Time For Tea? If you want it with buns...
Racing a superbike means putting your ass on the line - literally, if this video is anything to go by
And it perhaps would've done, were it not for the camera angle chosen. Which gives a very good view of Rea's sponsors' logos and ... erm ... Rea's rear. Not to put too fine a point on it. It is safe for work, but you may want to have a think about how you're going to explain watching a close-up video of a man's leather-clad behind jiggling about.
Er, yes.
Once over the initial shock factor, it does go to show quite how involved riding a Superbike at race speeds really is. We car drivers may allude to sports cars making it feel like our backside is just millimetres off the road. But Rea's actually is. Amazing stuff.
Maybe bolt the camera somewhere else for the next one though guys...
But I did race some silly 1,000cc bikes around a load of UK tracks for 5 or 6 years in the early 2000's, and amazingly I have a load of ropey old tin trophies to show for it too...Back in the day when I was doing my best to both kill myself and waste the equivalent amount of cash chasing a dream that most sane people spend on a house purchase, we often used to compare our times with that of the BSB and WSB boys round the same tracks...and I was always gratified to see that on my ropey, modified R1, that I was normally within 2 or 3 seconds a lap pace of those chaps on their factory bikes. Ok, 2 or 3 seconds might be a lifetime in racing - but it made me reasonably happy at least!
Anyway, back to the thread...
Watching the video, it's all fairly familiar stuff to me. When I was chasing glory, often the normal situation was to have the bike leaned over so far in some turns, that the track was forcing not just my knee but my entire leg back into the side of the bike, with my arse and my elbow pretty much near as dammit scuffing the tarmac too. It was normal, and business as usual, and funnily enough, when I was in that state and only inches from the tarmac, it felt so safe, and so re-assuring, because the ground was so close - kinda like if anything went wrong, then I would only have a few inches to fall!
The real scary stuff was coming out of fast turns and getting the bike as upright as possible whilst also fighting / taunting the throttle to get as much power down as I dared...with the bike back up towards it's highest point and flirting with the acceleration, that was the most scary bit, because one wrong move with the gas would see me being spat off into the most hideous and damaging highside ever!
So actually, when the bike is leant over as far as it is in this video...that's probably one of the most comfortable, least scary states to be in.
But, just my 2p's worth!
Anyway, he was carted off to the medi centre on a stretcher. About two minutes later he was carried out by two of his team and put on his bike on the grid (which was on paddock stands) ready for the re-start. Think he finished about 8th.
And they say rugby players are hard
Anyway, he was carted off to the medi centre on a stretcher. About two minutes later he was carried out by two of his team and put on his bike on the grid (which was on paddock stands) ready for the re-start. Think he finished about 8th.
And they say rugby players are hard
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