UPDATE ON THE NEXT BIG THING - WILLIAM DUNLOP

On the weekend of the 15th/16th October William was at the Sunflower, the last race meeting of the season, out on his 125 and 600. The team has been having lots of problems with the 125 so William had been having lots of bad results and in practice the problems got worse with the bike breaking down 3 times! Lucky Adrian Neetleship lent William his 125, which Marc Curtain races on the roads. So, Will went out to qualify with no practice time on the bike and ended up pole! He also qualified 10th on the 600.

The 125’s were Williams first race with the 600’s immediately following. In the first race William rode hard and battled his way to victory. After winning he jumped onto the 600 and got a solid 9th place. There was another epic battle in the second 125 race but this time William lost out on the win and had to make do with 3rd, he also had another great ride the 600 and finished in 8th.

William was awarded the “Prince of Bishopscourt” trophy for his performance in the 125s.

NOTTY ASH OR FOGGY BOTTOM? - ANDI NOTMAN RACES THE FP1

RESULTS - RACE 1
Andi crashed out on Lap 13 after his team-mate Steve Martin pitted with problems on Lap 10. David Checa was just outside of the top ten and was in front of Abe and Chili before having a 'moment' and losing two places...but the Chili pulled into the pits with a problem and Checa held on to finish just outside of the top ten - 11th behind Norick Abe in 10th and in front of Ben Bostrom in 12th. Castrol Suzuki's Vincent Philippe finished in 18th. The race was won by Winston Ten Kate Honda rider Chris Vermeulen with Alstare Corona Suzuki's Yukio Kagayama 8 seconds behind in 2nd, James Toseland a further 5 seconds back in 3rd.

1 C. Vermeulen Honda AUS 39' 3.405
2 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN +8.200
3 J. Toseland Ducati GBR +13.336
4 K. Muggeridge Honda AUS +13.887
5 T. Corser Suzuki AUS +14.299
6 A. Pitt Yamaha AUS +15.270
7 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR +16.136
8 M. Neukirchner Honda GER +16.616
9 L. Lanzi Ducati ITA +18.201
10 N. Abe Yamaha JPN +31.100
11 D. Checa Yamaha ESP +34.310
12 B. Bostrom Honda USA +34.493
13 J. Cardoso Yamaha ESP +38.601
14 F. Nieto Kawasaki ESP +38.914
15 S. Gimbert Yamaha FRA +40.508

RACE 2
The second race was restarted after a spectacular crash at the first corner, involving Giovanni Bussei, Karl Muggeridge, Steve Martin and others. Lorenzo Lanzi won the race after Chris Vermeulen failed to finish. David Checa had a great ride, finishing in 12th place, ahead of Fonsi Nieto. Riding for Foggy Petronas, Andi Notman failed to finish Race 2 with a technical problem.

1 L. Lanzi Ducati ITA 39' 1.858
2 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN +6.662
3 N. Haga Yamaha JPN +10.722
4 T. Corser Suzuki AUS +13.457
5 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR +16.651
6 J. Toseland Ducati GBR +17.005
7 A. Pitt Yamaha AUS +20.863
8 M. Neukirchner Honda GER +22.280
9 N. Abe Yamaha JPN +22.713
10 P. Chili Honda ITA +31.108
11 B. Bostrom Honda USA +31.271
12 D. Checa Yamaha ESP +38.195
13 F. Nieto Kawasaki ESP +45.314
14 J. Da Costa Yamaha FRA +46.922
15 G. Vizziello Yamaha ITA +50.604

Andi said: “It was awesome working with a team of professionals. I am a little bit disappointed I didn’t do better but going out at the end of the World Superbike season without any experience at this level was always going to be tough. But I think I have handled the pressure well and learnt a lot, although I am disappointed by the crash in the first race. I wasn’t doing anything different to any of the other laps and I almost felt in endurance mode. But I lost the front on braking at the top hairpin and don’t really know why it happened. Maybe I was pushing a bit too hard.”

Direct from Andi: "...I got a stormer in the second race and was up to 13th before the red flag...it's a shame the bike gave out on me. Steve (Martin) was complaining about some endurance bike blitzing him down the straights..." ...aha, that would be either Vincent Philippe or David Checa, that would...

DIABLO 666 RACE REPORT HERE!

"WORLD TRAVEL IN AN AUSSIE HAT WITHOUT THE CORKS"...the Damian Cudlin Report

"Well, I'm in England at the moment and thought I'd better sit down and report on what's been happening with me lately. After the last round of the World Endurance in Germany, I flew home to Oz and had been busy working at the bike shop to try and keep my bills under control and food in the fridge.

After a few weeks at home without riding, I was getting pretty keen to head back to Europe and finish with a strong result in Italy. My brother Alex decided to come over with me for this final trip to have a bit of a look at things for himself. He broke his collarbone pretty bad at Winton ASC's so was out for a while anyway, plus it made for a pretty fun trip with us both going.

We got into Singapore at some early hour in the morning and had to wait about 4 hours till our next plane went to London, so having noticed a "Relaxation Massage" sign, me and Al decided to give it crack while we were waiting. After looking at the menu, we decided to go for the foot rub as we thought that'd be
safer than someone jumping around on our backs. We were led to 2 seperate rooms next to each other. Al got a little female massuse, which he was pleased with, but I was forwarded to Singapores version
of Hulk Hogan.... not a good sign. He told me to lay on my stomach, then went to work on my back. I knew that he must have thought we wanted a back massage but as it felt pretty good, I waited for about 10 mins. Just before he went to do a handstand on my back I explained that I wanted my feet done, not my back. Alex
overheard me telling Hogan this, and informed his massuse of the same thing.
So we sat back, lighlty enhaling the insense, began to feel at one with the universe, when suddenly I felt what can only be explained as the most severe foot pain I've ever experienced. When I limped out the room, Alex noticed I was sweating. Apparently his one was real good. Hot tip, when taking a massage in Singapore find the littlest person working there.

Arrived London at 5am then caught a bus for 4 hours to my mate Andi Notman's house in Nottingham. Stayed there for a couple of days, then jetted out to Italy.

Italy was pretty cool, as this time we got in a day early and met up with the other riders from our team. We took the time to thrash a rent a car around Rome and see the Collasium, Trevi Fountain, sample some real Italian food (Burger King) and get adjusted to the Italian road rules...... which don't exist.

Made it to the Hotel alive.... barely (Shell Endurance rider Ben Wylie's driving abilities leave room for improvement) and had an early one before practice.

As you guys may or may not know, the race weekend went great and me and Warwick stuck it on the box in 2nd place for my first WEC podium. It sure was a great feeling to be finally standing on the podium, and to be a front runner again after having such a troubled time last year. We also moved from 6th to 4th in the final championship standings.

That sunday evening is a little blury, as we partied on pretty hard into the night. I do seem to remember being in an ice creamery where they sold alchohol, drinking sambucca, and telling everyone in my team how much I loved them.

Monday mornin, returned one Vauxhal Zafira rent a van in immaculate condition..... then flew back to Nottingham UK. Flight home being quite amusing when my trophy (for finishing 2nd in Italy) was issued with it's own seat as it was to big for the overhead lockers. We affectionately named her "Sophie the trophy".

So that basically brings us to the current date. Back in uk at the moment, and will spend now until Thursday at Ben Wylie's house before heading to the final round of the BSB series at Brands on the weekend before heading home for the MotoGP at Phillip Island where I'll be attending.

Will report on the next couple of races after they happen.

All the best,"
Damian Cudlin.