KTM goes down

[clutchspring]

I hope the rider's OK & hope he's got the correct medical insurance for Trak use .

[lancashirelad]

I bet that smarted? I once went there in thw wife’s MG but it was closed, what a stroke of luck!!

[daveuprite]

Just an incy bit too much gas at the ring and you're orf. Had a lot of fun there over the years but it's an unforgiving place if you're going for it.

It's technically still classed as a road, so might be OK with insurance - although some companies specifically exclude it. I know that some naughty bikers kind of 'recreate' the crash somewhere else before they claim...

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

Painful....I thought that bike had all sorts of stuff like traction control and cornering ABS to stop that happening?

Or was it just a case of going too fast for the laws of physics?

[LeeM]

fair play the guy was on it.
hope he recovered quickly

[daveuprite]

Painful....I thought that bike had all sorts of stuff like traction control and cornering ABS to stop that happening?

Or was it just a case of going too fast for the laws of physics?

He might have had some of the rider aids turned down, or off, for track use. Looks like an experienced track rider, so maybe he was looking for a better feel and experience, which cranked up rider aids can dilute and mask. I borrowed a BMW S1000RR at my local circuit (Val De Vienne) back in 2011, and the owner dialled every aid up to maximum assist so that I could understand what they did. It was the first bike with multiple rider aids I had ever ridden. Sure it was a dry day, but the bike almost felt uncrashable. And a bit dull (if you can ever say that about an S1000RR). When you're used to old school 150rwbhp R1s and GSXRs etc with no aids, it feels very strange to be able to grab stupid fistfuls of throttle without flipping and brake carelessly late into corners without being punished. And you're accompanied by a regular chirping of tyres (ABS) and an artificially limited power output (T/C), which is unnerving IMO. But I wonder how many slow and inter group trackdayers have saved themselves and their precious machines from bad damage by turning on their rider aids. Probably loads. Especially in the wet.

As to the poor guy in the vid... what a shame this happened to him at the Nordschlief. At most closed short circuits he would have had run-off between him and the barrier, and probably got up with just a rip in his kecks and a sore ego. But the moment he slammed that barrier he was on his way to hospital.

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

Yes, I winced when I saw his hand go out to touch the Armco

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

The story Steve Parrish tells about him and Sheene 'practicing' there in a Rolls-Royce is bloody funny.

They drew quite a crowd.

[Nigel]

The story Steve Parrish tells about him and Sheene 'practicing' there in a Rolls-Royce is bloody funny.

They drew quite a crowd.

Wasn't that a loan car and the tyres ended up bald, Parrish said it was like being in a boat going round corners
Sheene also handbraked a car into a ditch and nearly drowned Kenny Roberts
They knew how to have fun in those days, can you imagine when Hunt and Sheene were together, lock up your daughters!

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

That's the one....Sheene had an agreement with Suzuki that he didn't have to race at the 'ring, providing he was leading the world championship.

Then, one year, he wasn't...and he realised that he'd better learn the circuit fast. He persuaded RR that he was considering trading in his Rolls for the latest model, but wanted a demo car for a week.

Down to the ring he went in the RR demonstrator with his faithful team-mate Steve 'Stavros' Parrish (Sheene admitted that Stavros was a phenomenal driver of anything that had 4 wheels and no ground effect), and they set about learning the circuit.

The car needed refuelling every couple of laps, and the pair of them just kept going faster and faster until the brakes caught fire and they thought they best pack it in. On the way home all four tyres burst.

RR showed considerable style in not asking what they had actually done to the car, and Stavros used the experience to win multiple European Truck Racing Championships for Mercedes-Benz. He used to write a truck racing column for me when I was editing Trucking magazine, and he always got his copy in on time...sometimes handwritten on hotel notepaper, and sent from an airport by fax, but amusing and always on time. If he posted it, the envelope would have a funny 'official' stamp on it like 'Cambridge Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinic Urgent Contains Positive Result' which used to make our receptionists giggle.

A top bloke, and even funnier in real life than his public persona. He was co-author of the official Sheene biography. If you ever meet him, ask him about Tif Needell and the bag of flour...