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Andy

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  1. Forecast info will commence probably Friday, unless the webmaster wants to use some amateur mob..... :thumbup::)

    Now let's see...

    You told me it was going to snow so us Scooby boys could have some carpark fun - you got that wrong

    You told me it was going to rain at Kinloch for the Brit round - you got that wrong

    Who exactly are the amateurs? :lol:

  2. I've just put a bit of travel advice up on the front page here after Kinell got himself stuck in Glasgow rush hour traffic last year. I suppose we should be thankful he even found Glasgow :thumbup:

  3. I must apologise to Mike for the late publication of this weeks column. He is super-efficient and always gets them to me days in advance. I got it on Friday then, on Saturday disappeared to my folks for the weekend. The column was sat on my home PC while I was 125 miles away on the laptop. Fortunately he noticed and re-sent it. It won't happen again, sir! :)

    PS. I'd agree with his comments. Arthur and his team do a sterling job with this event. I'd also like to echo his comments on the officials allowing us photographers to do our job. :thumbup:

  4. Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul Park

    Sunday April 22, 2007

    ELIAS FIGHTS TO SECOND, DANI TAKEN OUT ON LAP ONE

    A dramatic MotoGP race unfolded in front of a

    40,000 crowd here at Istanbul Park with Casey

    Stoner (Ducati) winning from Toni Elias (Gresini

    Honda RC212V) with Loris Capirossi (Ducati)

    third. But a first lap incident took Dani Pedrosa

    (Repsol Honda RC212V) out of the race.

    Elias started from 10th on the grid after a

    mediocre qualifying performance, but his race

    efforts were huge and he willed himself through

    the field to the podium although he could not catch the runaway Stoner.

    In sunny conditions with negligible wind, 23

    degrees ambient temperature and the track

    gradually warming up throughout the day to 38

    degrees, the conditions were set for a full

    throttle encounter over 22-laps of this demanding 5.430km track.

    Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) who struggled to reach

    the flag in tenth at the end, got the holeshot

    from the lights and led the pack into the tricky

    off-camber, downhill left that is turn one. His

    team-mate Colin Edwards was in close pursuit along with Stoner and Capirossi.

    But there was to be drama on this opening lap.

    First leader Rossi ran wide on the exit of the

    high-speed uphill turn 11 slipping down the order

    to fifth. But behind him into the final

    three-turn complex, chaos ensued as Olivier

    Jacque (Kawasaki) clipped Pedrosa

  5. FIM MX1 / MX2 World Motocross Championship

    Round 3 of 15 - Sunday April 22nd 2007

    Grand Prix of Portugal, Agueda

    Crowd: 18,000 (weekend figure)

    Weather: Hot, sunny

    Saturday - Sunshine, clouds later on, 22 C

    Sunday - Sunshine, blue skies, 25 C

    Leuret makes MX2 podium landmark

    Pascal Leuret gave the CRF250R its first silverware, as well as

    celebrating his maiden MX2 podium appearance, by taking third

    position overall at a hot and sunny Agueda circuit scene of the Grand

    Prix of Portugal; the third round of fifteen in the 2007 FIM

    Motocross World Championship.

    The Frenchman, who left the NGS crew last week, posted results of 7th

    and 3rd and even led the second moto to earn his debut walk on the

    rostrum. After several years contesting the MX1 category 26 year old

    Leuret earned his spurs in the frantic pace of the MX2 class that on

    this occasion was won for the third event in a row by Antonio Cairoli

    with Briton's Tommy Searle taking second place.

    The undulating circuit, distinctive for its red soil, absorbed the

    water well from passing thunderstorms on Friday and pleasant

    conditions graced Saturday's practice and qualification. The layout

    was not particularly difficult in technical terms but offered a

    decent and physically demanding racing course for participants of the

    MX1 and MX2 classes.

    Sunshine coated the venue on a hot day of racing. Kevin Strijbos

    claimed his second career success ahead of Josh Coppins as the duo

    owned an MX1 moto each, taking second position in the other; the

    Belgian toasted victory courtesy of his superior speed in Moto2.

    Honda's best performer was Mike Brown with 6th overall. The American

    scored 9th and 7th position finishes and again looked sprightly off

    the start line, even briefly leading the first race until the effects

    of arm-pump caused him to slip back. The veteran is adapting himself

    to GP pace and also the intricacies of the CRF450R and getting

    stronger every round.

    Team-mate Ken de Dycker had a subdued day that was not helped by a

    first lap crash in the second moto. The Belgian's best result was 7th

    in the first race but in truth he did not seem completely comfortable

    on the quick Portuguese layout. He could take comfort in the fact

    that the team's tweaks to the suspension set-up meant that he was

    able to circulate at a higher speed for longer without suffering arm

    trouble. He was 12th in Moto2 for ninth in the classification.

    Multitek's James Noble was close to a memorable day. The Briton

    started the first moto within the top six before dropping back into

    the lower reaches of the top ten to catch his rhythm. The 26 year old

    then continued a decent spread of lap-times right up until the flag

    to capture 5th position and equal his best ever race finish (taken at

    Namur and Teutschenthal 2005). Sadly his hopes of a first podium were

    dashed after a collision with Thomas Allier in race two and he also

    stalled his machine to end the day with 16th earning himself 10th overall.

    Martin Honda's Antoine Meo is still struggling with an injury to his

    left knee. The luckless Frenchman needed to have almost one litre of

    fluid drained from the joint in the days before travelling to

    Portugal. Meo attempted both motos but his participation was cut

    short in the first outing when he was hit by De Dycker and had to

    retire with a broken throttle. The second saw him claim 17th spot and

    he now lies 21st in the standings.

    The MX1 standings show that De Dycker holds fifth and Brown is also

    in the top ten with 9th place.

    Martin Honda's Ryan Mills qualified for his first ever MX2 World

    Championship event but finished outside of the points in both motos

    after mis-timing a jump caused the American to finish the day with

    raw, bloody hands.

    Matti Seistola was tenth overall for SRS Racing. In the MX2 standings

    Cairoli has a mammoth 44 point lead over Christophe Pourcel who

    crashed out in Moto2. Leuret holds fourth, which is another career best.

    The fourth round of the 2007 series will take place in two weeks

    time, the first weekend of May, at the Mantova circuit for the Grand

    Prix of Italy..

    Pascal Leuret: "I am happy, this is my first ever podium and it is

    good for me but a little strange because I am on my own. I worked

    hard this week to sort out the bike and also take care of my physical

    condition. This is the best I could have hoped for. I stopped with

    the team because of many problems. I know what I want. The 450 is a

    good stock machine but the 250 needs some more special parts. I was

    already fifth in the Championship after the first two GPs but I knew

    I could make better results; the bike was good but not perfect. I

    wanted another solution and when you are not happy you need to

    change. Maybe it is not so professional but I have one goal and went my way."

    Ken de Dycker, CAS Honda: "The first moto was OK. I was in the middle

    of the pack and looking to come through but Ramon crashed in front of

    me and I rode into him. I got going again but after three or four

    laps I hit Meo and we both crashed. My speed was good after that, I

    am happy because I did not have pain in my arms anymore and the bike

    was working better in terms of the handling and the suspension now. I

    had a pretty good start in the second moto but I could not avoid

    riding into Josh and the bike stopped. I started again and things

    were OK for the rest of the race but it was not easy to pass because

    the track was rough and quite dangerous in places."

    Mike Brown, CAS Honda: "It is getting better. I need to work on my

    sprints because I am getting the starts and I just need to get those

    quicker laps made at the beginning. Overall the weekend was better

    than we have had so far. I got good starts in both motos but in the

    second I was not going to try and over-ride myself and get arm-pump.

    I wanted to settle in and go with the other guys."

    Antoine Meo, Martin Honda: "In the first moto I had a really bad

    start but came back to 15th then De Dycker really hit me hard and

    sent me flying. He broke the throttle and also the brake. In the

    second moto I got another bad start but rode OK to come back to 10th.

    I wanted to push too much and had some pain with my knee and 17th was

    the best I could do. My speed was OK today but I will have to drain

    the knee again now and try to get back into a good condition in time

    for Italy."

    Ryan Mills, Martin Honda: "I got a good start in my first moto,

    around 12th, but because I haven't been riding much I got really big

    blisters coming into the race and the skin started ripping off in

    that moto. I kept going as fast as I could. In the second moto I got

    half way through before I over-jumped one of the jumps and lost grip

    on the bars, taking more chunks out of my hand. I was 22nd and

    thought it would be better for me to heal up and come back strong for Mantova."

    James Noble, Multitek Honda: "The first moto was good. I got a pretty

    decent start and was around 6th or 7th but slipped off on the

    step-up. I was down in 9th but got back to 7th and got lucky when two

    riders crashed in front of me, but I was happy with 5th. In the

    second moto I had a really good jump out of the gate. Strijbos and

    Josh were going at it but I managed to move around them. I was

    hovering around 4th or 5th but then the lad on the Kawasaki took me

    on the inside and forced me off the track. I came right back on and

    passed him going up the step-off. He was railing the berm and came

    across me and hit me mid-air. I crashed pretty hard and bruised the

    left side of my body. I got the bike started but stalled it three

    laps later. After that, and being in 23rd position, I went as hard as

    I could. Obviously I am a bit disappointed but I showed that I can

    run with them. Things are coming together for me but I just have to

    get those two moto results now."

    Results Motocross

    MX1 Race 1 (20 laps = 30 Km)

    Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time

    1 / Coppins, Joshua / NZL / Yamaha / 39:18.003

    2 / Strijbos, Kevin / BEL / Suzuki / 39:29.018

    3 / Philippaerts, David / ITA / KTM / 39:32.136

    4 / Leok, Tanel / EST / Kawasaki / 39:35.343

    5 / Noble, James / GBR / Honda / 39:58.777

    6 / Priem, Manuel / BEL / TM / 40:05.161

    7 / de Dycker, Ken / BEL / Honda / 40:13.080

    8 / Nemeth, Kornel / HUN / Suzuki / 40:18.743

    9 / Brown, Mike / USA / Honda / 40:23.025

    10 / Pourcel, Sebastien / FRA / Kawasaki / 40:28.099

    11 / Ramon, Steve / BEL / Suzuki / 40:31.653

    12 / van Daele, Marvin / BEL / Honda / 40:33.314

    13 / Barragan, Jonathan / ESP / KTM / 41:01.075

    14 / de Reuver, Marc / NED / Yamaha / 41:10.311

    15 / Desalle, Clement / BEL / Suzuki / 41:16.516

    Fastest Lap: STRIJBOS Kevin in 1:50.759 on lap 3

    MX1 Race 2 (20 laps = 30 Km)

    Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time

    1 / Strijbos, Kevin / BEL / Suzuki / 39:43.882

    2 / Coppins, Joshua / NZL / Yamaha / 40:03.996

    3 / Pourcel, Sebastien / FRA / Kawasaki / 40:16.033

    4 / Priem, Manuel / BEL / TM / 40:22.707

    5 / Philippaerts, David / ITA / KTM / 40:29.124

    6 / Allier, Thomas / FRA / Kawasaki / 40:32.607

    7 / Brown, Mike / USA / Honda / 40:36.047

    8 / Ramon, Steve / BEL / Suzuki / 40:40.281

    9 / Mackenzie, Billy / GBR / Kawasaki / 40:41.468

    10 / Nemeth, Kornel / HUN / Suzuki / 40:42.726

    11 / van Daele, Marvin / BEL / Honda / 40:47.402

    12 / de Dycker, Ken / BEL / Honda / 41:08.251

    13 / Leok, Aigar / EST / Yamaha / 41:13.766

    14 / Barragan, Jonathan / ESP / KTM / 41:20.312

    15 / Renet, Pierre A. / FRA / Honda / 41:22.959

    Fastest Lap: COPPINS Joshua in 1:52.018 on lap 3

    MX1 World Motocross Championship Standings

    Pos Rider Total

    1 Coppins, J. 144, 2 Strijbos, K. 125, 3 Barragan, J. 89, 4 Ramon,

    Steve 86, 5 de Dycker, Ken 84,

    6 Pourcel, S. 67, 7 Nagl, M. 63, 8 Philippaerts, D. 62, 9 Brown, Mike

    62, 10 Priem, Manuel 61,

    11 Leok, Tanel 61, 12 Noble, James 61, 13 de Reuver, M. 60, 14

    Nemeth, Kornel 51,

    15 Mackenzie, B. 46.

    MX2 Race 1 (20 laps = 30 Km)

    Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time

    1 / Cairoli, Antonio / ITA / Yamaha / 39:42.522

    2 / Pourcel, Christophe / FRA / Kawasaki / 39:46.428

    3 / Searle, Tommy / GBR / KTM / 40:17.467

    4 / Swanepoel, Gareth / RSA / Kawasaki / 40:18.753

    5 / Rattray, Tyla / RSA / KTM / 40:19.837

    6 / Bonini, Matteo / ITA / Yamaha / 40:20.961

    7 / Leuret, Pascal / FRA / Honda / 40:24.697

    8 / Boissiere, Anthony / FRA / Kawasaki / 40:26.820

    9 / Seistola, Matti / FIN / Honda / 40:38.115

    10 / Monni, Manuel / ITA / Yamaha / 40:48.310

    11 / Frossard, Steven / FRA / Kawasaki / 40:54.080

    12 / Gundersen, Kenneth / NOR / Yamaha / 40:58.018

    13 / Nunn, Carl / GBR / Yamaha / 41:00.246

    14 / Boog, Xavier / FRA / Yamaha / 41:02.406

    15 / Church, Tom / GBR / Kawasaki / 41:03.612

    Fastest Lap: POURCEL Christophe in 1:51.572 on lap 4

    MX2 Race 2 (20 laps = 30 Km)

    Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time

    1 / Cairoli, Antonio / ITA / Yamaha / 40:28.619

    2 / Aubin, Nicolas / FRA / Yamaha / 40:33.796

    3 / Leuret, Pascal / FRA / Honda / 40:39.723

    4 / Boissiere, Anthony / FRA / Kawasaki / 40:44.339

    5 / Gundersen, Kenneth / NOR / Yamaha / 40:49.864

    6 / Searle, Tommy / GBR / KTM / 40:57.692

    7 / Simpson, Shaun / GBR / Kawasaki / 41:01.260

    8 / Swanepoel, Gareth / RSA / Kawasaki / 41:11.038

    9 / Frossard, Steven / FRA / Kawasaki / 41:14.526

    10 / Bonini, Matteo / ITA / Yamaha / 41:21.043

    11 / Seistola, Matti / FIN / Honda / 41:25.802

    12 / Boog, Xavier / FRA / Yamaha / 41:28.101

    13 / Church, Tom / GBR / Kawasaki / 41:34.719

    14 / Nunn, Carl / GBR / Yamaha / 41:39.663

    15 / Avis, Wyatt / RSA / KTM / 41:47.047

    Fastest Lap: POURCEL Christophe in 1:52.318 on lap 2

    MX2 World Motocross Championship Standings

    Pos Rider Total

    1 Cairoli, A. 147, 2 Pourcel, C. 103, 3 Rattray, Tyla 98, 4 Leuret,

    Pascal 87, 5 Searle, Tommy 79,

    6 Gundersen, K. 75, 7 Swanepoel, G. 72, 8 Aubin, Nicolas 69, 9

    Seistola, M. 61, 10 Boissiere, A. 57,

    11 Eggens, Erik 54, 12 Schiffer, M. 49, 13 Frossard, S. 47, 14 Monni,

    Manuel 45, 15 Boog, Xavier 41.

  6. Results AMA Barber Motorsports Park

    Climate: Sunny

    Temperature: 24 degrees

    Crowd: 30,000

    Double Superbike Podium for Duhamel

    American Honda's Miguel Duhamel scored a pair of podiums in the

    second round of the AMA Superbike Championship at the picturesque

    Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama.

    Duhamel finished third twice on the undulating bends of the track

    which is the most scenic on the American calendar and one of the most

    challenging. With long, looping bends and near constant elevation

    changes, the track puts a premium on handling and agility.

    Starting from the second row in the first race, Duhamel quickly

    joined the battle for third. He lost the position briefly, then took

    it back with a crafty move over fellow veteran Aaron Yates (Suzuki)

    on the penultimate lap.

    Though happy to be on the box, the competitive French-Canadian wanted

    to be closer to the front, which he was on Sunday. Duhamel battled

    almost to the end for the second position and took 16 seconds out of

    his deficit to the winner while finishing third.

    He stands third in the AMA Superbike Championship after three of 18 rounds.

    Teammate Jake Zemke had a less successful weekend. Tire problems in

    both races blunted his early race aggression. Front tire problems

    dropped him to sixth on Saturday. The solution for Sunday's race

    fixed the front, but there were other problems with the rear.

    Suzuki's Mat Mladin won both races, with teammate Ben Spies again second.

    Miguel Duhamel, 3rd Place, 3rd Place

    Saturday

    We came through the field a bit, got through those guys, and I put my

    head down. All I could do was run for third, but then Aaron (Yates)

    came back by me. We ran a good pace for us in the 1:25's and 1:26's.

    There were a few places where I thought I might

    pass him, but it might be pretty tight. I said, 'I'm just going to

    take the opportunity when it presents itself.' I thought if I could

    get him-we were pretty evenly matched-it would be hard for him to get

    back by me. It worked out.

    Sunday

    We got third, but 26 seconds behind yesterday and today, until about

    eight laps to go before I decided, OK, just couldn't hang with them

    any more, I was like three seconds or whatever it was to Mat

    (Mladin), because I was with Ben (Spies). So yeah, that was real

    good. Learned a lot. We need to do some modifications to the bike, a

    little different set-up. When the tires get hot, when you're running

    a harder pace, the bike starts doing little things that we need to be

    online. But we did improve a lot. Like I called it yesterday; we're

    going to get better today and we did, so we got a good start. The

    goal is to win and I think we're on the right track.

    Jake Zemke, 6th Place, 10th Place

    Saturday

    We made some changes in the morning and the thing was quite a bit

    better, but we had a couple problem areas with the front end. We only

    had about six laps on the set-up we qualified on. I basically just

    used up the front tire. The issues we're fighting with the front wore

    out the tire. Those last five laps, I think I lost a second a lap

    those last five laps. We changed a lot of the geometry this morning

    because we were having problems with the bike backing in going into

    the corner. We actually changed the thing quite drastically in the

    morning to alleviate those problems. We got one problem fixed with it

    backing in, but we didn't have time to get it to go around the corner

    the way I needed it to.

    Sunday

    In the race I just didn't seem to have the same grip levels I had

    this morning. The rear, I just couldn't get off the corners. Then all

    of a sudden on the right side, every time I'd lean the thing into the

    corner I'd lose the rear. I almost crashed the thing about ten times

    in two laps. And I said, alright, I better slow down. I stood up to

    take a look to make sure all the parts and pieces were there and

    there was nothing on the tire. I just basically circulated and

    brought home some points. Actually the bike wasn't that bad. When I

    was in that group of guys I was just kind of sitting there waiting

    for themselves to wear themselves out because they were dicing pretty

    good. And I figured I'll sit back here until they go back into single

    file and then work my way through them. About that time I started

    having no grip.

    Superbike Race One:

    1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki)

    2. Ben Spies (Suzuki)

    3. Miguel Duhamel (Honda)

    4. Aaron Yates (Suzuki)

    5. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki)

    6. Jake Zemke (Honda)

    7. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki)

    8. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha)

    9. Jason Disalvo (Yamaha)

    10. James Ellison (Honda)

    Superbike Race Two:

    1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki)

    2. Ben Spies (Suzuki)

    3. Miguel Duhamel (Honda)

    4. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki)

    5. Aaron Yates (Suzuki)

    6. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha)

    7. Jason Disalvo (Yamaha)

    8. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki)

    9. Roger Lee Hayden (Kawasaki)

    10. Jake Zemke (Honda)

    Championship Standings:

    1. Ben Spies (103)

    2. Mat Mladin (95)

    3. Miguel Duhamel (90)

    4. Tommy Hayden (76)

    5. Jake Zemke (75)

    6. Aaron Yates (73)

    7. Jason DiSalvo (71)

    8. James Ellison (63)

    9. Eric Bostrom (58)

    10. Jamie Hacking (47)

  7. Home Office Advice

    "You should be on your guard and exercise great caution as violent crime is common throughout Guatemala"

    "Tourists are targeted by criminals, especially those arriving at the airport"

    "Armed robbery is becoming more usual in Antigua, Guatemala, and even the main areas of town during daylight hours have seen attacks. You should be on your guard at all times. "

    "Violent crime is a major problem throughout Guatemala. Serious attacks on tourists, including murder and rape, have taken place. Armed robbery of tourists and muggings can happen anywhere in the country. "

    "There have been attacks on cars and buses (including tourist buses) during daylight hours on well-used, main roads. These attacks have included the rape of female passengers."

    "There are 5 to 6 murders a day in Guatemala City and surrounding areas. The majority involve the use of guns."

    Personally, I'm glad I'm heading to my folks for the weekend. Not much chance of getting shot/mugged in rural Aberdeenshire. :o

  8. US off-topic has gone as it wasn't being used. The few topics that existed have been merged with the US Forum.

    I've split the old "Across The Pond" category into dedicated US and Canada forums. You Canucks now have your own dedicated forum - something you should always have had.

  9. Firstly you can rule out a digital SLR if you want to carry it around a Trial with you. Firstly because they're bulky and secondly because they're still quite expensive!

    I don't know how old your current camera is, but shutter lag isn't nearly as bad on modern compacts as it used to be. It still exists, but might not be as bad as you're used to. I'm not clued up on the compact camera scene, but always found DPReview to be a good independent site for reviews etc.

  10. I think the online petition is a good idea.

    Without telling anyone how to sucks eggs we need to get importers, suppliers, motorbike shops etc interested. This fight needs to involve the whole of the trials community not just those from West Yorks.

    Software installed, configured, customised and ready to roll. I just need some help on the article to accompany it.

  11. If there is anybody out there who could do me a bit of a write-up on Addingham - the history and importance of it to Trials I'd be grateful. I think it's time to put the power and coverage that Trials Central has gained over the years to some good use. I can do the geeky technical stuff, but I'm unfamiliar with the venue or it's history.

    Email to trialscentral AT trialscentral.com ASAP please!

 
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