Although it’s a bit off of the beaten path, eh? And I haven’t purused the All knowing google-MONSTER, nor Wicked-pedia, thus I’m not sure if its occurred before, but I’d haveda guess its pretty rare to have two American’s claim Back-to back Stage victories in the torturous DAKAR Rally; as Robby Gordon won Stage 4 in his Monster Hummer (his third career Dakar Stage victory), while Mark Miller scored his maiden Stage victory the following day during the grueling Stage 5 aboard his VW Touareg, while fellow teammate ‘el Matador, a.k.a. Carlos Sainz took point and now leads Overall in the Car category as of Stage 5.
And it was two days of Agony ‘N Ecstasy (cue the Wide World of Sports intro theme music here…) for de Motorcycles Italia, as sadly one Italian competitor was airlifted to a nearby Hospital with critical Head injuries after crashing during Stage 6 and has been placed into an induced coma… While on Stage 5, it was debutant Aprillia’s turn to claim glory, as the brand new ‘lil Thumper, a.k.a. 450cc V-Twin, claimed the day’s Stage victory, scoring Aprillia’s maiden victory in the DAKAR.
As interestingly, whomever this Toby Moody chap is, claimed how he normally follows the bikes on the MOTO GP trail, which Aprillia is synonymous with winning in the 125cc & 250cc classes and now is tackling the oppressive Desert landscape… So, will el Matador retain his lead today? Tune-in this afternoon…
Friday, January 8, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Flav gets his revenge?
In case you haven’t heard, the French Tribunal de Grande Instance ruled on Tuesday that the FIA does NOT have the power to impose a “Lifetime Ban” upon Flavio Briatore, and thus overturned the World Motor Sport council’s (WMSC: The FIA’s Whipping Boyz) ruling against the illustrious ‘flavour Flav, of whom I enjoy grizzled F1 “Journo” Joe Saward’s non de plum better; as Mr. Saward has cleverly taken up calling the cocky Italian: HMS Monogram… Something to do about Flav’s swelled cranium and starched white shirts emblazoned with FB on the cuffs, eh?
And although the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris has issued its ruling in favour of Briatore and his Lt. General Pat Symonds, both having their respective bans overturned, along with requiring the FIA to announce in the pairs French Newspaper of choice, the court was none to sympathetic to the couples monetary demands, effectively awarding them one-tenth of the Dinero the duo were seeking; with Briatore being awarded $14,700 & Symonds $7,200, while leaving Jean Todt and the FIA pondering just exactly how they’ll respond to the overly egregious acts commiserated by the ex-Renault duo.
Flavio Briatore wins court case against FIA
Meanwhile the HMS Monogram, having seen a gust of salt breeze fluff up its sails, thus has reloaded its cannons as it prepares to volley the next round of salvos towards the HMS Self Righteous of sir maXXum, a.k.a. (MAD) Max Mosley and the HMS Piquet I & HMS Nielsen-Ho…
As Flav has joyously hinted upon taking legal action upon the Piquet’s and perhaps F1 Piloto’s Heikki Kovalainen & Lucas Di Grassi for jumping ship… Hmm? Mr. Briatore, I believe that Nelson Piquet Jr. could very easily go after you for slander, eh? (A very NASTY statement about his sexual preferences…)
Meanwhile Flavour Flav took no time in firmly planting his boot into Maxine’s backsides, upon the news that his current Supermodel wife (30yrs his junior), Elisabetta Gregoraci Is expecting the couples first baby (Flavio’s second child), by commenting they’d certainly NOT be naming it Max; Tsk, Tsk!
While I’m awaiting to hear prattle ‘bout its unknown who’ll be Spanking which Baby in the Briatore residence, eh?
But seriously, it seems the worst part of the whole ‘Crash-gate Scandal is the fact that Nelson Piquet Sr. first reported the situation to the FIA’s Technical Delegate Charlie Whiting a mere 5wks after it initially happened, you know; circa 2008! Oh, and by the way… Let’s not forget whose one of Flavio’s business partners, eh? Can you say Uncle Bernaughty?
And although the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris has issued its ruling in favour of Briatore and his Lt. General Pat Symonds, both having their respective bans overturned, along with requiring the FIA to announce in the pairs French Newspaper of choice, the court was none to sympathetic to the couples monetary demands, effectively awarding them one-tenth of the Dinero the duo were seeking; with Briatore being awarded $14,700 & Symonds $7,200, while leaving Jean Todt and the FIA pondering just exactly how they’ll respond to the overly egregious acts commiserated by the ex-Renault duo.
Flavio Briatore wins court case against FIA
Meanwhile the HMS Monogram, having seen a gust of salt breeze fluff up its sails, thus has reloaded its cannons as it prepares to volley the next round of salvos towards the HMS Self Righteous of sir maXXum, a.k.a. (MAD) Max Mosley and the HMS Piquet I & HMS Nielsen-Ho…
As Flav has joyously hinted upon taking legal action upon the Piquet’s and perhaps F1 Piloto’s Heikki Kovalainen & Lucas Di Grassi for jumping ship… Hmm? Mr. Briatore, I believe that Nelson Piquet Jr. could very easily go after you for slander, eh? (A very NASTY statement about his sexual preferences…)
Meanwhile Flavour Flav took no time in firmly planting his boot into Maxine’s backsides, upon the news that his current Supermodel wife (30yrs his junior), Elisabetta Gregoraci Is expecting the couples first baby (Flavio’s second child), by commenting they’d certainly NOT be naming it Max; Tsk, Tsk!
While I’m awaiting to hear prattle ‘bout its unknown who’ll be Spanking which Baby in the Briatore residence, eh?
But seriously, it seems the worst part of the whole ‘Crash-gate Scandal is the fact that Nelson Piquet Sr. first reported the situation to the FIA’s Technical Delegate Charlie Whiting a mere 5wks after it initially happened, you know; circa 2008! Oh, and by the way… Let’s not forget whose one of Flavio’s business partners, eh? Can you say Uncle Bernaughty?
Floyd hosting DAKAR
Wondering’ what Indycar Pit Reporter Robbie “Purple” Floyd (NO relation to Alex “Pink” Lloyd or some Boxing Dude Mayweather…) is doing during the Offseason? Whale I just discovered last night what he’s up to.
Thanxs to “Goose” who alerted me to the fact that Versus was indeed showing daily highlighted coverage of this years DAKAR Rally, I got to see Robby hosting the half hour show’s recap of Stage 3 action, where apparently you don’t wanna be the leader of the event… As it appears that versus’s daily coverage will air at 12:30PM PACIFIC. Thanxs Goose…
Thanxs to “Goose” who alerted me to the fact that Versus was indeed showing daily highlighted coverage of this years DAKAR Rally, I got to see Robby hosting the half hour show’s recap of Stage 3 action, where apparently you don’t wanna be the leader of the event… As it appears that versus’s daily coverage will air at 12:30PM PACIFIC. Thanxs Goose…
Windsor joins Blogger Brigade
According to THE ‘DAWG, Y’all know the zany Blogger from the state of that ‘utter white meat… Pressdog; who’s noted that the House ‘O Windsor, a.k.a. Peter Windsor, or in some circles now known as Pete Windsor… The vaunted Sporting Director of that ‘lil Formula 1 squad now under the guise of US F1 Team, has joined the realm of the Blogosphere with his first two entries on the newly launched USF1 website… Yeah they’ve finally put some content on the site, which you can puruse at: http://www.usgpe.com/
So check it out, if so inclined… And let us know what you think of Pete’s new Endeavour; you know – scribblin’ stories when he’s not too busy hawkin’ toasters… Now all they need to do is clear up what their name really is, eh? Team USF1, USgpe or US F1 Team?
So check it out, if so inclined… And let us know what you think of Pete’s new Endeavour; you know – scribblin’ stories when he’s not too busy hawkin’ toasters… Now all they need to do is clear up what their name really is, eh? Team USF1, USgpe or US F1 Team?
Monday, January 4, 2010
DAKAR 2010: Time to play in the Dirt!
Err, perhaps that should be Sand, eh? As the Nations of Argentina ‘N Chile ring in the New Year with the 32nd running of the DAKAR… The world’s most intense long haul Rally, when the 184 motorcycles and quads, 136 cars and 52 trucks competing will be on display on January 1st during the event’s special Presentation Stage in Buenos Aires; as the prestigious “Car” Category victor’s will most likely come down to a shoot-out between what appears to be the only two factory backed Rally Raid squads: Defending Champions Volkswagen vs. BMW, while Robby Gordon’s Monster Hummer could be a Darkhorse? (6th Overall after Stage 1)
And by my very unofficial count… Hey you try reading 128 entries, eh? The vaunted Car class is quite an eclectic mix, with a menagerie of Cars, Pickem-Up Trucks, Buggies and SUV’s both large ‘n small… Why “HE-Double L!” There’s even a Mercedes Benz something-ruther taking’ part.
Thus, by rough count there’s four Factory BMW X3cc’s vs. five Factory VW Touareg’s. A total of three Hummer H3’s from the Robby Gordon Motorsport stable, with the third being driven by a South of the Border pairing, as the Chillie sponsored Hummer was runnin’ a bit too HOT-HOT-HOT! With a late stage incident causing minor damage to the windshield & mirror and ending up 39th overall.
Then there’s five “Mister Bitchies” (Mitsubishi) Racing Lancer’s, (the ex-Factory Cars?) Three/Four Nissan Pick-up’s, Ten+ Buggies, 13/14 Toyota Land Cruisers, (Huh? I thought they were outta production?) two Subaru Forester’s, Four Toyota RAV 4’s (some in 4X2 mode) Four Toyota FJ Cruisers, an interesting Mitsubishi Pajero Flex-Fuel ‘rig (Rally Car vehicle) and in P128 and last on Day 2 during Stage 1 of 16 was the No. 419 of Rafael Norberto Sanchez & Cristian Fernando Lusardi in the lone Hyundai Santa Fe nearly seven and a half minutes (7:23:13) adrift of Stage 1 leader Joan "Nani" Roma’s BMW X3cc. (Who did his best Hero to Zero impersonation the following day when he rolled his ‘Bimmer!)
Day Two’s Runner-up featured “El Matador” (Carlos Sainz) in his trusty Touareg, while lurking in third place was the King of the Desert; Nine time Dakar winner Stephane Peterhansel, who’s been hired to give BMW its best shot at overall glory.
Yet sadly, a 28yr old female spectator was killed along with four others being injured at the 75 kilometer’s mark, when a racing vehicle slid off course and struck the spectators in an “Out-of-bounds” non-permitted viewing area, becoming the Rally’s first spectator casualty in four years.
Meanwhile the Pajero Flex-Fuel entry is the Rally’s very first vehicle in the newly devised Ethanol class, being heavily(?) backed/promoted by Brasilia’s Ethanol industry… With no reports to rumours du jour that the Pajero Rally Car will be the Official Pace Car of the upcoming inaugural Sao Paolo IndyCar race… Hey I’m just guessing here, but Apex Bra-zillia plus Sucar-beets ‘N stuff; Yuhs know?
But I don’t know if Versus will once again cater to our wishes of providing a 30mins nightly recap this year or not? Since I couldn’t find anything on their annoying website, along with never getting an answer to my inquiry; alas, if anyone knows the answer to this, please leave me a comment…
And by my very unofficial count… Hey you try reading 128 entries, eh? The vaunted Car class is quite an eclectic mix, with a menagerie of Cars, Pickem-Up Trucks, Buggies and SUV’s both large ‘n small… Why “HE-Double L!” There’s even a Mercedes Benz something-ruther taking’ part.
Thus, by rough count there’s four Factory BMW X3cc’s vs. five Factory VW Touareg’s. A total of three Hummer H3’s from the Robby Gordon Motorsport stable, with the third being driven by a South of the Border pairing, as the Chillie sponsored Hummer was runnin’ a bit too HOT-HOT-HOT! With a late stage incident causing minor damage to the windshield & mirror and ending up 39th overall.
Then there’s five “Mister Bitchies” (Mitsubishi) Racing Lancer’s, (the ex-Factory Cars?) Three/Four Nissan Pick-up’s, Ten+ Buggies, 13/14 Toyota Land Cruisers, (Huh? I thought they were outta production?) two Subaru Forester’s, Four Toyota RAV 4’s (some in 4X2 mode) Four Toyota FJ Cruisers, an interesting Mitsubishi Pajero Flex-Fuel ‘rig (Rally Car vehicle) and in P128 and last on Day 2 during Stage 1 of 16 was the No. 419 of Rafael Norberto Sanchez & Cristian Fernando Lusardi in the lone Hyundai Santa Fe nearly seven and a half minutes (7:23:13) adrift of Stage 1 leader Joan "Nani" Roma’s BMW X3cc. (Who did his best Hero to Zero impersonation the following day when he rolled his ‘Bimmer!)
Day Two’s Runner-up featured “El Matador” (Carlos Sainz) in his trusty Touareg, while lurking in third place was the King of the Desert; Nine time Dakar winner Stephane Peterhansel, who’s been hired to give BMW its best shot at overall glory.
Yet sadly, a 28yr old female spectator was killed along with four others being injured at the 75 kilometer’s mark, when a racing vehicle slid off course and struck the spectators in an “Out-of-bounds” non-permitted viewing area, becoming the Rally’s first spectator casualty in four years.
Meanwhile the Pajero Flex-Fuel entry is the Rally’s very first vehicle in the newly devised Ethanol class, being heavily(?) backed/promoted by Brasilia’s Ethanol industry… With no reports to rumours du jour that the Pajero Rally Car will be the Official Pace Car of the upcoming inaugural Sao Paolo IndyCar race… Hey I’m just guessing here, but Apex Bra-zillia plus Sucar-beets ‘N stuff; Yuhs know?
But I don’t know if Versus will once again cater to our wishes of providing a 30mins nightly recap this year or not? Since I couldn’t find anything on their annoying website, along with never getting an answer to my inquiry; alas, if anyone knows the answer to this, please leave me a comment…
Colour me… Pink?
And a hearty Happy New Years to Y’all! As the just completed month of Christmas resplendent in the multitude of indoor ‘N outdoor lights, with perhaps some Silent Nights ‘O ONLY 33 Shopping Dayz left made me ponder the following upon recently reading George Phillips (Oil Pressure) story titled: The First Favourite, which sadly I cannot seem to locate in his Archives… But it was basically a story about his very first favourite Open Wheel Racing Driver; an ‘Ornery ‘Ol Coot named ‘Rufus…
And although I’m NOT gonna delve into who my very first favourite racing driver was, nor explain my current Top Two picks for Formula 1 and IndyCar… (Can you have MORE than ‘Juan favourite driver at a time?)
Although I’m not quite as OLD as George is, albeit we’re in a similar Area code… I didn’t have the privilege of being “Dragged” to the Mecca of Open Wheel Racing at the tender age of 5yrs old… And even if my earliest memories of the Indy 500 have more to do with the broadcast then any actual Car/Driver combination, I seem to harbour the thought that my first “Contemporary race via le Telescreen was the wild 1985 classic Win “N Spin when the upstart Mr. Hollywood, a.k.a. Danny Sullivan beat Mario Andretti. (Yey!)
But back to the colour me pink remark… As it’s the smorgasbord ‘O Christmas colours that got me thinking of just exactly which racing cars were my favourites over the past few decades of my brief indulgence in the world of IndyCars, as I’d haveda say that the first car I really enjoyed was ‘big Al’s (Unser Sr.) Banana yellow “Hertz Doughnut-mobile.” As I find it funny I was more drawn to this car then Rick Mears Pennzoil Special – which is every bit as striking, but like I said it wasn’t on my Kodachrome at the moment of glory…
And even though I do still recall Mr. Hollywood’s red ‘N white March 85C-Cosworth Miller racecar, I was more captivated by Penske’s stunning solid gold Miller “Highlife” chassis of ‘Sully’s title winning season in 1988, while I also found his baby blue Galles Molson chassis very appealing.
And although I was there in person and have to say one of my all-time favourites is the Porsche blue ‘N white fosters liveried entries of John Andretti and Teo Fabi; for some reason I cannot seem to mentally call ‘em up on my memory-machine!
And if you’ve read my recent More on Moore piece, then you’ll know just how beautiful I find those Players liveried Forsythe chassis to be… Hmm? Perhaps you’re starting to notice a pattern here? But although blue is a reoccurring colour choice, (having forgotten to mention the Walker Racing Mackenzie Financial Blue Scott “What Pace Car” Goodyear rides…) I certainly don’t recall ever liking any of the “KRACKOE” (Kraco) bright blue ‘N yeller cars that “Boobie Ray-X” (Bobby Rahal) and ‘Mikey A. drove.
Yet how could I not like any of the ‘BAD HABITS Carz… I mean the Marlboro colours are synonymous with winners, not to mention the team KOOL Green rides, but top ‘O the heap belongs to Players for the Smokey-smokes Carz, although I seem to recall that ‘googley-eyez” (Mauricio Gugelmin) had a pretty decent looking Hollywood ride sometime ago.
And there were the Adult Beverage wars with Budweiser being predominantly Red, with Miller in a multitude of hues, while I cannot recall the Tecate colour scheme; something to do with being distracted by the Tecate Girls I suppose, eh? Although I seem to recall that “Eating Raul” (Boesel) had a fairly decent looking Brahma ride…
And the Pacwest Motorola car of Mark Blundell was not half bad, nor was Robby Gordon’s Walker Valvoline machine, along with “Stevie Johnson’s” (Stefan Johansson) Bettenhausen Alumax being an attractive car. Also, I always liked the Team Rahal Shell Oil yellow ‘N white rides of Jimmy Vasser and Kenny Brack, but not the Brian Herta or Mike Borkawski era; go figure? (Remember him?)
And I seem to remember Steve Horn’s Tasman Motorsports having some pretty bright psychedelic looking Carz, while I always enjoyed the vibrant, solitary hue of orange the Patrick Racing team utilized during its Visteon Days, which is always the car I think of when I hear Townsend Bell’s name, not to mention Roberto Moreno doing his smoky “Zanardi” victory doughnuts in front of us at the Molson Indy Up North – Eh! Almost a decade ago in Vancouver, BC; as all of this makes me realize just how overly bland the majority of the Indy Racing League is, albeit Will Power’s Penske Truckin’ throwback scheme got my attention last season, not to mention Sarah Fisher’s Dollar General car looking an awful lot like those good looking ‘Buzzin ‘N Hornets (Benson & Hedges) Jordan Grand Prix Carz, along with the not often seen Z-Lines machine of Justin ‘BIG UNIT Wilson…
And although I’m NOT gonna delve into who my very first favourite racing driver was, nor explain my current Top Two picks for Formula 1 and IndyCar… (Can you have MORE than ‘Juan favourite driver at a time?)
Although I’m not quite as OLD as George is, albeit we’re in a similar Area code… I didn’t have the privilege of being “Dragged” to the Mecca of Open Wheel Racing at the tender age of 5yrs old… And even if my earliest memories of the Indy 500 have more to do with the broadcast then any actual Car/Driver combination, I seem to harbour the thought that my first “Contemporary race via le Telescreen was the wild 1985 classic Win “N Spin when the upstart Mr. Hollywood, a.k.a. Danny Sullivan beat Mario Andretti. (Yey!)
But back to the colour me pink remark… As it’s the smorgasbord ‘O Christmas colours that got me thinking of just exactly which racing cars were my favourites over the past few decades of my brief indulgence in the world of IndyCars, as I’d haveda say that the first car I really enjoyed was ‘big Al’s (Unser Sr.) Banana yellow “Hertz Doughnut-mobile.” As I find it funny I was more drawn to this car then Rick Mears Pennzoil Special – which is every bit as striking, but like I said it wasn’t on my Kodachrome at the moment of glory…
And even though I do still recall Mr. Hollywood’s red ‘N white March 85C-Cosworth Miller racecar, I was more captivated by Penske’s stunning solid gold Miller “Highlife” chassis of ‘Sully’s title winning season in 1988, while I also found his baby blue Galles Molson chassis very appealing.
And although I was there in person and have to say one of my all-time favourites is the Porsche blue ‘N white fosters liveried entries of John Andretti and Teo Fabi; for some reason I cannot seem to mentally call ‘em up on my memory-machine!
And if you’ve read my recent More on Moore piece, then you’ll know just how beautiful I find those Players liveried Forsythe chassis to be… Hmm? Perhaps you’re starting to notice a pattern here? But although blue is a reoccurring colour choice, (having forgotten to mention the Walker Racing Mackenzie Financial Blue Scott “What Pace Car” Goodyear rides…) I certainly don’t recall ever liking any of the “KRACKOE” (Kraco) bright blue ‘N yeller cars that “Boobie Ray-X” (Bobby Rahal) and ‘Mikey A. drove.
Yet how could I not like any of the ‘BAD HABITS Carz… I mean the Marlboro colours are synonymous with winners, not to mention the team KOOL Green rides, but top ‘O the heap belongs to Players for the Smokey-smokes Carz, although I seem to recall that ‘googley-eyez” (Mauricio Gugelmin) had a pretty decent looking Hollywood ride sometime ago.
And there were the Adult Beverage wars with Budweiser being predominantly Red, with Miller in a multitude of hues, while I cannot recall the Tecate colour scheme; something to do with being distracted by the Tecate Girls I suppose, eh? Although I seem to recall that “Eating Raul” (Boesel) had a fairly decent looking Brahma ride…
And the Pacwest Motorola car of Mark Blundell was not half bad, nor was Robby Gordon’s Walker Valvoline machine, along with “Stevie Johnson’s” (Stefan Johansson) Bettenhausen Alumax being an attractive car. Also, I always liked the Team Rahal Shell Oil yellow ‘N white rides of Jimmy Vasser and Kenny Brack, but not the Brian Herta or Mike Borkawski era; go figure? (Remember him?)
And I seem to remember Steve Horn’s Tasman Motorsports having some pretty bright psychedelic looking Carz, while I always enjoyed the vibrant, solitary hue of orange the Patrick Racing team utilized during its Visteon Days, which is always the car I think of when I hear Townsend Bell’s name, not to mention Roberto Moreno doing his smoky “Zanardi” victory doughnuts in front of us at the Molson Indy Up North – Eh! Almost a decade ago in Vancouver, BC; as all of this makes me realize just how overly bland the majority of the Indy Racing League is, albeit Will Power’s Penske Truckin’ throwback scheme got my attention last season, not to mention Sarah Fisher’s Dollar General car looking an awful lot like those good looking ‘Buzzin ‘N Hornets (Benson & Hedges) Jordan Grand Prix Carz, along with the not often seen Z-Lines machine of Justin ‘BIG UNIT Wilson…
Friday, January 1, 2010
Happy Freakin’ New Year!
Talk ‘bout ringin’ in the New Year in style… All I can say is: Yo Travis! You’re ‘Juan SIC Puppie!
So in case you haven’t heard yet? Last night Stuntman extraordinaire Travis Pastrana became the latest Daredevil to ring in the New Year in another mind-bending stunt put on by Deeter Majestic’s ‘lil ‘Ol Drinks Company better known as Red Bull… As the plan was for Travis to smash the existing Rally Car jump record of 171 feet set in 2006 by Rally America Teammate Ken Block, as apparently somebody had just beat Pastrana to his original goal of being first to jump 300 feet with a jump of 304’.
But Travis’s jump would be even more impressive as he planned to jump his Subaru Rally Car off of the Pine Street Pier over 250 feet onto an anchored barge in Rainbow Harbour in Long Beach, CA at midnight, eastern (Right-coast) time to ring in the 2010 New years in style!
In case you’ve never heard of the 26yr old Maryland native Travis Pastrana, he first burst into the limelight 10yrs ago at the newly minted X-Games, where he was stripped of his Gold medal and prize money for celebrating his accomplishment by jumping his motorcycle into the San Francisco Bay at the tender age of 15!
Yet Pastrana is no stranger to injury, having suffered 50+ broken bones in his career along with 20 concussions, not to mention separating his spine and being in a coma for three days; as you name it, he’s probably broken it! Along with two back operations he’s had his left knee surgically repaired nine times and his right knee six; as apparently Travis is after Lee Majors fictional 6 Million Dollar Man role, eh?
But back to the stunt at hand, which was part of the never ending cadre of wicked stunts as part of the now yearly Red bull No Limits New Years Eve show, as Travis decided to do something unique after last year’s mondo “Scooter” jump by Robbie Maddison. (Which I still think is the ‘SIC-EST!)
Pastrana & Co. took a Subaru WRX Sti and modified it to Rally Car specs, with an uprated turbo giving the Flat-4 cylinder “Lump” 400bhp in order to give Travis the needed “OOMPH!” to launch the 3,000lb “Sube-ah-Roo” off the 15 degree angled ramp at a speed of 92mph from a standing start of 1,000 feet from Shoreline Drive…
Funny enough! I haven’t watched any Stunt person Hi-Jinx on le Telescreen since sitting thru an overly “Slick” 2hr show one decade ago when Robbie Knievel successfully jumped the Grand Canyon 228 feet way back on May 20, 1999, albeit losing control of the bike on landing and suffering a broken leg in the harrowing feat…
So, ESPN’s 1hr show was a bit more palatable, albeit I got really SICK of the “Stick ‘N Ball” references… As I kept feeling like they were trying to DUMB IT DOWN for all of ‘dem Sports Fans who DON’T watch any Motor Racing activities… Although it was good to see Jamie little once again; even if she was part of the let’s HYPE the SHEISA outta this routine.
But first a little more on Travis, who I’d ahveda say is “Certified!” As in simply insanely CRAZY! As Travis was the first person to successfully complete a double back flip on a motorcycle at the 2006 X-Games, has jumped a motorcycle into the Grand Canyon – before parachuting to a safe landing… And the piece de la Resistance. Drumrool please… Tuh-duh! Jumped outta a perfectly safe Aeroplane WITHOUT a Parachute in order to be plucked from the sky by a fellow Jumper, as part of his zany TV show Nitro Circus…
And finally the hour of the jump had come, as just prior to Midnight ET the Subaru was fired up, and it sounded NASTY! With a sweet ARSE bark, as Travis teased the approx. 20,000 spectators with a few warm-up runs before it was finally GO-TIME! As I really liked the added reminder in the cockpit: Turn Air ON! As Travis’s Rally Car was fitted with an oxygen tank in case he hit the water at 6-G’s and needed to be pulled out by Frogmen, he’d have a ten minute supply of breatheable air, while further safety considerations included the deletion of his Rally America Navigator, with 120lbs of lead ballast inserted into the right-hand seat instead.
And then he was off! And TANK GAWD the Announcers SHUT-UP and let us just listen to that NASTY sounding Subaru accelerate down the pier and fly into the sky some 220+ feet before landing on a “Slick as Snot” ice rink of a landing ramp on the awaiting 240 foot Barge, as the night’s air dew had moistened the 40 foot wide landing ramp in the awaiting darkness… Before Travis pitched the WRX Sti sideways for an impact with the catch fence safety wall designed to arrest the hurtling Rally Car! As Pastrana triumphantly extricated himself from the vehicle, walked to the end of the ramp and did a back flip into the harbor… After having just unofficially jumped 274 feet which was shortly recognized as an official new record distance of 269 feet, besting the previous record by 98 feet!
So I guess it really does give you wings, eh?
So while the Mainstream media continues to Ballyhoo the SHEISA outta Jimmy Johnson’s 4-Peat in RASSCARLAND… And the Speed Freaks Stat Mann Caruthers picked Tanner “DRIFT-THIS” Foust as his Freak ‘O duh Year! I’m giving the nod to ‘TA (Travis Pastrana), also known as the “Wonder Kid” who NOT only has won four consecutive Rally America Titles, but jumped a ‘Freakin Sube-ah-Roo 269 feet OVER water in the pitch dark… So take ‘dat Jimmy!
SIC, TOTALLY SIC!
So in case you haven’t heard yet? Last night Stuntman extraordinaire Travis Pastrana became the latest Daredevil to ring in the New Year in another mind-bending stunt put on by Deeter Majestic’s ‘lil ‘Ol Drinks Company better known as Red Bull… As the plan was for Travis to smash the existing Rally Car jump record of 171 feet set in 2006 by Rally America Teammate Ken Block, as apparently somebody had just beat Pastrana to his original goal of being first to jump 300 feet with a jump of 304’.
But Travis’s jump would be even more impressive as he planned to jump his Subaru Rally Car off of the Pine Street Pier over 250 feet onto an anchored barge in Rainbow Harbour in Long Beach, CA at midnight, eastern (Right-coast) time to ring in the 2010 New years in style!
In case you’ve never heard of the 26yr old Maryland native Travis Pastrana, he first burst into the limelight 10yrs ago at the newly minted X-Games, where he was stripped of his Gold medal and prize money for celebrating his accomplishment by jumping his motorcycle into the San Francisco Bay at the tender age of 15!
Yet Pastrana is no stranger to injury, having suffered 50+ broken bones in his career along with 20 concussions, not to mention separating his spine and being in a coma for three days; as you name it, he’s probably broken it! Along with two back operations he’s had his left knee surgically repaired nine times and his right knee six; as apparently Travis is after Lee Majors fictional 6 Million Dollar Man role, eh?
But back to the stunt at hand, which was part of the never ending cadre of wicked stunts as part of the now yearly Red bull No Limits New Years Eve show, as Travis decided to do something unique after last year’s mondo “Scooter” jump by Robbie Maddison. (Which I still think is the ‘SIC-EST!)
Pastrana & Co. took a Subaru WRX Sti and modified it to Rally Car specs, with an uprated turbo giving the Flat-4 cylinder “Lump” 400bhp in order to give Travis the needed “OOMPH!” to launch the 3,000lb “Sube-ah-Roo” off the 15 degree angled ramp at a speed of 92mph from a standing start of 1,000 feet from Shoreline Drive…
Funny enough! I haven’t watched any Stunt person Hi-Jinx on le Telescreen since sitting thru an overly “Slick” 2hr show one decade ago when Robbie Knievel successfully jumped the Grand Canyon 228 feet way back on May 20, 1999, albeit losing control of the bike on landing and suffering a broken leg in the harrowing feat…
So, ESPN’s 1hr show was a bit more palatable, albeit I got really SICK of the “Stick ‘N Ball” references… As I kept feeling like they were trying to DUMB IT DOWN for all of ‘dem Sports Fans who DON’T watch any Motor Racing activities… Although it was good to see Jamie little once again; even if she was part of the let’s HYPE the SHEISA outta this routine.
But first a little more on Travis, who I’d ahveda say is “Certified!” As in simply insanely CRAZY! As Travis was the first person to successfully complete a double back flip on a motorcycle at the 2006 X-Games, has jumped a motorcycle into the Grand Canyon – before parachuting to a safe landing… And the piece de la Resistance. Drumrool please… Tuh-duh! Jumped outta a perfectly safe Aeroplane WITHOUT a Parachute in order to be plucked from the sky by a fellow Jumper, as part of his zany TV show Nitro Circus…
And finally the hour of the jump had come, as just prior to Midnight ET the Subaru was fired up, and it sounded NASTY! With a sweet ARSE bark, as Travis teased the approx. 20,000 spectators with a few warm-up runs before it was finally GO-TIME! As I really liked the added reminder in the cockpit: Turn Air ON! As Travis’s Rally Car was fitted with an oxygen tank in case he hit the water at 6-G’s and needed to be pulled out by Frogmen, he’d have a ten minute supply of breatheable air, while further safety considerations included the deletion of his Rally America Navigator, with 120lbs of lead ballast inserted into the right-hand seat instead.
And then he was off! And TANK GAWD the Announcers SHUT-UP and let us just listen to that NASTY sounding Subaru accelerate down the pier and fly into the sky some 220+ feet before landing on a “Slick as Snot” ice rink of a landing ramp on the awaiting 240 foot Barge, as the night’s air dew had moistened the 40 foot wide landing ramp in the awaiting darkness… Before Travis pitched the WRX Sti sideways for an impact with the catch fence safety wall designed to arrest the hurtling Rally Car! As Pastrana triumphantly extricated himself from the vehicle, walked to the end of the ramp and did a back flip into the harbor… After having just unofficially jumped 274 feet which was shortly recognized as an official new record distance of 269 feet, besting the previous record by 98 feet!
So I guess it really does give you wings, eh?
So while the Mainstream media continues to Ballyhoo the SHEISA outta Jimmy Johnson’s 4-Peat in RASSCARLAND… And the Speed Freaks Stat Mann Caruthers picked Tanner “DRIFT-THIS” Foust as his Freak ‘O duh Year! I’m giving the nod to ‘TA (Travis Pastrana), also known as the “Wonder Kid” who NOT only has won four consecutive Rally America Titles, but jumped a ‘Freakin Sube-ah-Roo 269 feet OVER water in the pitch dark… So take ‘dat Jimmy!
SIC, TOTALLY SIC!
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