The 3 days pretty much went without a hitch for most of the attendees I know out of our own group of 18 riders only two had incidents, both running into the gravel and dropping it almost at a standstill For people outside the group I know we had an Aprilia RSV factory go down on day one and grind its way through its clutch cover, which is an absolutely huge piece, it must have been some slide, it looked like it had been sliding and grinding for days. One guy that was staying in the same hotel as ourselves, a French rider, he seemed to have the worst incident of all, he himself seemed to have gotten away with only a sprained arm but he did a @Bram43 BMW special and his back carbon fibre wheel came apart on his HP4 and the whole thing was destroyed , I immediately thought of Bram and his dealing with BMW and claims. How that will work with a 75K special I don’t know but seeing as the wheels being shite is a known issue , I was hopeful for the poor bugger that BMW may have to sort him with a new machine.
its just red electrical tape chap but there is a gut on another forum i frequent selling corse light covers
Jasus lads i've been busy , last update August 2022 ! Well, lets try remember through the fog that is my brain and share some tales. Right not only was I lucky enough to go to Mugello once but I got to go twice, I spent 8 days overall in Italy for what I call “ Mugello 2” What a country, Italy is truly a gem. We arrived late Tuesday into Bologna and we stayed the night there, once we got settled and our gear into the hotel room it was back out to explore in the hire car Unreal pizza near enough midnight with plenty of delivery riders still doing the rounds at this late hour, from the pizza shop we head toward the Ducati factory for some photos stopping off outside an AMG dealers we saw along the way, pressing our stupid faces against the windows and leaving greasy Irish smears. Sorry Giuseppe Ducati shop, more windows, more pressing of body parts against windows and then the factory , Bellisima. Up early Wednesday we are sad bastards and actually hit the hotel gym before brekkie and then we hit the road to Pisa airport to collect another lad and then onto Pisa itself to see the tower because when in Rome...err Pisa. Pisa is so impressive, how people managed way back when to create the buildings, monuments etc that dot Italy that they have its mind boggling so the normal pose below , and what i got back from a mate From Pisa we head to Florence Good lord, it is like being in a living Museum with extremely expensive cars and clothes dotted here and there. If you have not been to Italy nevermind Florence just go, you will not be dissapointed. i have about a million photos so i'm keeping this limited.
Thursday we decide a trip over a good biking road to Tavulia, Rossi' home town and Cattolica should be done so off we set, 4 in the car . The weather was for rain but fack me i never saw anything like it and so quickly, and for the evening the lightning was literally over us for the entire journey back from the coast all evening and night Tavulia was Tavulia i was there before, the only additions are the "Yellow Park" which is a bit of a reach , the restauarant and shop are a bit bigger thats the actual number 1 from 97 Male pattern baldness in all its glory Cattolica was sunny, we had a lovely meal, a huge ice cream and hit the road back to Borgo San Lorenzo Roads and views like this are all over the place , beautiful. Friday started wet, and we got to the track to unload the bikes for the first day
Day one at Mugello for the most part was a wet affair and although i brought wets, i pussied out only got two sessions in overall on the friday as i had been there the previous august and i felt i did well i went out and pushed hard and was like yeah i'm flying because i was absolutely blowing out my arse, the times though told a different story , It's true when they say when you feel you are going fast, you aren't. Saturday and sunday are a different kettle of soup though While i was out there i organised getting this beast back to Ireland with us, the chap that was buying it flew out the saturday morning, looked at the bike agreed on it and a van delivered to us at the track later that day, i had organised a stillage to ship it back on our truck .
Saturday we woke to and got all day, glorious sunshine I did two sessions and swapped out the rear tyre ambient temp was high 30's track temp was 58 degrees , the rear was moving about and as I had a fresh set with me threw in the back hoop. Good fuck i was flying, everything was just working and flowing. The track day organisers organised " Chronofun" which was basically a race but they aren't allowed call it that . Advanced lads got a 12 lap race, next bunch 10laps we got an 8 lap race and next down got a 6 lapper. We were placed within our groups into clusters of riders with similar lap times and we lined up in the pit lane to be put into our groups. It turns out I was in the second group so i was with 4 or 5 bikes in our bunch, but I and lots of others had to wait and be told where to go by one of the trackday organisers people , when i rode up to my group the main man running the TD came to me and told me i had a 10 second penalty to be applied as "I arrived to the grid late" I protested that I had been waiting, with lots of others to be placed, but he took note of my number , anyway our group was behind 6 or 8 bikes in the first group and so on and so on groups of bikes behind us. Queuing for " Chronofun" we were right at the back waiting to be told where to go Well, if my ten second "penalty" didn't put a rocket up my arse nothing would , I passed some people in the group twice , i passed almost all the bikes that started in front of me, actually perhaps i passed them all because when i came back into the pit i was telling the lads, I'm definitely on the podium, definitely! I have definitely won a trophy Well i was only bleedin right ! To the victors the plastic cups ! and because i put our trackday group on the podium i got a trophy from them also . it is really some place we had a few more days in Italy and we'd had such a blast that from a sun lounger poolside in Florence we booked Andalucia for 3 days in the October what winning looks like Lol
Andalucia booked because obviously i'm a millionaire , bike was in fine fettle , rear tyre only had 6 sessions on it so all was good to go . packed away, out to the airport pre flight drinks and away we go No idea what to expect with Circuito De'Andalcia , none of the group had been there before. Our trackday company, Motocraft piggy backs on No Limits events , No limits are out at this circyuit same dates every single month so their guys know the way around , Glynn from No Limits tells us this about the Andalucia circuit " you will either love it or hate it, there is no in between, Day 1 you are like what the fuck, day 2 you start to gel, day 3 you are loving it, or you aren't . So Morning 1 , we get to unpacking, signing on and quite a few of us miss the 1st morning session of our assigned groups as we had to go get fuel and provisions. There is a reason helmets were invented and another that they are a necessity Regardless of what group you have been placed in if you missed the 1st session you had to go out with novice group for orientation laps Now its no problem with anyone being slow but when you are on sighting laps it is good to somewhat keep up with the instructor/ marshall bike so you somewhat know where you are going. Unfortunately I am behind one rider that is extremely slow, he runs wide twice even though we are doing sweet all pace, and he has road tyres on so nothing to really worry about with the pace he is going. I know this is bad so i and the rider behind me break the rules and overtake the slower bike because I actually want to see where this track is going and so far with the pace being so slow i have zero reference, zero details have gone in to my brain, we come around a right hander and one of the Irish lads is standing up, his bike on its left hand side . Right hander, left side of bike on deck We are waved into the pits, the pit entrance on the left hand side about 150 metres down from the chequered flag box. I have no idea what has just happened, what we have rode on. We may have well been on the surface of the moon. Everything was blank, completely foriegn. I can't remember if we were held in pitlane and went back out after a few minutes or if we missed a session, but when we do go back out again it is under the guidance of a marshall and this time the pace a little better but as we come around to complete our first lap the No limits instructor waves his left hand, pit entrance on left, so we roll in. Now i thought it odd , is this not our session, is this not when we should be out learning ? I rode up to the Manager of the event, said we had been waved in and should we not be out? She confirms we should indeed be out so i venture back out myself and get a few laps in. So some of the guys have not actually still completed one " complete lap", this is important now because my Mate Denis has not actually completed a full lap as yet , he has not seen turn one at speed. I'm on the pit wall and i see Denis off in the distance followed by Fergus, a nice picture to look at, I go back into the garage and start working on my bike, a minute or so later I look up and i see Denis helmet and shoulder flash by the pitwalland garage, then i hear from the collective people on the pitwall " OOOOOOO" I walk to the exit of the garage look left and there is a big puff of dust in the air, i shake my head walk to the pit wall look left down the track into turn one and there is Denis lying in the gravel in front of the barrier and his V4s beside him. He doesn't move too much. I get a bit annoyed which was an odd response on my part but I was , it's only the first day ffs Denis and you have thrown yourself at the scenery. I go get his insurance and his passport out of his bag and give it to one of the lads as they won't put you in an ambulance without this present and in their hands. Then it hits me, that was literally his first time seeing that stretch of tarmac. We all do a bit of homework, watch onboards etc but he had been extremely busy the previous few months and he was literally going into that stretch having not seen it. We had a guy that works for one of Irelands few bike magazines with us, he accompanied Denis to the medical centre, he wrote this in the group whatsapp and published same in the rag about the Incident Limerick rider attemps to be first Irish man in space. Andalusia October. Denis Crighton, 53, last week managed to fire the most expensive motorcycle he’s ever owned into the stratosphere at the end of the straight on the Almeria race circuit. “That’s Denis” declared a clearly shocked Pat Doyle, clarifying the gravity of the situation as the dust, quite literally, settled. After totally ruining the carefully combed gravel trap Crighton, 68, came to a halt against the tyre wall. As he then proceeded to not bother moving, the legendary Munster Ducati lover, 73, was presumed dead. As a result the collective paddock then went into shock. Wes Grainger, pompous southside Ducati rider was even stuck for words. Shortly after the ambulance, recovery truck and a group of marshals had arrived on the scene, Denis, 78, finally bothered to stand up. Upon being rushed to the medical centre the, now former, V4S rider proceeded to show off his junk to the assembled medical staff and at least one journalist. A testament to their professionalism, not one of them retched at the site of an albino elephants foetus being put on display to all and sundry. Crighton, 81, then went on to ‘milk it’ with a trip to the local hospital. Here he made a nuisance of himself for several more hours before the staff eventually got rid of him, preferring instead to look after people who were actually in need of medical attention. Once back at the hotel Crighton, 84, out of his box on some premium mood altering medication, started to blather on to everyone in earshot how it was all the circuits fault for constructing the kerb in some way that didn’t suit a fast moving class leading superbike, but rather fired it into the air from whence it landed, bounced and rolled before coming to a halt in an advanced state of distress. Event manager, Claire Englishwoman, was visibly shocked, “I’ve absolutely no idea how someone that elderly got out on track. We really need to review our policies!” On the final day the rest of the Motocraft clients loaded the remains of his delipidated, formally beautiful, motorcycle. Once loaded Crighton, 89, then attempted to wrap the machine in blankets to protect the bikes bodywork. Rolling his eyes to heaven, Louis, a fellow northsider, managed not to say anything offensive. Discussing the event afterwards, billionaire North County Dublin farmer, Fergus Snow, remarked on how lucky Denis was not to be seriously injured. “I’m not living in Limerick anymore, I’m now from Kildare”, moaned Crighton, 92, before being brought to the plane in a special wheelchair. Paul Creevey, Motorcraft CEO, wouldn’t offer any comment on the event. “The matter is with our legal department who are still trying to figure out how the fuck someone could loose it on a corner wide enough to park a fucking truck crossways on”
Day 1 was spent learning Andalucia It has everything, every type of corner double, triple apex corners, closing up on you opening out , rises, drops, bumps, blind entries. It is just mega. It is a confusing track at first but once you get your eye in, once you get your own reference points and you stitch it together it is a pure joy and I absolutely loved it. Louis' bike, the reason for the re entry in our first session to the pits , turns out his front tyre warmer wasn't working hence the fall. He set about repairing it and got back out Mishaps on track, mishaps in the pits https://www.instagram.com/reel/CkzNQkEomyhBQk858Ix3KXo2j5MOZ0iw1YdHJo0/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= On the way out for another session, I bloody love this machine. Our very own MM, Mike Murphy, absolutely flying
Day 2 at Andalucia Denis decided to stay at the hotel and relax and recupirate , seeing as he was on crutches this was probably the best decision, we still did have a play with his bike, seeing if it started, it did, give it a rev and gravel start shooting out of the exhausts so that was a bit of sport for a few minutes until we realised we could be hitting a retired Irishman that had drove to Spain with his wife and his sv650 in the back to do some track days. As he was in the line of fire parked in the carpark, we stopped that quicksmart. Tony Scott https://tonyscottmotorsport.com/ols/products/new-moto-evo, was in our garages with one of the Irish lads, he had bought items from him and had agreed with Tony that he would try out some of his parts at the track with him Tony eventually building this bad boy that he is hoping to have a race series of and sell to punters and Mike "Spike" Edwards testing same ( not at Andalucia mind) the track just got better and better an more and more enjoyable, i really really gelled with this place and would recommend it to anyone Hunting the Triumph testing the parts and i also forgot about day 3 at Mugello2 but i can confirm it was all of the epic, and very wet
Day 3 and we are bringing Denis to the track, he wants to pack* away his bike and kit and get measured up for a new set of custom leathers by Dean ellison who is there doing track tuition but he also is part of MCA leicester and they offer 4sr custom suits Fergus our rental car driver and fellow track participant brings the car around to the front of the hotel , myself and a chap called Paul, he the one that pens for the bike magazine , we assist Senor Hobble down the steps out to the car I hop in the back of the car moving anopened toothpaste box off my seat throwing it over Pauls side, we are letting Denis sit in the front for more space and comfort, Paul spots the toothpaste , declares "excellent!" and asks Fergus could he use some of his toothpaste as he'd forgotten to brush his teeth , Fergus of course obliges and says yeah work away Paul opens the box, pulls out the tube and proceeds to pour a good amount into his gob and works the mixture around his teeth with his tounge about 3 seconds go by and a half muffled scream emits from Paul " JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!! Ptoo!!! ITS FUCKING DENTURE GLUE !! and he proceeds to retch and spit in front of the hotel reception Passers by are completely confused at the scene, we have one guy on crutches doubled over laughing, one guy puking on the pavement and me in the car screaming like a hyena , Fergus looks on bemused and after a minute or so adds " i was wondering why the girl in the shop was loking at me strange when i gave her that toothpaste to buy off her " Creases we are in fucking creases. We eventually get on the road , now Fergus has not been the best driver on the Spanish roads the last few days, slow on motorways, speeding up on b roads, braking for absolutely no reason mid corner We get to this junction to get us onto a national road, its tricky junction regardless of being on the wrong side of the road for us, it's commuting time, we have people heading to work and directly behind us, more of the Irish contingent, there are cars coming from absolutely everywhere, we aren't getting a break Fergus goes to make a move and honestly as bikers we are normally very clued on to whats going on around us, this Audi A4 comes out of fucking nowhere ! Fergus hits the brakes so hard we all fly forward and our belts jam on... Denis in the front Goes "OH, OH FUCK! Ohh. . . oh my neck is back in place " we fucking die laughing. Fergus is dish eyed My phone rings in my pocket , it's Pat in the car behind with Louis and Neil . . ."howya" say's I. . ." Do you want to get in our car ?" Pat asks and his car erupts with laughter , they had just witnessed what almost happened and they thought we were gonners . 18kms later, the same thing happens at another similar junction with a van, I don't know how Fergus didn't see that one but we shrug it off . Fergus below The day went without a hitch and we all made it to the end so Group photo and pack up photos Author Posted April 27 (edited) Day 3 and we are bringing Denis to the track, he wants to pack* away his bike and kit and get measured up for a new set of custom leathers by Dean ellison who is there doing track tuition but he also is part of MCA leicester and they offer 4sr custom suits Fergus our rental car driver and fellow track participant brings the car around to the front of the hotel , myself and a chap called Paul, he the one that pens for the bike magazine , we assist Senor Hobble down the steps out to the car I hop in the back of the car moving anopened toothpaste box off my seat throwing it over Pauls side, we are letting Denis sit in the front for more space and comfort, Paul spots the toothpaste , declares "excellent!" and asks Fergus could he use some of his toothpaste as he'd forgotten to brush his teeth , Fergus of course obliges and says yeah work away Paul opens the box, pulls out the tube and proceeds to pour a good amount into his gob and works the mixture around his teeth with his tounge about 3 seconds go by and a half muffled scream emits from Paul " JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!! Ptoo!!! ITS FUCKING DENTURE GLUE !! and he proceeds to retch and spit in front of the hotel reception Passers by are completely confused at the scene, we have one guy on crutches doubled over laughing, one guy puking on the pavement and me in the car screaming like a hyena , Fergus looks on bemused and after a minute or so adds " i was wondering why the girl in the shop was loking at me strange when i gave her that toothpaste to buy off her " Creases we are in fucking creases. We eventually get on the road , now Fergus has not been the best driver on the Spanish roads the last few days, slow on motorways, speeding up on b roads, braking for absolutely no reason mid corner We get to this junction to get us onto a national road, its tricky junction regardless of being on the wrong side of the road for us, it's commuting time, we have people heading to work and directly behind us, more of the Irish contingent, there are cars coming from absolutely everywhere, we aren't getting a break Fergus goes to make a move and honestly as bikers we are normally very clued on to whats going on around us, this Audi A4 comes out of fucking nowhere ! Fergus hits the brakes so hard we all fly forward and our belts jam on... Denis in the front Goes "OH, OH FUCK! Ohh. . . oh my neck is back in place " we fucking die laughing. Fergus is dish eyed My phone rings in my pocket , it's Pat in the car behind with Louis and Neil . . ."howya" say's I. . ." Do you want to get in our car ?" Pat asks and his car erupts with laughter , they had just witnessed what almost happened and they thought we were gonners . 18kms later, the same thing happens at another similar junction with a van, I don't know how Fergus didn't see that one but we shrug it off . Fergus below https://www.instagram.com/reel/CkzNQkEomyhBQk858Ix3KXo2j5MOZ0iw1YdHJo0/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= The day went without a hitch and we all made it to the end so Group photo and pack up photos Once we are all packed up and truck loaded its back to the hotel for the " Motocraft Awards" Denis got one for " most expensive crash " Last day we had some hours to kill, again was Myself Denis Paul and Fergus so we hung around the hotel saying goodbye to others as some people where headed to different airports, some staying on but heading to different parts of Spain, we decided we would head to the main town of the area and of course Paul had googled good restauarants and the best was at the very higest point in the place luckily we had no one on crutches as we booked the restaurant in the fucking sky , poor bastard lol
