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MORE ADAC MASTERS POINTS FOR TERREBLANCHE 29 August 2010 |
Life has take Shannon Terreblanche a long way. Whilst most of his racing countrymen were pitting displaying their skills at a well attended African Championship event near Krugersdorp in South Africa, he was getting ready to roll at the famous GP venue of Gaildorf, Germany. Whilst the South African landscape was still carrying the late winter barrenness, the German venue was verdant as ever. Whilst the South African race was held on the premises of a defunct mine under the gaze of a stark mine dump, the German crowd could gaze over a picturesque village and a beautifully sculpted track, perfectly delineated across the rolling hills.
Contrasts aside, the reasons why both venues brought riders and crowds out in numbers remain universal. The riders are there to vie for top honours and to give their best, and the crowds are there to witness the sizzling action and to spur their favourite riders on. With his injury now fully recovered, Shannon entered for the penultimate ADAC MX Masters event as a final preparation before making his return to GP racing at Lierop, Holland. The race is as close as it gets to being a home race for sponsor and benefactor Uwe Rommel, and the Sturm Kawasaki was perfectly prepared and gleaming as the South African took it off the stand to commence with his qualifying duties on Saturday.
Shannon earlier expressed his satisfaction with the track and the changes that had been made, and this reflected in his qualifying results. He got stuck into the fast laps form early on, and his enthusiasm was rewarded with the sixth fastest lap time in the session, a result that rider and team alike were happy with. Shanter launched into the first race well, and was circulating well inside the top 10. His lack of race time during the season and the challenging track conspired to burden him with a championship level dose of arm pump, and he was forced to back off the pace. This cost him a few positions. As the race reached its mature stages, he pain abated somewhat, and a reinvigorated rider reclaimed two spots to claim 11th spot for the race, just a few second shy of the top 10 placement that he had hoped for.
A good start in race two helped the South African to well inside the top 10. He passed two more riders and was tailing championship strongman Max Nagl when his day literally turned upside down. He became an instant expert in astronomy for all the stars he saw, and he had bitten a hole in his lip deep enough to store a bratwurst in. Moreover, the Kawasaki had taken a significant shift towards the very second hand scale, and even if he wanted to continue, this option was not available to him.
With zero points added to his tally, Shannon was held down to fifteenth position overall for the day. It was good enough to hoist him a few positions higher on the championship ladder. though, where he now occupies sixteenth position.
Shannon is fit and raring to return to the deep sands of Lierop for the penultimate round of the 2010 world championship series.
All event results are available online.
This report is available online.
We received a good selection of pin-sharp pictures from Mika Manninen and Jens Pohl respectively, so much so that choosing the best ones turned out to be the hardest job in compiling this report. Our thanks to our colleagues.
SOME DEEP REFLECTION AFTER QUALIFYING |
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Reporting by Tinus Nel
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