In light of what happened yesterday afternoon it seems somewhat ghoulish to post today and talk of other things. But the nature of life is that, thankfully, it goes on and while we mourn the passing of a great star and a great character, life does continue.
Facebook and the forums I inhabit are today awash with tributes and well-meaning words, all of which, while truly sincere, are totally inadequate.
Some brain-dead morons have taken to posting videos of the accident on various hosting sites. For these bottom-feeders I reserve my deepest loathing and contempt.
In spite of two races being decided at Sepang yesterday afternoon, the two remaining championships that have not been decided remain so. And both races have left the championships hanging to the last round at Valencia in two weeks time in equally dramatic circumstances.
In the 125’s, Nico Terol looked strong all day and seemed to have Johann Zarco’s measure until the pressure told on the last lap with a near-as-dammit highside relegating him to 5th place at the flag and keept the championship alive (at least mathematically) until the final round. Zarco did all he could, but will probably still have to be content with 2nd.
The Moto2 title chase looked to have been made totally easy for Stafan Bradl with the DNS of Marc Marquez, ruled out of the event at the behest of the circuit medical staff after his Friday crash. However, things don’t always go to script and Swiss rider, Tom Luthi stalked Bradl until 2 laps from the end where he passed and started to pull away a little. A crash for Axel Pons that left the rider prone in the middle of the track caused the race to be red-flagged leaving Bradl with a 23 point lead, not quite enough to secure the title. However, he only has to get 3 points (13th place) at Valencia, to ensure that he does what his famous father was unable to do, win a world championship. Alex de Angelis is still only 2 points behind Adrea Ianonne and could still snare third in the title with a good result at Valencia.
Ben Spies was a DNS in the MotoGp race on medical advice, a disaster for the Yamaha team. Likewise John Hopkins for the Suzuki team.
Away from the track, from one of my favourite sites, the kneeslider, this article on Laurie Smith’s alternative take on front suspension for his R1. I have followed this project on Canberra Riders for almost a year and I so admire this guy’s work.
Not much happening on the Shadowfax front at the moment. I am in the hands of other people who are carrying out work that I can’t do. The wheels are with Greg in Canberra and he is re-spoking them. The cylinder head is also in the shop in Canberra to have the valve guides done, the recalcitrant spark plug removed and the tacho drive repaired. The swingarm is at Chris Dowde’s in Dapto, but he’s on holidays at the moment and the fork tubes are at Rad’s at Rocklea in Queensland being re-chromed. The nature of projects like this is that, in all probability, all these jobs will be finished at the one time and we’ll have another sudden rush of activity as the rolling chassis is assembled. I can’t wait.