Andy

Just posted Michael's reports on the front page. Well done to the lad - and to Shaughan too.

Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul Park Sunday April 22, 2007 ELIAS FIGHTS TO SECOND, DANI TAKEN OUT ON LAP ONE A dramatic MotoGP race unfolded in front of a 40,000 crowd here at Istanbul Park with Casey Stoner (Ducati) winning from Toni Elias (Gresini Honda RC212V) with Loris Capirossi (Ducati) third. But a first lap incident took Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) out of the race. Elias started from 10th on the grid after a mediocre qualifying performance, but his race efforts were huge and he willed himself through the field to the podium although he could not catch the runaway Stoner. In sunny conditions with negligible wind, 23 degrees ambient temperature and the track gradually warming up throughout the day to 38 degrees, the conditions were set for a full throttle encounter over 22-laps of this demanding 5.430km track. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) who struggled to reach the flag in tenth at the end, got the holeshot from the lights and led the pack into the tricky off-camber, downhill left that is turn one. His team-mate Colin Edwards was in close pursuit along with Stoner and Capirossi. But there was to be drama on this opening lap. First leader Rossi ran wide on the exit of the high-speed uphill turn 11 slipping down the order to fifth. But behind him into the final three-turn complex, chaos ensued as Olivier Jacque (Kawasaki) clipped Pedrosa

FIM MX1 / MX2 World Motocross Championship Round 3 of 15 - Sunday April 22nd 2007 Grand Prix of Portugal, Agueda Crowd: 18,000 (weekend figure) Weather: Hot, sunny Saturday - Sunshine, clouds later on, 22 C Sunday - Sunshine, blue skies, 25 C Leuret makes MX2 podium landmark Pascal Leuret gave the CRF250R its first silverware, as well as celebrating his maiden MX2 podium appearance, by taking third position overall at a hot and sunny Agueda circuit scene of the Grand Prix of Portugal; the third round of fifteen in the 2007 FIM Motocross World Championship. The Frenchman, who left the NGS crew last week, posted results of 7th and 3rd and even led the second moto to earn his debut walk on the rostrum. After several years contesting the MX1 category 26 year old Leuret earned his spurs in the frantic pace of the MX2 class that on this occasion was won for the third event in a row by Antonio Cairoli with Briton's Tommy Searle taking second place. The undulating circuit, distinctive for its red soil, absorbed the water well from passing thunderstorms on Friday and pleasant conditions graced Saturday's practice and qualification. The layout was not particularly difficult in technical terms but offered a decent and physically demanding racing course for participants of the MX1 and MX2 classes. Sunshine coated the venue on a hot day of racing. Kevin Strijbos claimed his second career success ahead of Josh Coppins as the duo owned an MX1 moto each, taking second position in the other; the Belgian toasted victory courtesy of his superior speed in Moto2. Honda's best performer was Mike Brown with 6th overall. The American scored 9th and 7th position finishes and again looked sprightly off the start line, even briefly leading the first race until the effects of arm-pump caused him to slip back. The veteran is adapting himself to GP pace and also the intricacies of the CRF450R and getting stronger every round. Team-mate Ken de Dycker had a subdued day that was not helped by a first lap crash in the second moto. The Belgian's best result was 7th in the first race but in truth he did not seem completely comfortable on the quick Portuguese layout. He could take comfort in the fact that the team's tweaks to the suspension set-up meant that he was able to circulate at a higher speed for longer without suffering arm trouble. He was 12th in Moto2 for ninth in the classification. Multitek's James Noble was close to a memorable day. The Briton started the first moto within the top six before dropping back into the lower reaches of the top ten to catch his rhythm. The 26 year old then continued a decent spread of lap-times right up until the flag to capture 5th position and equal his best ever race finish (taken at Namur and Teutschenthal 2005). Sadly his hopes of a first podium were dashed after a collision with Thomas Allier in race two and he also stalled his machine to end the day with 16th earning himself 10th overall. Martin Honda's Antoine Meo is still struggling with an injury to his left knee. The luckless Frenchman needed to have almost one litre of fluid drained from the joint in the days before travelling to Portugal. Meo attempted both motos but his participation was cut short in the first outing when he was hit by De Dycker and had to retire with a broken throttle. The second saw him claim 17th spot and he now lies 21st in the standings. The MX1 standings show that De Dycker holds fifth and Brown is also in the top ten with 9th place. Martin Honda's Ryan Mills qualified for his first ever MX2 World Championship event but finished outside of the points in both motos after mis-timing a jump caused the American to finish the day with raw, bloody hands. Matti Seistola was tenth overall for SRS Racing. In the MX2 standings Cairoli has a mammoth 44 point lead over Christophe Pourcel who crashed out in Moto2. Leuret holds fourth, which is another career best. The fourth round of the 2007 series will take place in two weeks time, the first weekend of May, at the Mantova circuit for the Grand Prix of Italy.. Pascal Leuret: "I am happy, this is my first ever podium and it is good for me but a little strange because I am on my own. I worked hard this week to sort out the bike and also take care of my physical condition. This is the best I could have hoped for. I stopped with the team because of many problems. I know what I want. The 450 is a good stock machine but the 250 needs some more special parts. I was already fifth in the Championship after the first two GPs but I knew I could make better results; the bike was good but not perfect. I wanted another solution and when you are not happy you need to change. Maybe it is not so professional but I have one goal and went my way." Ken de Dycker, CAS Honda: "The first moto was OK. I was in the middle of the pack and looking to come through but Ramon crashed in front of me and I rode into him. I got going again but after three or four laps I hit Meo and we both crashed. My speed was good after that, I am happy because I did not have pain in my arms anymore and the bike was working better in terms of the handling and the suspension now. I had a pretty good start in the second moto but I could not avoid riding into Josh and the bike stopped. I started again and things were OK for the rest of the race but it was not easy to pass because the track was rough and quite dangerous in places." Mike Brown, CAS Honda: "It is getting better. I need to work on my sprints because I am getting the starts and I just need to get those quicker laps made at the beginning. Overall the weekend was better than we have had so far. I got good starts in both motos but in the second I was not going to try and over-ride myself and get arm-pump. I wanted to settle in and go with the other guys." Antoine Meo, Martin Honda: "In the first moto I had a really bad start but came back to 15th then De Dycker really hit me hard and sent me flying. He broke the throttle and also the brake. In the second moto I got another bad start but rode OK to come back to 10th. I wanted to push too much and had some pain with my knee and 17th was the best I could do. My speed was OK today but I will have to drain the knee again now and try to get back into a good condition in time for Italy." Ryan Mills, Martin Honda: "I got a good start in my first moto, around 12th, but because I haven't been riding much I got really big blisters coming into the race and the skin started ripping off in that moto. I kept going as fast as I could. In the second moto I got half way through before I over-jumped one of the jumps and lost grip on the bars, taking more chunks out of my hand. I was 22nd and thought it would be better for me to heal up and come back strong for Mantova." James Noble, Multitek Honda: "The first moto was good. I got a pretty decent start and was around 6th or 7th but slipped off on the step-up. I was down in 9th but got back to 7th and got lucky when two riders crashed in front of me, but I was happy with 5th. In the second moto I had a really good jump out of the gate. Strijbos and Josh were going at it but I managed to move around them. I was hovering around 4th or 5th but then the lad on the Kawasaki took me on the inside and forced me off the track. I came right back on and passed him going up the step-off. He was railing the berm and came across me and hit me mid-air. I crashed pretty hard and bruised the left side of my body. I got the bike started but stalled it three laps later. After that, and being in 23rd position, I went as hard as I could. Obviously I am a bit disappointed but I showed that I can run with them. Things are coming together for me but I just have to get those two moto results now." Results Motocross MX1 Race 1 (20 laps = 30 Km) Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time 1 / Coppins, Joshua / NZL / Yamaha / 39:18.003 2 / Strijbos, Kevin / BEL / Suzuki / 39:29.018 3 / Philippaerts, David / ITA / KTM / 39:32.136 4 / Leok, Tanel / EST / Kawasaki / 39:35.343 5 / Noble, James / GBR / Honda / 39:58.777 6 / Priem, Manuel / BEL / TM / 40:05.161 7 / de Dycker, Ken / BEL / Honda / 40:13.080 8 / Nemeth, Kornel / HUN / Suzuki / 40:18.743 9 / Brown, Mike / USA / Honda / 40:23.025 10 / Pourcel, Sebastien / FRA / Kawasaki / 40:28.099 11 / Ramon, Steve / BEL / Suzuki / 40:31.653 12 / van Daele, Marvin / BEL / Honda / 40:33.314 13 / Barragan, Jonathan / ESP / KTM / 41:01.075 14 / de Reuver, Marc / NED / Yamaha / 41:10.311 15 / Desalle, Clement / BEL / Suzuki / 41:16.516 Fastest Lap: STRIJBOS Kevin in 1:50.759 on lap 3 MX1 Race 2 (20 laps = 30 Km) Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time 1 / Strijbos, Kevin / BEL / Suzuki / 39:43.882 2 / Coppins, Joshua / NZL / Yamaha / 40:03.996 3 / Pourcel, Sebastien / FRA / Kawasaki / 40:16.033 4 / Priem, Manuel / BEL / TM / 40:22.707 5 / Philippaerts, David / ITA / KTM / 40:29.124 6 / Allier, Thomas / FRA / Kawasaki / 40:32.607 7 / Brown, Mike / USA / Honda / 40:36.047 8 / Ramon, Steve / BEL / Suzuki / 40:40.281 9 / Mackenzie, Billy / GBR / Kawasaki / 40:41.468 10 / Nemeth, Kornel / HUN / Suzuki / 40:42.726 11 / van Daele, Marvin / BEL / Honda / 40:47.402 12 / de Dycker, Ken / BEL / Honda / 41:08.251 13 / Leok, Aigar / EST / Yamaha / 41:13.766 14 / Barragan, Jonathan / ESP / KTM / 41:20.312 15 / Renet, Pierre A. / FRA / Honda / 41:22.959 Fastest Lap: COPPINS Joshua in 1:52.018 on lap 3 MX1 World Motocross Championship Standings Pos Rider Total 1 Coppins, J. 144, 2 Strijbos, K. 125, 3 Barragan, J. 89, 4 Ramon, Steve 86, 5 de Dycker, Ken 84, 6 Pourcel, S. 67, 7 Nagl, M. 63, 8 Philippaerts, D. 62, 9 Brown, Mike 62, 10 Priem, Manuel 61, 11 Leok, Tanel 61, 12 Noble, James 61, 13 de Reuver, M. 60, 14 Nemeth, Kornel 51, 15 Mackenzie, B. 46. MX2 Race 1 (20 laps = 30 Km) Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time 1 / Cairoli, Antonio / ITA / Yamaha / 39:42.522 2 / Pourcel, Christophe / FRA / Kawasaki / 39:46.428 3 / Searle, Tommy / GBR / KTM / 40:17.467 4 / Swanepoel, Gareth / RSA / Kawasaki / 40:18.753 5 / Rattray, Tyla / RSA / KTM / 40:19.837 6 / Bonini, Matteo / ITA / Yamaha / 40:20.961 7 / Leuret, Pascal / FRA / Honda / 40:24.697 8 / Boissiere, Anthony / FRA / Kawasaki / 40:26.820 9 / Seistola, Matti / FIN / Honda / 40:38.115 10 / Monni, Manuel / ITA / Yamaha / 40:48.310 11 / Frossard, Steven / FRA / Kawasaki / 40:54.080 12 / Gundersen, Kenneth / NOR / Yamaha / 40:58.018 13 / Nunn, Carl / GBR / Yamaha / 41:00.246 14 / Boog, Xavier / FRA / Yamaha / 41:02.406 15 / Church, Tom / GBR / Kawasaki / 41:03.612 Fastest Lap: POURCEL Christophe in 1:51.572 on lap 4 MX2 Race 2 (20 laps = 30 Km) Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time 1 / Cairoli, Antonio / ITA / Yamaha / 40:28.619 2 / Aubin, Nicolas / FRA / Yamaha / 40:33.796 3 / Leuret, Pascal / FRA / Honda / 40:39.723 4 / Boissiere, Anthony / FRA / Kawasaki / 40:44.339 5 / Gundersen, Kenneth / NOR / Yamaha / 40:49.864 6 / Searle, Tommy / GBR / KTM / 40:57.692 7 / Simpson, Shaun / GBR / Kawasaki / 41:01.260 8 / Swanepoel, Gareth / RSA / Kawasaki / 41:11.038 9 / Frossard, Steven / FRA / Kawasaki / 41:14.526 10 / Bonini, Matteo / ITA / Yamaha / 41:21.043 11 / Seistola, Matti / FIN / Honda / 41:25.802 12 / Boog, Xavier / FRA / Yamaha / 41:28.101 13 / Church, Tom / GBR / Kawasaki / 41:34.719 14 / Nunn, Carl / GBR / Yamaha / 41:39.663 15 / Avis, Wyatt / RSA / KTM / 41:47.047 Fastest Lap: POURCEL Christophe in 1:52.318 on lap 2 MX2 World Motocross Championship Standings Pos Rider Total 1 Cairoli, A. 147, 2 Pourcel, C. 103, 3 Rattray, Tyla 98, 4 Leuret, Pascal 87, 5 Searle, Tommy 79, 6 Gundersen, K. 75, 7 Swanepoel, G. 72, 8 Aubin, Nicolas 69, 9 Seistola, M. 61, 10 Boissiere, A. 57, 11 Eggens, Erik 54, 12 Schiffer, M. 49, 13 Frossard, S. 47, 14 Monni, Manuel 45, 15 Boog, Xavier 41.

Results AMA Barber Motorsports Park Climate: Sunny Temperature: 24 degrees Crowd: 30,000 Double Superbike Podium for Duhamel American Honda's Miguel Duhamel scored a pair of podiums in the second round of the AMA Superbike Championship at the picturesque Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama. Duhamel finished third twice on the undulating bends of the track which is the most scenic on the American calendar and one of the most challenging. With long, looping bends and near constant elevation changes, the track puts a premium on handling and agility. Starting from the second row in the first race, Duhamel quickly joined the battle for third. He lost the position briefly, then took it back with a crafty move over fellow veteran Aaron Yates (Suzuki) on the penultimate lap. Though happy to be on the box, the competitive French-Canadian wanted to be closer to the front, which he was on Sunday. Duhamel battled almost to the end for the second position and took 16 seconds out of his deficit to the winner while finishing third. He stands third in the AMA Superbike Championship after three of 18 rounds. Teammate Jake Zemke had a less successful weekend. Tire problems in both races blunted his early race aggression. Front tire problems dropped him to sixth on Saturday. The solution for Sunday's race fixed the front, but there were other problems with the rear. Suzuki's Mat Mladin won both races, with teammate Ben Spies again second. Miguel Duhamel, 3rd Place, 3rd Place Saturday We came through the field a bit, got through those guys, and I put my head down. All I could do was run for third, but then Aaron (Yates) came back by me. We ran a good pace for us in the 1:25's and 1:26's. There were a few places where I thought I might pass him, but it might be pretty tight. I said, 'I'm just going to take the opportunity when it presents itself.' I thought if I could get him-we were pretty evenly matched-it would be hard for him to get back by me. It worked out. Sunday We got third, but 26 seconds behind yesterday and today, until about eight laps to go before I decided, OK, just couldn't hang with them any more, I was like three seconds or whatever it was to Mat (Mladin), because I was with Ben (Spies). So yeah, that was real good. Learned a lot. We need to do some modifications to the bike, a little different set-up. When the tires get hot, when you're running a harder pace, the bike starts doing little things that we need to be online. But we did improve a lot. Like I called it yesterday; we're going to get better today and we did, so we got a good start. The goal is to win and I think we're on the right track. Jake Zemke, 6th Place, 10th Place Saturday We made some changes in the morning and the thing was quite a bit better, but we had a couple problem areas with the front end. We only had about six laps on the set-up we qualified on. I basically just used up the front tire. The issues we're fighting with the front wore out the tire. Those last five laps, I think I lost a second a lap those last five laps. We changed a lot of the geometry this morning because we were having problems with the bike backing in going into the corner. We actually changed the thing quite drastically in the morning to alleviate those problems. We got one problem fixed with it backing in, but we didn't have time to get it to go around the corner the way I needed it to. Sunday In the race I just didn't seem to have the same grip levels I had this morning. The rear, I just couldn't get off the corners. Then all of a sudden on the right side, every time I'd lean the thing into the corner I'd lose the rear. I almost crashed the thing about ten times in two laps. And I said, alright, I better slow down. I stood up to take a look to make sure all the parts and pieces were there and there was nothing on the tire. I just basically circulated and brought home some points. Actually the bike wasn't that bad. When I was in that group of guys I was just kind of sitting there waiting for themselves to wear themselves out because they were dicing pretty good. And I figured I'll sit back here until they go back into single file and then work my way through them. About that time I started having no grip. Superbike Race One: 1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 2. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 3. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 4. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 5. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) 6. Jake Zemke (Honda) 7. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki) 8. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 9. Jason Disalvo (Yamaha) 10. James Ellison (Honda) Superbike Race Two: 1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 2. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 3. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 4. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) 5. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 6. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 7. Jason Disalvo (Yamaha) 8. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki) 9. Roger Lee Hayden (Kawasaki) 10. Jake Zemke (Honda) Championship Standings: 1. Ben Spies (103) 2. Mat Mladin (95) 3. Miguel Duhamel (90) 4. Tommy Hayden (76) 5. Jake Zemke (75) 6. Aaron Yates (73) 7. Jason DiSalvo (71) 8. James Ellison (63) 9. Eric Bostrom (58) 10. Jamie Hacking (47)

Can some of our older members (or younger members ask their parents) cast their minds back - was Addingham used as a regular practice area/venue prior to 1963? This could be vital to any defence for the continued use of the land.

Normally not until a few weeks beforehand. they go out en masse.

Home Office Advice "You should be on your guard and exercise great caution as violent crime is common throughout Guatemala" "Tourists are targeted by criminals, especially those arriving at the airport" "Armed robbery is becoming more usual in Antigua, Guatemala, and even the main areas of town during daylight hours have seen attacks. You should be on your guard at all times. " "Violent crime is a major problem throughout Guatemala. Serious attacks on tourists, including murder and rape, have taken place. Armed robbery of tourists and muggings can happen anywhere in the country. " "There have been attacks on cars and buses (including tourist buses) during daylight hours on well-used, main roads. These attacks have included the rape of female passengers." "There are 5 to 6 murders a day in Guatemala City and surrounding areas. The majority involve the use of guns." Personally, I'm glad I'm heading to my folks for the weekend. Not much chance of getting shot/mugged in rural Aberdeenshire.

US off-topic has gone as it wasn't being used. The few topics that existed have been merged with the US Forum. I've split the old "Across The Pond" category into dedicated US and Canada forums. You Canucks now have your own dedicated forum - something you should always have had.

Latino lady boys a plenty. You could be missing the trip of a lifetime, Gringo. It's bad form to laugh at your own jokes. T**t

Firstly you can rule out a digital SLR if you want to carry it around a Trial with you. Firstly because they're bulky and secondly because they're still quite expensive! I don't know how old your current camera is, but shutter lag isn't nearly as bad on modern compacts as it used to be. It still exists, but might not be as bad as you're used to. I'm not clued up on the compact camera scene, but always found DPReview to be a good independent site for reviews etc.

I am SO glad I didn't go!

ONLINE PETITION UP AND RUNNING CLICKY LINK

Software installed, configured, customised and ready to roll. I just need some help on the article to accompany it.

If there is anybody out there who could do me a bit of a write-up on Addingham - the history and importance of it to Trials I'd be grateful. I think it's time to put the power and coverage that Trials Central has gained over the years to some good use. I can do the geeky technical stuff, but I'm unfamiliar with the venue or it's history. Email to trialscentral AT trialscentral.com ASAP please!

I have found an online petition package. I am happy to install and configure this on TC if wanted. At very least it could do no harm - particularly if I could get some Dougie involvement. I'm going to speak to Jake tomorrow.

Actually, thinking about it, I doubt writing letters is going to be enough. Somebody local needs to take ownership of this, organise a proper campaign and get the press involved. I can probably help a little by getting statements from Dougie and Dibs via Jake.

I would add that not everybody reads this site. This information needs to be spread right around the Trials community in the UK. Tell EVERYONE.

World Supersport and Superbike Championships 2007 Round 4, Valencia

FIM MX1 / MX2 World Motocross Championship Round 2 of 15 - Sunday April 15th 2007 Grand Prix of Spain, Bellpuig Crowd: 22,300 (weekend figure) Weather: Cloudy, sunny, warm Saturday - Persistent rainfall, dark, cold, 9 deg C Sunday - Clouds, sunshine, 19 deg C De Dycker sixth for CAS Honda in Spanish weather reversal CAS Honda's Ken de Dycker raced to sixth position overall today at a surprisingly sunny and warm Bellpuig venue for the Grand Prix of Spain, the second round of the 2007 MX1 World Championship. After the near perfect conditions at the series opener in Holland two weeks ago the April rains fell hard over Catalunya as the event opened. Saturday's practice and qualification schedule were scraped after heavy downpours on Friday evening washed out the venue and flooded the track. On Sunday morning the sky was again ominous but the clouds dispersed and warm spring sunshine rapidly dried the course creating a rough, rutty and predominantly one-line track. For the second meeting in succession Josh Coppins owned the MX1 class, on this occasion from Kevin Strijbos and Max Nagl; the latter becoming the first German rider to take a podium since 2002 and the maiden silverware for his country in the MX1 class. De Dycker suffered with starts that placed him in the mid top ten on the first lap of each moto. The Belgian held fourth at one stage in race one but dropped back to sixth after a spill, he then pushed up to third in Moto2 but again struggled with arm-pump and his lap-times dropped away to leave him down in ninth place. His team-mate Mike Brown led the opening sprint after a lively start but, like De Dycker, felt the affects of the bumpy mud and was struck by arm-pump, he completed the 35 minute plus 2 lap race distance back in twelfth. The American was luckless later in the afternoon after he ran off the track on the first lap and had to work his way back into a point-scoring position; he managed 13th by the chequered flag. The veteran walked away with an overall ranking of 12th.. It was an unfortunate Grand Prix for Martin Honda. Antoine Meo, still nursing a weakened left knee, pulled out of both races after a crash in the first moto left the Frenchman with an even more painful joint that he could barely move after the lunch break. The Italian quads MX2 representative Ryan Mills was unable to qualify after failing to register a lap-time quick enough in the wet morning Timed Practice and was outside of the top thirty cut-off mark. Multitek Honda's James Noble - after rushing to post twenty-first position in the morning Timed Practice - was 14th overall and claimed a best moto finish of tenth. He was running within the first eight in the second race but a crash approaching the step-ups dropped him to 16th. Coppins heads the young MX1 points table by nineteen points from Strijbos who in turn holds a four point advantage over Barragan.. Antonio Cairoli won an excellent MX2 Grand Prix by defeating Christophe Pourcel on the last lap of the second moto. The Sicilian leads Tyla Rattray, who was third overall by 15 points in the world championship standings, Pourcel is a further point behind. The third round of the 15 round series takes place next weekend, April 21 - 22 with the Grand Prix of Portugal at the Agueda circuit. Ken de Dycker, CAS Honda: "The first heat was pretty good until I fell, and then I could not get going again. I still took sixth which was OK. In the second heat my start was good and I made some positions but after 15 minutes I could not hold the bike anymore. The track was difficult but it was the same for everybody; I just struggled with the pain today." Mike Brown, CAS Honda: "I got a good start in the first moto but got arm-pump really bad. I worked my way back but couldn't hold onto the clutch. All week I practiced hard-pack and ruts but we get here and there was so much rain and the track was really rough. I got tight in the first one and then in the next I had a crash when I ran a little wide and into the fence. I rode my hardest after that, back to 13th. It was not the best. It was hard to pass out there. It took me two or three laps just to get around the guys who were slower in front of me. I think this was one of the ruttiest tracks I have ever ridden." Antoine Meo, Martin Honda: "It was difficult for me today with the state of the mud and my weak knee.In the morning I did not really get a good time and then the track was so rutty when it started to dry. In the first moto I crashed and caused more damage to my knee. I tried to continue but it was too painful. I attempted the second moto and did not start too badly, in twelfth but my knee had swollen and I could hardly bend it so I could not finish. Now I will try to find a solution so that I can compete next week nearer to my normal condition." Ryan Mills, Martin Honda: "It has been a difficult road so far. I am not making any excuses but I have not had much luck. I got hurt a while ago, came back and then got hurt again. I had to take another two weeks off and missed Valkenswaard. It all took its toll. I flew back only four days before this race and did not get to ride or train. I feel that it is coming around though. I went out there this morning and in those muddy conditions anything can happen. I could not get my head straight. My trainer and I and my mechanic Marcus as well as Team Manager Paolo, we are all working very hard and things are going to come around for sure. This is a learning year for me and I am getting to grips with the tracks, just like it would be for any Europeans to come to America. I am definitely disappointed about this weekend but I am looking forward to Portugal." James Noble, Multitek Honda: "I got a mega start in the first race and was in seventh but got held up by backmarkers and struggled to pass them because the track was so 'one-line'. A few people nipped past me and I ended up tenth which was a little bit disappointing. I had another good launch in the second moto, especially from my position in the gate, but slipped off just before the step-ups and had problems with my arms trying to come back from that." Results Motocross MX1 Race 1 (18 laps = 27.828 Km) ) Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time 1 / Coppins, Joshua / NZL / Yamaha / 39:57.248 2 / Strijbos, Kevin / BEL / Suzuki / 40:17.131 3 / Ramon, Steve / BEL / Suzuki / 40:18.683 4 / Barragan, Jonathan / ESP / KTM / 40:18.973 5 / Nagl, Maximilian / GER / KTM / 40:41.518 6 / de Dycker, Ken / BEL / Honda / 40:46.859 7 / Nemeth, Kornel / HUN / Suzuki / 40:47.150 8 / Philippaerts, David / ITA / KTM / 41:04.680 9 / Leok, Tanel / EST / Kawasaki / 41:09.771 10 / Noble, James / GBR / Honda / 41:10.676 11 / Pourcel, Sebastien / FRA / Kawasaki / 41:35.474 12 / Brown, Mike / USA / Honda / 41:35.841 13 / Coulon, Cyrille / FRA / Honda / 41:42.120 14 / de Reuver, Marc / NED / Yamaha / 41:55.085 15 / Allier, Thomas / FRA / Kawasaki / 42:00.720 MX1 Race 2 (19 laps = 29.374 Km ) Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time 1 / Coppins, Joshua / NZL / Yamaha / 40:24.251 2 / Nagl, Maximilian / GER / KTM / 40:36.736 3 / Strijbos, Kevin / BEL / Suzuki / 40:39.703 4 / Pourcel, Sebastien / FRA / Kawasaki / 40:42.620 5 / Mackenzie, Billy / GBR / Kawasaki / 40:46.408 6 / Barragan, Jonathan / ESP / KTM / 40:54.814 7 / Leok, Tanel / EST / Kawasaki / 41:07.362 8 / Philippaerts, David / ITA / KTM / 41:12.034 9 / de Dycker, Ken / BEL / Honda / 41:16.143 10 / de Reuver, Marc / NED / Yamaha / 41:18.513 11 / Allier, Thomas / FRA / Kawasaki / 41:20.161 12 / Priem, Manuel / BEL / TM / 41:26.395 13 / Brown, Mike / USA / Honda / 41:56.888 14 / Leok, Aigar / EST / Yamaha / 41:59.672 15 / Ramon, Steve / BEL / Suzuki / 42:00.808 Fastest Lap: COPPINS Joshua in 2:04.826 on lap 6 MX1 World Motocross Championship Standings Pos Rider Total 1 Coppins, J. 97, 2 Strijbos, K. 78, 3 Barragan, J. 74, 4 Nagl, M. 63, 5 Ramon, Steve 63, 6 de Dycker, Ken 61, 7 de Reuver, M. 53, 8 Leok, Tanel EST 43, 9 Noble, James 40, 10 Brown, Mike 36, 11 Pourcel, S 36, 12 Mackenzie, B. GBR 29, 13 Priem, Manuel BEL 28, 14 Nemeth, Kornel HUN 27, 15 Philippaerts, D. ITA 26. MX2 Race 1 (18 laps = 27.828 Km)) Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time 1 / Pourcel, Christophe / FRA / Kawasaki / 41:28.206 2 / Cairoli, Antonio / ITA / Yamaha / 41:29.127 3 / Eggens, Erik / NED / Suzuki / 42:22.015 4 / Rattray, Tyla / RSA / KTM / 42:31.945 5 / Leuret, Pascal / FRA / Honda / 42:55.454 6 / Searle, Tommy / GBR / KTM / 43:01.620 7 / Monni, Manuel / ITA / Yamaha / 43:09.096 8 / Schiffer, Marcus / GER / KTM / 43:16.863 9 / van Horebeek, Jeremy / BEL / KTM / 43:17.231 10 / Seistola, Matti / FIN / Honda / 43:23.278 11 / Church, Tom / GBR / Kawasaki / 43:28.732 12 / Gundersen, Kenneth / NOR / Yamaha / 43:39.148 13 / Frossard, Steven / FRA / Kawasaki / 43:42.660 14 / Nunn, Carl / GBR / Yamaha / 43:44.667 15 / Dougan, Jason / GBR / Suzuki / 43:46.024 Fastest Lap: CAIROLI Antonio in 2:13.137 on lap 15 MX2 Race 2 (19 laps = 29.374 Km)) Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time 1 / Cairoli, Antonio / ITA / Yamaha / 40:54.529 2 / Pourcel, Christophe / FRA / Kawasaki / 40:55.413 3 / Rattray, Tyla / RSA / KTM / 41:32.255 4 / Searle, Tommy / GBR / KTM / 41:35.842 5 / Aubin, Nicolas / FRA / Yamaha / 41:40.247 6 / Leuret, Pascal / FRA / Honda / 41:48.343 7 / Bonini, Matteo / ITA / Yamaha / 42:07.500 8 / Monni, Manuel / ITA / Yamaha / 42:14.845 9 / Boog, Xavier / FRA / Yamaha / 42:17.209 10 / Seistola, Matti / FIN / Honda / 42:22.640 11 / Frossard, Steven / FRA / Kawasaki / 42:27.274 12 / Simpson, Shaun / GBR / Kawasaki / 42:31.176 13 / Schiffer, Marcus / GER / KTM / 42:44.023 14 / Gundersen, Kenneth / NOR / Yamaha / 42:46.873 15 / Church, Tom / GBR / Kawasaki / 42:58.519 Fastest Lap: CAIROLI Antonio in 2:06.141 on lap 18 MX2 World Motocross Championship Standings Pos Rider Total 1 Cairoli, A. 97, 2 Rattray, Tyla 82, 3 Pourcel, C. 81, 4 Eggens, Erik 54, 5 Leuret, Pascal 53, 6 Gundersen, K. 50, 7 Schiffer, M. 48, 8 Searle, Tommy 44, 9 Aubin, Nicolas 44, 10 Swanepoel, G. 41, 11 Seistola, M. 39, 12 Monni, Manuel 34, 13 Boissiere, A. 26, 14 Frossard, S. 25, 15 Boog, Xavier 25.

I've started playing about with panning and following the rider rather than focusing on where I want to take the shot and waiting for them to fill the frame. I'm getting some decent results from it. Problem is the buggers take off so fast for jumps like that. As far as the drinking goes, I was up, out of my tent (TC mobile HQ!) and had the water on the boil for my coffee before any of the rest of our motley crew had even surfaced.

Full hi-res image taken today.

Ban coffee? WTF? I've only just caught up on the forums having been kinda tied up and someone is saying BAN COFFEE???? This is just another example of the PC crazy world we live in. Don't do this, don't do that, don't eat this it will give you cancer, don't eat that it will give you thyroid problems etc etc etc ad infinitum. For years they've been telling us to eat oily fish because they're good for us and yesterday - Bam! Don't eat oily fish, it will give you diabetes. We've been drinking coffee for years. Why is it suddenly the outflowings from the devils bottom. Bet Jordi Tarres drank coffee during his 7 titles. Bet Dougie's scooped a cup or two himself (if it was free - disclaimer) You only get one shot at life, live it as you want. It's too short to go fussing about - soon they'll be telling us breathing gives us cancer - and some of us will be dumb enough to believe them. I so wish I could set Mart Lampkin loose on this topic. He'd set you lot straight for sure.

AtomAnt gets wristache from his Sherco, but it's not through riding it

If you'd offered your services to TC like Bigfoot and Matt you'd have got a free fleece and shirt.

Bigfoot - you liar, liar, pants on fire! I only take the camera on the last night and that's only because of the presentation of awards. What happens on the road, stays on the road - them's the rules! It doesn't have to START at the Milton as it's a bit off the beaten track. It could start in town and end up at the Milton. Done that a few times (I can feel a Blog entry coming on!) Malcra - Not taking the bike? I enjoyed our bit of cat and mouse en route to Fersit Wouldn't mind a bit of a chat over a beer if you don't mind talking shop for 10 mins or so. DanGleebitz - I am not aware of any gay/lesbian bars in Fort William. Are you sure you'll feel comfortable?