No Hawkstone Hill, no probs we’re all still here - and what if the International was held in the summer?
By Anthony Sutton on 15th Feb 18
Motocross Hawkstone International
Im pleased to be able to report that even though the big hill wasnt used for the main races at Sundays Hawkstone International, that the earth continued to rotate and we didnt all float off into the ether.
What am I on about? Well, with the amount of questions flying around social media ahead of the event about whether the hill was gonna be used or not, it was like it had become a life or death situation and that the earth might actually stop spinning if the chicken route along the bottom had to be used instead.
But after going for it and including the monster climb for practice, qualifying and the first MXY2 race, the organisers rolled the dice, put the future of the entire planet at risk and dared re-route the circuit.
And yknow what? Everything was fine the racing was good and nobody asked for a refund or anything. Happy days. I often wonder if social media is to blame for creating these sorts of situations and wonder what the hell people used to do before they could query things on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat or wherever.
Did they use Google, Ask Jeeves, phone a friend, finger the yellow pages or just crack on with life and run with everything it delivered? Its not just MX fans that are guilty of misusing social media either and during this snap of cold weather Ive lost count of the number of whats the snow like at <insert name of snow-free town here> posts.
Perhaps even worse than that is people using a web-based app to ask has anyone got a number for. Try using Google maybe? Its right there on the internet The craziness hit an all-time high/low the other day when someone posted a screengrab from a website that hadnt given them the answer they required and asked what am I meant to do now?.
I dont claim to be no scientist nor nothing but maybe try calling the number following the sentence that says if you need to talk to someone about this problem then call this number. Wheres the facepalm emoji when you need it?
I almost had a similar reaction to the missus after she asked how my day was on Sunday. I replied with awesome, but it was sooo cold and she said I dont understand why dont they have it in summer.
At first I was outraged but having bitten my tongue self-editing makes for a happier marriage I find I mulled it over and thought it was actually a great idea but dont tell her that! So what if the Hawkstone International was run in the middle of the season when its sunny and warm and the hill could definitely be used come rain or shine?
Admittedly, it would no longer be a pre-season race thats useful as a shakedown for the season ahead but its not like there arent other internationals that happen during the race season either.
I guess with the right amount of start money on offer anything is possible but the possibility of a genuine GP-standard event without all the BS that Youthstream bring to the party is really exciting.
I guess the big question is would the crowds still come?
But I also assume that a similar question mark hung over the original pre-season International that replaced the long-running New Years Day meeting and look how that turned out.
Regardless, hill or not and whatever the weather the Hawkstone International was a fantastic event and my hats off to the hardworkingHIMX crew who pulled it all together.
More like this…
Whiteway Barton postponed as Landowner pulls plug on St Blazey Premier MX opening round
RHL’s crew have been notified that the Whiteway Barton event due to be held this weekend will not be allowed to go ahead, despite being given the all-clear from the Track Manager yesterday.
Blue is the colour - Yamaha launch 2018 YZ65
It may have been the worst kept secret in motocross but Yamaha still went through the motions of releasing their all-new 2018-model Yamaha YZ65 to the world media at Saturday night’s San Diego Supercross.