#nzsgp

martin smolinski #84

So, I spent a bit of time last week writing a post about the New Zealand Grand Prix with the plan being to ejaculate it all over Twitter and Tumblr on the Friday before the event. All dressed up, planned out nicely and ready to go! However, having finished the post, I accidently proceeded to click the preview button instead the 'create post' one. Bugger. Checking back two days later, I realized my error. As a result, I've been left with an arse-load of out of date, SGP satire sat looking longingly at me, desperate to see the light of day. So i've come to the conclusion that I'm going to post it any way, then look back at it to see if it was right! Badly thought out? Perhaps. Pointless? Probably. Self indulgent? Definitely! Enjoy...! :-) 

Right then, given the imposing nature of this weekend's SGP (and the cheeky fact that I'm on easter break from Uni so I have half a minute to myself for once), lets take a goose at who exactly will be present during this year's championships.

The usual offenders are thankfully, all there, meaning that every other Saturday (weather/track permitting - I'm looking at you, Vojens!) we will be seeing the always smiling and ever charismatic faces of Gollob, Crumpy, Bjerre, and the eternally well loved and all round good egg, Nicki Pedersen. 

Now seeing as we have a lot of riders in the field that are nearing the autumn of their careers and therefore looking to blitz the series completely (I wish there was a German rider to link a pun with there), 2012 has the potential to be a properly exciting season. We all know Hancock, Gollob and Hampel will be flying as per, however I'm thinking this could be the year that Emil finds some consistency and properly cements himself as a title contender. The same applies for Lindback and Holder, both of which on their day, and if the mood strikes, can beat any one that is put in front of them. 

So as a fan I'm excited, I bloody love the first Grand Prix of the year, the new Kevlar's, the new merch, the new bikes and of course, the new, babyfaced, fresh, young, talent. You know, the ones that will be setting the stage alight every fortnight for the next 8 months. The ones that attract people to happily pay to watch live on the promise of 'being there' when they finally come of age and reach their full potential in front of a sold out stadium somewhere in the middle of a (probably) former soviet state. The ones that will brighten up the series and position it as a more marketable, demographic straddling, properly cool, world class franchise? Oh hang on, this year's GP lineup roster says that instead of competing, they'll be at home with the rest of us, watching it on Sky whilst flipping between the races and 'Take Me Out'.

OK, so I'm being flippant, and if I'm being honest, Holder, Sayfutinov and Antonio (if he's been off the energy drinks that day), manages to satisfy our urge for new(ish) blood in the series, but no matter how excited I get for the start of this year's festivities in Auckland, I can't help but feel slightly soured by riders such as Darcy Ward's exclusion. 

Now I know I'm dangerously at risk of sounding like Nigel Pearson right now (Bazinga!), but Darcy Ward is the single most promising rider in the sport right now. Not since watching Tony Rickardsson in the great season of 03 have I seen someone so outrageously and relentless flying around our circuit. Still not convinced? Get down to Poole on a Wednesday night when the Sky cameras aren't about; the boy is a different type of animal.

Now I'm fully aware that Darcy's absence in the series is entirely the product of the PZM's consistent love affair with causing savage arsebanditery with our beloved sport, but surely something could've been done to get them on side. The Grand Prix series is the one, it is what every rider on earth should be aspiring to reach as the pinnacle of anyone's career and no one, not even the almighty Polish Motor Union should possess the capability to corrupt that dream for anyone - even if it is just for the one season.

But whatever, I guess we'll just have to put up with only seeing the lad as a wildcard at every single event that the FIM can attempt to crowbar him into, so maybe I shouldn't be too disheartened. I mean besides, we all know what an exciting watch it'll be to see Bjarne Pedersen and Peter Ljung throwing themselves into corners and blasting around the boards for all their worth each and every meeting, don't we? 

-

Wow, could you tell I was annoyed about the Darcy thing when I wrote that? Haha.

Back to the present and the first SGP of 2012 is over. And what a success it was with around 20,000 adopted kiwis reportedly being present for it - a great moment for the progression of the sport abroad. Watch out racquetball, we're coming for you!

There were no surprises about the winner and to be fair, all power to Greg for it! The guy has reached legendary status, you can't help but be in awe of someone that 4 years ago looked dead and buried as a serious, series title contender. He's a gent, a brilliant rider and a bloody great ambassador for the sport. In the words of the man himself, I believe this would definitely be an appropriate time to use the term 'winning'. *does W hand thing*... Ok, it's cooler when he does it.