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gortnipper

gortnipper

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A72 year old pensioner. nails it on his Ducati at Nurburgring. Only in Sport mode. The epilogue is crazy.

Hope for the old farts.

 
That's not just some average old guy who happens to bike. There's got to be a lot more to his story. He has gigantic balls, and he backed it up by staying out of the fence on that scorching run. That dude must have a good amount of race track experience. Although I do some risky stuff, (I'm a backcountry skier) I could never come close to doing that. Things are happening way too fast at those speeds, and almost every mistake has deadly consequences. I'd be impressed with that run even if it was a 30 year old rider doing it.

When I was young I crashed a bike while racing a car on the streets and nearly died from my injuries. I was saved by witnesses to my stupidity. Prior to that, the people I rode with always told me the way I rode was risky. They were right. It takes a special kind of person to push that hard and make it to 72 years old in one piece. I tell the young guys who ask about the norton that the secret to motorcycling for the long haul is to "look good going slow". Speed changes the result of mistakes, excessive speed even more so...
 
It's got to be a joke, he said in the intro that his failing eyesight and flatulence didn't slow him down, also his son asked him at the start of the vid how fast would he go and he said 7:30, he seems to have race leathers on with a hump looking at the shadow, the film intro was filmed after the lap, which must have been done by his son.

Not that it matters, it is a bloody fast lap full stop, his son can ride a bike.
 
I was going to say what heart problem, then reading the end bit in what he had gone through before this ride and what a way to recover from all the problems he had and being off the road for so long, I say good on him and doing something he truly loves.
Where is Al he might be able to learn something off this old man and just show him how slow his old Norton is.

Ashley
 
I am 78 and have had a double by-pass op, three strokes and a carotid artery clearance - so I am brand new again. When I race I take a beta blocker - which is not strictly legal. It changes the situation with adrenalin and reflexes. (Everything happens without the grip around the heart, so you just handle it ). The only problem I have happens because I don't race regularly - I begin to doubt myself. But I always know that as soon as my motor fires up, I have to get on the bike immediately and I am never going to crash again. It's psychological - out of touch with reality. I will probably end up as a wrinkly skin bag full of bone chips, one day.
 
ashman said:
I was going to say what heart problem, then reading the end bit in what he had gone through before this ride and what a way to recover from all the problems he had and being off the road for so long, I say good on him and doing something he truly loves.
Where is Al he might be able to learn something off this old man and just show him how slow his old Norton is.

Ashley
Click to expand...

You have to be careful with old riders. When I was in my 60s, I went to a meeting at Mount Gambier and won a couple of races. During practice, I was sweeping around the top end of the circuit pushing the bike pretty much to it's limit. There were two guys who were about ten years older than myself, ahead of me on G50s - one each side of the circuit. I knew both of them, so I went between them about 60 KPH faster. I thought about it later - if either of them had moved slightly sideways, we were gone. Our oldest rider used be 88 - my brother nearly took him out when the old guy wobbled in front of him with a sidecar, doing about 170 KPH. Jack Rudd is dead now, so we are all probably safe.
 
Lots of things get easier as you get older. What becomes more difficult is maintaining the urge. When I really had the urge, I did not have the Seeley 850. - so some guys might be very lucky. If I'd had it back then, the way it is now, I could have really done some damage. These days, I just don't care enough.
How would you be if you got out onto a race track and found an 88 year old John Surtees there with a modern Ducati ? - Do you think you would be quicker ? In Australia, that sort of thing can happen. Bill Horseman can still probably ride a motorcycle and he could turn up anywhere. You can tell those guys, just by the way they sit on the bike at speed.
 
Last edited:
gortnipper said:
A72 year old pensioner. nails it on his Ducati at Nurburgring. Only in Sport mode. The epilogue is crazy.

Hope for the old farts.

Click to expand...



Been edited - the on-board is Valentino. He obviously knows the circuit very well. Most people back-off in a corner somewhere on any circuit.
 
Last edited:
acotrel said:
Been edited - the on-board is Valentino. He obviously knows the circuit very well. Most people back-off in a corner somewhere on any circuit.
Click to expand...

Yep, the old guy isn't riding. Although Valentino wouldn't go round there that fast, no run off and not enough spectators. :)
 
I got apprehensive while watching it. The old guys I know who can ride like that - one got two broken legs while riding an RG500 - crashed into a bike which was ridden out of the pits as he came down a straight. Another had a heart attack while riding a very quick TZ750 at the Broa.dford Bonanza. That one is very funny. I see him at historic meetings waiting to race and he has usually got his wild eyes on. The problem is he is still quick enough. When you see him race, he is a picture of determination and super-smooth. He went over to the Goodwood Revival about 5 years ago and found out how quick the Poms are when they get going.
 
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