Sister Of Mercy, With A Twist!

[JimsKnight]

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[JimsKnight]

Supercross Phichit, Kamphaeng Pet Province...

Into the Quagmire!

This event was a lot better in some ways than the last supercross at Uttaradit. The first half of the day was cloudy, giving respite from the sun.

The ground resembled something from the trenches of WW1 though as the rain had saturated the place.

Don't overrun corners on this track!

Getting the bikes started for warm-up took perserverance:

As we walked the track the sound of heavy farm machinery and earth movers rumbled on as they worked to soak up the waterlogged areas. Corners were cut open to aid them as the mid-day start closed in...

The primary jump was certainly worthy.

But you didn't want to blast over it too fast:

As was the length of the track. About 1 km or perhaps slightly less we reckoned. Much longer and a lot more interesting that Uttaradit's track.

It also went around natural vegetation like tree's and bushes, giving it less of an established track feel and more of an enduro vibe.

Team Honda:

Team local hero's:

It was warm-up time by about 10:30 and the earth movers soon had to contend with scramblers buzzing past them as they worked frantically to get the place dried out!

Warm-up riding began. Suprisingly we didn't see one tumble-down or accident.

Here's the quirky and chirpy commentator from the previous two supercross events I covered:

Moody girl for some reason didn't like me taking a photo of the trophies...

Nigel physking himself up for racing...

Edited April 25, 2009 by JimsKnight

[JimsKnight]

By mid-day warm-up riding was over and it was race-time.

The Race

The video's a long one, but I managed to weave a complete music track on it. The Youtubers banned it citing copyright but after I gave them some libertarian attitude and explaining they

relented.

At the end of lap one the big jump awaited.

Our riding champion Boi made a near fatal error on the big jump at the lap-line. (1:37)

His take-off was just out of line and he landed across the edge, nearly ended up toppling the bike off the hillock. That would of been nasty having the bike tumbling into you.

He held it steady on landing and almost self-rescued but a passing biker twatted the throttle control sending the bike sliding down the jump hill further. Throttle wide open and a-firing there was a problem.

Besides being bent, the throttle cable was near-severed and disengaged from the recess clip the plastic shroud was also ripped open.

Plenty more bikers tumbled off and slide around into the mud nearby but the race was over for Boi on this bike.

The achilles heel well and truly exposed and we'd need a spare shroud casing to continue this days racing...

But nobody brings spares to these races. We tramped around mob-handed but no joy. It's run what you bring and fix it at the shop later.

I think Boi was very upset as it was my buddy's bike he'd borrowed and had lost face in 'failing him'. But knocks and tumbles are the inherent groove with this.

Nigel, his sponsor-racer remained in good spirits, even though it meant he wouldn't be riding it in the VIP race later on.

We were spectators more now and I lost a bit of my enthusiasm for the day but figured I might as well get some footage for you folks, as the layout of the track was nice enough.

An interesting development took place just after the bike was discovered to be immobalised. Alex, our friendly rival who initially said he wasn't going to race, upon learning of Nigels loss, got kitted up and ready!

Here he is (on the left) giving some Flanders style spiel to Nigel:

The day heated up a bit now as the clouds were blasted away.

The ground dried out and the bikers got their groove on.

Some incredibly close-calls allowed a lot of cool overtakes to take place on the main burn after the main jump (5:20).

Family gathering look on as the junior bikers start their race:

Babylook biker!

More about this in the bonus footage later:

Girl Rider makes an entrance!

Pillion racing! Watch out pooch!

This was fun to watch, some of them even got some air-time on the jumps!

No big injuries, altough there were tons of close calls all ended well. By five o'clock we were on the road back home. Boi's pride was bruised but at least he was uninjured.

Only three weeks previous an experienced farang had broken his leg in one of the dirt races, and he was wearing full armour. So it makes you aware of your mortality when you see these things go on and not hurt people badly.

Like boys with our dangerous toys

Hope you enjoyed

Edited April 25, 2009 by JimsKnight

[bombtek]

Great stuff... although where I come from Supercross is a short tight course with huge jumps and usually inside a stadium. Motocross is usually an open air course with smaller jumps and higher speeds. Great work none the less. With as little of this sport I have seen here in Thailand, you can call it anything you want. Let's have more of it !!

[mitsubishi]

Yeah the term is used interchangeably in Thailand I notice.

Thailand doesn't have a firmly defined definition but that's all part of the charm

Alas I'm returning back to the land of blighty soon. Been in-country for many months and need to sort stuff out.

When I'm next back in you'll see more motorsport though