Bike_UK_July_2017

Rea vs Davies
>> It was great to see Chaz Davies and Jonathan Rea having a proper
spat in Parc Ferme at the Assen WSB meeting! That championship
needs a bit of ‘handbags at dawn’ to spice it up and Davies’ insults and
swearing were just the ticket. I’m sure Rea didn’t mean to get in his way
during Superpole but it was certainly entertaining. More please!
KAWASAKI RACING
Boastie beats Guy at
Scarborough
>> We’re all really excited about the TT, and seeing how Guy
Martin’s going to go on his return. Long time Bike tester and
contributor Peter Boast has been racing on the Island for a long
time and because they’re both from North Lincolnshire he knows
Guy well. While we were doing the sportsbike test (p56) at
Rockingham for this issue he told me this nice little tale.
‘Guy comes along to my flat-track school quite regularly for a bit
of a ride around. I always beat him on dirt, but last time he beat me
and he didn’t let me forget it. “It’ll be the only time I beat you
Boastie, so I’ll make the most of it.” Which is fair enough.
‘A couple of weeks later he was racing at Tandragee in Ireland,
trying to get some race time on the Honda before the TT, but he
crashed out on the first lap. So he didn’t get much time on the bike.
‘Racing at Tandragee happens on the Saturday, so they slung the
bike in the back of the van and were at Scarborough on Sunday
morning for the Spring Cup races to get a bit more track time. I was
there too, racing a 2013 Superstock-spec Honda Fireblade, so we
ended up in the same race.
‘He had to start from the back of the grid because he hadn’t practiced,
and he was only there for a bit of a ride around to get the feel of the bike,
but I beat him by one place and about 15 seconds. So after the race I
made sure I told him about it. Well, I might not get another chance. ‘
Like Guy, you can benefit from Pete’s flat-track training at…
Flattrackschool.co.uk
PICTURE: ALAN HORNER
Bike’s own Pete Boast
on his four-year-old Blade.
Famous bloke somewhere behind
Haslam junior
muses on a
potential triple
‘Guy comes along to my flat-track school quite regularly for a bit of a
ride around. I always beat him on dirt, but last time he beat me’
PICTURE: KTM RACING
What’s Danny Kent
playing at?
>> I like Danny Kent a lot but I think he’s made a
crazy move walking out on his team after just
two rounds of the Moto2 world championship.
Racing’s hard sometimes but you have to just
get on with it. Walking away from a team and
blaming the bike – especially when your teammate
puts it on the front row at Jerez –
will ensure a lot of doors are now
closed to him in the future. The
Red Bull KTM team are to give
him another chance in
Moto3 but many think
that’s just to assess
where their bike is at
because it’s been
struggling this year.
And there’s an age limit
in Moto3 so Danny can’t
spend his life riding around
in that championship so it’s hard
to know where he’s going to go.
EVENTS
They’re all riding distance, so there
are no excuses this time…
>> 21-23 July
British Superbikes,
Brands Hatch
The full Brands Hatch GP
circuit is one of the most
spectacular on the BSB
calendar and local hero
Shakey Byrne is the man
they all have to beat. Expect
fireworks.
britishsuperbike.com
>> 4-6 August
Czech Republic
MotoGP
The Czech Republic isn’t so
far to ride to, especially
since you’ll be rewarded
with a MotoGP race when
you get there. Because of its
central location it draws
massive crowds from all
over Europe so the
atmosphere is terrific.
motogp.com
>> 6-12 August
Ulster Grand Prix
The Ulster is the last of the
big three international road
races of the year in the UK
and it’s also the fastest
circuit in the world so don’t
miss your last chance to see
Michael Dunlop and Ian
Hutchinson go head-tohead
in 2017.
ulstergrandprix.net
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