On Mar 8, 2006, at 3:35 PM, Mark Roberts wrote:
Never been to Daytona! What? You've still got time to make it
down for the
200 on Sunday the 12th. Get packing!
Arrgh. If I could afford it I'd be on my way now. As a poor grad
student I have the time (it's spring break now) but not the money. And
Daytona's too big for there to be much of a chance of getting a paying
gig there :(
I've only been there twice. 1977 (to watch Cook Nielsen win the 200
on the "beyond racer road" Ducati that Cycle mag built) and again in
1996, when I rode there from California on the Moto Guzzi LeMans V
for bike week.
NOW I'm jealous!
Um, I have a cool picture of Ken Roberts at Pocono in 1976, in the
pits after the race scratching his head while looking at the Manx
Norton 500 that I helped get into the AMA races there. He lapped
Charlie on the third lap, passing while coming down off the banking
on the TZ750 at over 220 mph where the Manx was going absolutely flat-
out at about 140mph. Charlie wobbled into pit lane after that and
said he was done. ;-)
Speed Week really is amazing. All sorts of oddball vehicles, and
quite a
few oddball people. ...
In '96 I went for the AHRMA events and left before the hurricane and
torrential rains came down and held up all the other events for a
week. I'm not much into the oddball stuff. I did have the pleasure of
saying hello to Giacomo Agostini and Rob McIntyre ... My buddy in
Nottingham used to race with them and so I introduced myself
referencing him. I also met Christine Britten ... it was only a short
while after John Britten had died and I'd talked with her on the
phone regarding some things I was helping out for John's memorial,
she didn't expect me to be at Daytona.
It's on my "things to do" list, along with the Isle of Man TT (this is
where Godfrey chimes in about how many times he's been there...)
LOL ... well, I'm not that big a fan of the TT: too many people, too
much BS. The Manx GP is a much nicer event, in my opinion: quieter,
friendlier, fewer people, better racing with a more clubby
atmosphere. I have friends there so the expense of getting there is
about all I pay for, which means it's a reasonably cheap trip.
Godfrey
