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ULTIMATE BIKER CHALLENGE TAKES ON RAMSEY SPRINT |
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Saturday, 03 June 2006 |
ULTIMATE BIKER CHALLENGE TAKES ON RAMSEY SPRINT
Fans
of the Ramsey Sprint will get a chance to experience the ultimate force
of speed and sense the exhilaration along a drag strip, with a new TV
series ’ The Ultimate Biker Challenge’. Filmed and produced by North
One Television on behalf of the Discovery Channel, they have joined up
with the Straightliners Drag Racing Series for a one-off programme.
TV
Presenter Warren Pole has taken up the Ultimate Biker Challenge and
will race at the ever-popular Ramsey Sprint in the Isle of Man on
Sunday 4th and Tuesday 6th June.
Warren has already been put
through his paces on an intensive training day, guided by drag racing
guru Trevor Duckworth of the Straightliners Series. Training started
early on 9th May at Elvington Airfield using a full race spec 1600cc
Suzuki Hayabusa, supplied courtesy of Big CC Racing. Initial training
consisted of how to ease the bike forward to reach maximum speed, how
to keep the front wheel down and accelerate smoothly plus how to focus
and maintain concentration.
Ex- racer Warren Pole described
the whole experience and training as very good, but he felt he was
dropped in at the deep end saying:
"I have ridden and tested a
wide variety of bikes before, but nothing could have prepared me for
this! The Hayabusa was kind of terrifying, it was something else! The
bike is an awful lot better than I am, every gear change could be felt
in the pit of my stomach on a roller coaster ride. The sheer force and
hit of the speed was ferocious – a real short sharp shock!
Warren continued,
"
With so much to concentrate on and so much to get right in such a small
amount of time, it’s a wonder I breathed at all in the 9 seconds on the
drag strip."
Warren’s best time of the day was a commendable 9.1
seconds over the quarter mile drag strip. The next stage of the
challenge will be filming at the Ramsey Sprint in June, against the
clock over six hundred and sixty feet, or one eighth of a mile. Will he
be able to beat the current record of 5.87 seconds held by Manxman
Richard Barks?
The Ramsey Sprint is a part of the TT race week
with a variety of different classes for road bikes, competition bikes,
trikes and sidecars together with vintage and classic bike classes on
Tuesday 6th June. The Streetfighters Challenge will be held on Sunday
4th June. Racing starts at 10.30am and finishes around 4.00pm.
For more information on the Ramsey Sprint visit www.straightliners.co.uk
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