANDS OVER HIS EYES, AND SHOOK HIS HEAD!
Somehow, word had gotten around that I was about to win my first race. Every friend I'd ever made in racing was waiting at pit-in when I got there, and the crowd just mobbed me. Honestly, that was THE moment I'd lived my entire life to experience. It just couldn't have been more perfect.
You know K3, you should write a book or sumthin!!!
For me, it would have to be beating Ed Key (in the dry) for the first and second time last season.
We all know Ed doesn't push too hard in the wet, but beating him on a dry track, when he's chasing you to the end, was damn cool. Both times I couldn't help but thinking that he was just stalking me and would somehow push past on the last lap. He's so consistent and so hard to beat I almost couldn't believe it when I took the checkered flag. After years of trying, it was an amazing feeling of accomplishment. Thanks Ed, for setting the benchmark so high. You make us all better for chasing you.
My other highlight was standing on the podium of the Team Challenge race at Daytona in October 2003. My teammate Dave Swarts and I had finished 3rd in GT Lights and wrapped up the F-USA National Championship in style. I'll carry the memory of holding up a #1 plate in Daytona's Victory Lane to the end of my days. I hope.
Beating Key after getting Meatballed and I think he jumped the start worse than I did. Ed led into 1 at Blackhawk and I passed him thru 5. Only to cross start/finish with my number being displayed with a meatball. I put my head down and stayed in front until coming down pit lane. I don't remember for sure but I think it was Captain Hook holding the board when I was coming into hot pit with both wheels locked. Entering turn one again I was fourth. With three laps to go I caught Ed again in 5 and went AROUND the outside for the pass only for him to come back buy into 7. Again I caught him in 5 and AGAIN went around the outside with him leaving me less room, and again he out braked me into seven. On the last lap I caught Ed again into 5, he moved wide and even looked over his outside shoulder to see if I was there. But I was now going up the inside and on a mission. I then ran into turn 7 the best I ever have and held Ed off for the WIN. :spank: :jerkoff:
Mine: Getting interviewed in winner's circle at Daytona, after getting third in a Team Challenge... interviewed by Dave Despain, on SpeedTV, on the BOX!!!!
When I stepped down from the podium, the officials grabbed the 3rd place trophy from me, and told me we were actually 4th, but they didn't want to interrupt the live interview.
When I'm 80, I'll never admit that we were 4th, since I have a photo of me on the podium.
Quote from: cardzilla on May 13, 2006, 02:41:15 PM
....My personal favorite could be the FX finale from last year, DuHamel vs. Zemke. There was a lot of talent displayed and what made it so freaky was how the laps led points made it so the entire season literally came down to the last lap... too bad Jake crashed it would have been a great finish.
agreed.
that surpassed my previous favorite:
nicky hayden and kurtis roberts last laps battle at brainerd and side by side to the line.
The day Gordy Jr. called me from Road Atlanta and told me his team (riding for Vesrah Enduranceat the time) had won their first WERA Endurance national championship. :thumb:
Has to be 2002 Imola, Edwards and Bayliss.
Quote from: DAmico on May 17, 2006, 12:41:00 AM
I then ran into turn 7 the best I ever have and held Ed off for the WIN.
Nice! Beating Ed is an accomplishment. Beating him after taking a stop and go penalty is amazing!!
Quote from: PJ on May 17, 2006, 07:53:27 PM
Nice! Beating Ed is an accomplishment. Beating him after taking a stop and go penalty is amazing!!
And Ed, the gentleman sportsman that he is, gave J the big thumbs up and told him how much fun he had dicing with him. :thumb:
1984 WERA GNF. I was the defending champion in D superbike riding the Inglis Cycle Center RZ 350. There was a young up and commer from Texs, Kevin Schwantz, also competing in that class on aother RZ.
Kevin won every race he entered at that GNF except D superbike. Mr. Schwantz was the single most exciting road racer I have ever seen in my life and I had the best seat in the house.
It was a classic confrontation between two vastly different styles of riding. Kevin was on the edge of control, or over it going into every corner. I was using my usual style of slightly giving up corner entry speed to optimize corner exit speed. Kevin was faster to the apex and I was faster off the apex.
I watched Kevin get away with outragous saves corner after corner, lap after lap. The image of Mr. Schwantz passing me on the brakes going into tun 7 with smoke pouring off the front tire, handelbars wagging back and forth, bike jumping and snapping, is forever burned into my brain. I can replay those images today just as clearly as the day they happened 22 years ago.
I don't remember the number of passes and repasses but it was quite a few. What I do remember was the intensity of the battle. Lap times kept dropping as we pushed each other harder and harder.
I was 28 years old at the time and had been racing for 13 years. This was the first time I had ever visited the zone. I didn't even know it existed. That place in your mind where concentration and commitment become so completly total and focused that everything else around you ceases to exist. Pain, fear, exhaustion, risk, the real world no longer mattered. I learned some things about my self that day. I realized for the first time just how powerful the human mind can be. I also realized just how dangerous it is to race at that level.
I got a better drive onto the back straight on the last lap and hung on to win by about a bike length.
I haven't seen or spoken with Kevin since that race but I suspect if asked he would also remember it quite clearly.
Ed Key
Quote from: eeky on May 18, 2006, 08:18:42 AM
1984 WERA GNF. I was the defending champion in D superbike riding the Inglis Cycle Center RZ 350. There was a young up and commer from Texs, Kevin Schwantz, also competing in that class on aother RZ.
Holy crap Ed, you have a story about racing Kevin Schwantz.... and winning. How cool is that?
Who wants to try and top that story???
Ed wins. That was BEAUTIFUL!
Quote from: JBraun on May 18, 2006, 09:18:36 AM
Holy crap Ed, you have a story about racing Kevin Schwantz.... and winning. How cool is that?
Who wants to try and top that story???
So.....
If Ed beat Schwantz.... and Paul beat Ed (Ok - it was in the rain)....
.... then Paul can say - awwww, nevermind. LOL! :biggrin:
Dawn :thumb:
Quote from: eeky on May 18, 2006, 08:18:42 AM
1984 WERA GNF. ...
I haven't seen or spoken with Kevin since that race but I suspect if asked he would also remember it quite clearly.
Ed Key
Ok...now I'm pissed. You have never ever told me that story. :wtf:
But I'll forgive you, because it brought a huge grin to my face this morning! :thumb:
Quote from: spyderchick on May 18, 2006, 09:55:04 AM
Ok...now I'm pissed. You have never ever told me that story. :wtf:
But I'll forgive you, because it brought a huge grin to my face this morning! :thumb:
Yep, I'm going to share that story with Paul. I'm sure he'll enjoy it as much as I did.
Dawn :thumb:
Round trip air tickets to Orlando - $300. Hotel room for a couple nights during Biketoberfest - $200. Getting the hole shot and leading a lap at Daytona - you guessed it - Priceless. That was the ROC in 2003, amateur T-bikes. Parents, brother and an old friend were in the stands watching. Started from second row, I believe, and ended up taking T1. On the exit couldn't believe what I was seeing: nothing but clear track. Figured there must've been a huge pileup behind me or something. For the remainder of the infield and up onto the banking I just kept waiting for someone to blow by me but it didn't happen - at least not until coming off of NASCAR 4 and down onto the front straight. Two guys got past, and hung with them the rest of the race. Geared way tall, I was out powered by them, but as long as I hung in their slipstream I was able to keep up. The three of us freight-trained our way around five laps, with a few position changes and lead swaps, and I ended up in third.
Like most of you, I've got a lot of wood piled up at home, but the one that puts a smile on my face the most- by a mile - is the green one that says Daytona on it.
Quote from: eeky on May 18, 2006, 08:18:42 AMI haven't seen or spoken with Kevin since that race but I suspect if asked he would also remember it quite clearly.
Great story involving two of my racing heroes!
Wish I could have seen that one.
Thanks for sharing, Ed.
Quote from: eeky on May 18, 2006, 08:18:42 AM
That place in your mind where concentration and commitment become so completly total and focused that everything else around you ceases to exist. Pain, fear, exhaustion, risk, the real world no longer mattered. I learned some things about my self that day. I realized for the first time just how powerful the human mind can be. I also realized just how dangerous it is to race at that level.
Ed Key
Damn. I'd have sworn it was Ted McGee telling that story. Red Mist, anyone?