Re: Chris's race report

[Red Herring]

Hi Folks,
Sorry to re-open a closed thread so to speak but having just read through the whole seven pages I thought I ought to just add my 2p worth.
I'm the chap who got Chris into the whole Liege situation so really I ought to cop some of the flak. In my defence I hadn't actually met Chris, just seen his postings about how he had bought a track bike and wanted to get into racing but needed financial help. I knew that his job sports club might be able to help so told him to contact them, and as they enter quite a large team in the Liege event he has obviously been sucked in.
Having said that Chris came out to Liege with very little idea as to what to expect. We had exchanged PM's and I had reassured him his SV would get him round just fine, which it did, and I also told him his first time in the event would be a steep learning curve, which it was. Chris arrived in Liege with completely the right attitude and spent the two days trying to learn the route. It was very clear to everyone that he was fairly new to motorcycling, but he was there, and trying hard to absorb everything he was told.
Part of his problem with learning the route was the way we do it. The "lap" is about 50 miles, with 4 special stages on it. Rather than keep riding laps we spend several hours on each stage at a time. This means that you take a short cut back to the beginning of each stage (you never ride the wrong way up a stage, even in practice when the roads are open) rather than following the designated rally route. The danger here is that on the day of the rally it is easy to become confused and follow the "shortcut" rather than the correct route. If you think this is nonsense this year I was running directly behind the Belgium who eventually finished second. On one of the liaison sections I came across him going the wrong way and if I hadn't spun round and stopped him he would probably have been timed out as well. It's a very easy mistake to make. Either way Chris did get lost on the day of the rally and as he missed a time check he was out. A painful lesson, but that's rallying.....He did however complete four specials so did "race", did record times, and did learn something from them.

I had a long chat with him after the event. Yes he needs to work on his basic riding skills, he knows that. It was me that suggested he get himself something like a Supermoto bike to learn on. His SV is fine for the rally (I was third on mine, albeit slightly modified) but no good for learning on. It's to heavy, to unforgiving, and to expensive for him to hoon around on, locking up wheels and generally learning where limits are. I've got 20 years competitive experience to draw on, he's got 9 months of road riding. He needs to find some limits so he can build his confidence, and something like a 400 DRZ would be perfect. We also suggested he get plenty of road miles riding in the right company, hence the suggestion he join the IAM or similar. Full credit to Chris that he appears to be trying to do both.

I do agree that some parts of his race report could have been worded differently, but having met Chris I know he didn't intend it to be meant the way it was read by some. I do know that the British team are looking of some more competitive riders for next years event. If anyone out there feels they might be up for it then you can PM me and I'll tell you a bit more about it. Alternatively you can keep you eye out for the July issue of Two Wheels Only. We invited one of their Jornos to take part this year and he's doing a spread on it.

Thanks for reading this far,
RH

[Stu]

Thanks for that (don't know why the thread had to be closed )

[Spiderman]

I think Jester felt that all that needed saying on that thread was said...having said that i appreciate your posting up here Mr Red Herring as its good to know all that.

+1 to what Spiderman said.

As he also said I closed the thread because there really was nothing else to add to it.

Rather than see it descend into a full on finger pointing/slagging thread I decided it was time to end the topic.