|
[Supermoto] Mettet '02 Prelude
by Dave Lippet
It's 95 degrees F or so hot in the shade
in Wisconsin USA, and I'm sweating in my tee-shirt and
shades...Three scant weeks later it's 40 odd degrees
F cold in Mettet, Belgium and I'm sweating in my tee-shirt
and shades...Sheesh, the more things change the more
they stay the same...
I suppose its all my own fault. After enjoying Superbikers2
in America so much, I mentioned to a couple of the US
riders that they should really come to Europe and have
a bash in the annual celebration of motard showmanship
that is the Mettet, Superbiker meeting, the biggest,
baddest festival of Supermoto racing anywhere on the
planet.
Strangely enough a couple of 'em listened and here
we were three short weeks later in Mettet waiting for
the first free practice session. Spanners are being
hurled around the garage in a frenzy as we get the bikes
and in
particular the correct tyres onto the bikes for the
conditions.
The riders are 4 Californians a mid-west guy and a
good ol' boy from the South. The good ol' boy from the
south was originally intended to be former WSB champ'
Scott Russell, but unfortunately his lawyers informed
him at the
last minute that competing in Mettet could be in contravention
of the terms of his Daytona accident insurance payout...So
that was that.Russell out for the count just one day
before the meeting, into his shoes jumped Eric
Pinson, a pal of Scott's and allegedly a world class
downhill mountain bike racer.
The other US riders were "The Godfather of Freestyle
MX" Mike Metzger, AMA Pro Superbike racer Mark
Miller, flattracker Casey Yarrow, 17yr old Wisconsin
motard prodigy Ben Carlson, and lastly but definitely
not least, Steve "Dude" Drew, Socal motard
and MX racer.
A fortnight spent on the telephone chasing friends,
contacts, unknowns, and potential sponsors had resulted
in bikes, tyres, brakes, hotels and transport for the
boys.All I had to do was work out the logistics of the
situation, get them to Belgium, get the 6 bikes sorted
and get them out on the track in the right place at
the right time.Psshawww.Simple eh?
Luckily nearly all of my friends are either employed
in the motorcycle industry, or are racers in their own
right, and are damned decent people. The amount of people
who pulled together behind the scenes to pull this off
at short notice is absolutely incredible, and I'm just
worried that I'll forget to thank someone.
First to step up to the plate was the UK Husaberg importer
Dave Clarke who ended up supplying 3 Husaberg 650's
for Carlson, Miller and Drew. Having three riders racing
almost identical bikes helped to reduce the logistical
nightmare of carrying differing spares and meant that
working on the bikes was simplified. You wouldn't believe
how frenetic a pit garage can get when you have 5 rear
wheels and axles and spacers from different bikes lying
around whilst tyres get changed! Bracken motorcycles
in London also stepped up and loaned us a practice bike
for Steve Drew when we were unable to get the 3rd Husaberg
to the practice track in time. Warren "Bunny"
Marshall a good friend of mine offered me the use of
his brand new Honda CRF450R for Casey to use, and White
Bros in the US stepped in with a pipe and some goodies
to bolt on and make the stocker competitive. OK, that
just left us
with Metzger and Pinson to sort out. Metz was adamant
that he wanted a 2 stroke so UK privateer "Wild"
Bill Allen provided us his pristine CR500 hybrid and
White Bros supplied us with some plastics and Metzger
graphics to make her look the part. Pinson was dropped
on me at the last minute, and although the top blokes
down at HM Racing in Sussex had provided a super trick
HM racing Husky 610 for Scott Russell, I was loathe
to abuse their kindness when Russell dropped out 1 day
before the event and put an unknown mountain bike racer
on their gorgeous yellow and blue baby. The problem
was neatly solved for me when another UK racer Chris
Cooper stepped forward and offered Eric the use of his
mint KTM380 stroker.Phew! Bikes sorted.A little bit
more abuse of my telephone meant that Husaberg racer
Paul Rhodes would transport the 3rd 'Berg for us and
"Lucky" Jon Escombe offered to throw Chris'
380 into his van.
Vauxhall Motorsport showed admirable faith and provided
us with a top of the range Zafira GSI people carrier.A
2.0 litre turbo charged rocket that was capable of transporting
6 people and gear at speeds of up to 140mph along the
highways and byways of Europe.Of course we only briefly
tested the top speed capabilities as we were a bunch
of mature, grown-ups on our way to represent our countries
in the 16th annual running of the international Superbiker
supermotard event.;0))
Top blerk and Vertemati racer Phil Gee took pity on
the itinerant Yanks and put them up in his house in
the UK along with my mum's house being home to Metzger,
Drew, and Yarrow whilst she was on holiday!
Steve Woodhouse, the principal of Woodhouse/Integer
racing was kind enough
to loan us his UK motard practice track for setting-up
the bikes, and after a Wednesday afternoon's testing
and a couple of social evenings we were ready to rock
and head for Belgium.
Continued in part
2
|
