Motorcycle Drag Racing Team
Sometimes you are really better off quitting the Top Fuel Bike game when you are ahead and still have money in the bank.
Having won the ACU Championship in a Rookie Year, was more than we could possibly have expected. The Shark Attack Bike, owned by Rene Van Den Berg, for the second year had retained the Number 1 plate with 2 different riders, and both the Nitrous Junkie team, and Rene were very happy with that.
Without the crew, Chris Pyke, Kev's Crew Chief, Jake, Lizzy, and Bryony, plus Rene's Crew, Craig Boulton, and Binz, thank you all, we really couldn't have done this without you.
Testing , and crashing, with Kev on board, at the Extreme performance, however, kicked us all back into touch. The damage, although luckily minimal, still needed to be paid for, and that is when we got to thinking.
The Top Fuel Experience has been something that we have only dreamed of. We will always be grateful to Rene for the opportunity, but there comes a time, especially when the work is quiet, and not as much money is coming in, where Kev decided to call, it a day, and one very hard call to Rene later, said that he simply couldn't afford to ride the bike. It is an expensive piece of equipment, and (God forbid) should anything else get damaged, we would be in deep trouble.
The deal was initially only for a year, until an offer was made, and was accepted before weighing up the Pros and Cons
Rene, and the Team are working very hard to get the new Fuel bike ready for Easter, it's a fantastic bike a lot of hard work that has gone into it but there are still lots of small jobs to sort out , so it may be better to get Rene back on the track with the original one and start the Championship on that , if needs be.
There has been no fall out. We are all still friends, and we wish Rene, and Ivana and the team the very best for the 2012 Championship.
Kev is not retiring, the idea was that he supported Lizz in Comp Bike and Jake in Junior Modified, in their endeavors this season. Whatever he does after this paragraph, they both have exemplary back up and crew, so they can continue to race also.
Meanwhile in deepest darkest Nofolk, Richard Gipp called Kev up and said "So do you want to come to the dark side?"
The Pro Stock bike was lent to Kev by Gipp when the crank broke on the Funny Bike, in 2010, and we had no time to fix it, Kev enjoyed the Prostock, and as Lizzy put it, was like "possibly riding a polo pony after a shire horse"! He knows what to expect, after it nearly breaking his neck the last time on launch! Kev is competiting in Pro Stock this Season.
Old racers never die, they just get fatter? Kev, after the Top Fuel diet is now having to strive to get thinner. Pro Stock could be interesting this year !