Weston Beach Race

[Enword]

From FB, not the wisest move of the day

 

[Just smiffy]

Mayhem and madness....

 

[Enword]

Bit more here

 

[PhilG]

Raced it a few times. Not fun at all.

 

[The Wino]

I would have thought the organisers need to review their crowd safety too unless they fancy it being banned with this on facebook

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[PhilG]

It has been .. in the old days the track was the other side of the fence, with no markers giving a gap.

 

[The Wino]

It has been .. in the old days the track was the other side of the fence, with no markers giving a gap.

The fact the rider hit the fence suggests the gap needs to be a lot bigger if his helmet hit a spectator on the head that might have been the end of the event forever. I think health and safety is often taken too far but with public events one death of a spectator would probably be the end of the event permanently

 

[Minxy]

Why the hell didn't the idiot who's bike had stopped simply waited still lined up the correct way until the rest had passed him by???

 

[hilldweller]

I've never seen so many bikes, anyone know how many ?

 

[hilldweller]

Raced it a few times. Not fun at all.

So why did you go back ?

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[Steve and Denise]

To be fair with that spray it would be almost impossible to see the stationary bike.

 

[Enword]

Why the hell didn't the idiot who's bike had stopped simply waited still lined up the correct way until the rest had passed him by???

To be fair the rider was between a rock & a hard place, Just to to sit there you would have to be very very brave or stupid, if you get hit sat on a stationary bike at 80mph you are not going come out of it well! he may have been better to have jumped off & faced the pack until they passed but still with all the spray & sand tough decision, just stood there hoping they will see you. In count less starts I've stalled twice in all the years racing, the most scary thing you will experience 29 sidecars flyin past whilst you try to get the bike started

 

[Enword]

I've never seen so many bikes, anyone know how many ?

They race different classes on Sat to Sun your looking at nearly a thousand Bloke in the village had his first go this year, finished 598th

 

[Steve and Denise]

It is very difficult to distinguish wether a bike is moving or stationary when you are coming up behind one at speed and of course you do not want to slow down as you will loose places,as any racer will tell you.

 

[hilldweller]

They race different classes on Sat to Sun your looking at nearly a thousand Bloke in the village had his first go this year, finished 598th

Looks like one race where coming last is a good move.

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[Ivory55]

Is there a race like it in le touquet France ?

 

[Enword]

Looks like one race where coming last is a good move.

Lots of fun riders will wait for the first away to clear, Id be waiting behind the barrier's off road & me don't have a good rapport

 

[Hawkstone]

Why the hell didn't the idiot who's bike had stopped simply waited still lined up the correct way until the rest had passed him by???

Unfortunately with around 1000 riders in the race it would have been far worse if he had stayed put and it was unfortunate that he got hit. The spectator suffered a broken knee apparently. The riders certainly aren’t idiots, many of them are British and World Championship contenders and are extremely experienced. I am personally not a fan of Weston but I see the draw. It is an amazing spectacle and is well worth a watch at least once if you ever get the chance.

 

[PhilG]

I you think that was scary watching, imagine doing it.. Weston is a copy of the race in Le Touquet, except where Le Touquet is sand , Weston is just slop, because the water table is three inches above the surface. When they ran qualifiers back in the day , i led mine down the straight and i have never been so thankful to get to the other end , i hugged the fence all the way up so if it nipped , i could bail over the fence as soon as it stopped. Luckily it didnt , but after 3 attempts i finished it and sacked it off for good.

Le Touquet is mint though, proper sand, i have been once to pit crew for friends, and came away with a win and an eleventh, and a cold that lasted a month. The top riders there are so fast , in the sand, that is mesmerising to watch, as they weave through the many slower riders.

Dont get me wrong, as long as folk want to go , and riders want to ride, its all good , but not for me.

A side note, the last time i went , it was cancelled after a similar incident , when a rider hit another who had stopped and the chain reaction saw 10 or 15 guys down hard , the worst was air lifted away with pretty severe injuries, i reckon this was maybe 2010, or 2011. This year that rider finished inside the top 40 and his younger brother won it for the 3rd time.

They run a smaller one at Weymouth, which was last week, and one at Skegness too, which is in a week or two, used to commentate at that one, its the hardest one of the lot, sand is so soft that you cant get on the beach with anything other than a tracked vehicle or quad.

 

[PhilG]

It is very difficult to distinguish wether a bike is moving or stationary when you are coming up behind one at speed and of course you do not want to slow down as you will loose places,as any racer will tell you.

You are riding blind, most of the time, even the best prepped goggles dont help, you just have to go fast enough that the speed clears them. The last time we did it , i had a 500cc Honda that was geared to do 115mph and i had it on the stop every lap, with the choke on to stop it seizing. Was a proper buzz.

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[hilldweller]

i had a 500cc Honda that was geared to do 115mph and i had it on the stop every lap.

You nutter. Brilliant.

 

[Enword]

You nutter. Brilliant.

Every one of em are.

 

[tonyidle]

A few marshals with their wits about them would help. I'm all for balls-out racing but an incident like that doesn't add to the spectacle and could cause a massive pile-up. IMO an incident with that many riders racing needs an instant red flag.

 

[PhilG]

A few marshals with their wits about them would help. I'm all for balls-out racing but an incident like that doesn't add to the spectacle and could cause a massive pile-up. IMO an incident with that many riders racing needs an instant red flag.

The Marshalls there are insane, they get as much of a buzz as the riders, and to be fair, they have guys on quads with radios, to make calls like that , normally you would get a vehicle with lights out there on the straight guarding the medics and loads officials on quads/ in 4WD stuff keeping folk out of the way.

You wouldnt stop it for that .

 

[PhilG]

You nutter. Brilliant.

It was a buzz, Le Mans type start back then , you had to run to the bike , kick it and go, i had a team of pushers to get the bike as far up the beach as we were allowed, and the start was by a flare, and i could see the bloke striking the match trying to light it, when he stopped striking i started running and by the time it lit i was halfway to the bike, it went first kick, and i was gone, the hand protectors on the bars bent back at speed , so i had to hold my hands out flat to stop the clutch and brake levers getting pushed on.. and because i went right up close to the fence , it felt really bloody fast.. we broke a chain adjuster in a collision and lost 20 minutes fixing it , but still managed 95th with 100 to go through.. i think back then there were 200 Seeds , and the rest came from 3 heats, with 500 on the line, including 50 sidecars and 50 quads.. they get their own race now.

Funnily enough, we just picked up another CR500 a few weeks ago..

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[PhilG]

Every one of em are.

Man who races Sidecar thinks i'm nuts... the irony.

 

[Enword]

Let's hope it doesn't get sanitized like so many M/S's & M/S venues, as Brands GP Sheen curve/Sterlings, one of the latest viewing spots to go, big big grumbles from fan's at BSB

 

[PhilG]

Let's hope it doesn't get sanitized like so many M/S's & M/S venues, as Brands GP Sheen curve/Sterlings, one of the latest viewing spots to go, big big grumbles from fan's at BSB

One of the things about MX has always been proximity to the riders, at GP's now there are 6ft fences all over the place, to stop wayward bikes entering the crowd in even the most unlikely places.

The Supermoto race we just did in Belgium , you can high five the crowd on the warm up lap...

 

[PORKSTER]

Beach races are insane I have only ever raced Weymouth my Nephew raced it for his first time on Sunday reckons its hardest thing he has ever done. And that is only 2X20 minute races bloody big poofta lol mind he reckons he cant remember coming back to the van after going in the local strip club saturday night bless him.
many years ago we used to go to weston to watch was a great weekend. Then 1 year I spun spanners for someone that only made it half way up the start straight and his bike went pop so that was easy days work.(I didnt prep bike btw)

For many years my pals and I would visit Le touguet that was an amazing spectacle think its changed these days as the course isnt so big as they cant use the dunes anymore. If your into bikes its worth going think the entry is about a 1000 bikes they all ride through the town in proccesion to the start and actualy start behind a gate. With helicopters chasing them down the long straight its a great site to see. Also thousands of bikes roll into town to watch and the french learn how to wheelie at school so its entertaining to say the least.

At end of day racing is dangerous watching has its risks also but heck its bloody great fun

 

[PORKSTER]

One of the things about MX has always been proximity to the riders, at GP's now there are 6ft fences all over the place, to stop wayward bikes entering the crowd in even the most unlikely places.

The Supermoto race we just did in Belgium , you can high five the crowd on the warm up lap...

Did you do Mettet ? my mates young lad did it I believe he was just old enuff to do it the weekend of the race I havnt spoken to him about it yet but see pics on FB.

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