Blackshirt Propaganda from ManMachine
May brings the promise of warmth and sun.
May brings anticipation, excitement, and sadness all in one.
Yea, the month of May signals Spring is finally here, long
Fucking time coming if you ask me. Blooms in abundance
and cyclists in motion. May is our invitation to the Summer Solstice…
For me, May is marked by three significant and impactful
events, past and present. 13 years ago, on May 1, 1994,
one of the greatest Formula One drivers lost his life in what
is still considered by most to be a completely undetermined
cause of crash. The man I refer to was Ayrton Senna da Silva,
or more commonly known in motorsport circles as just Senna.
Born March 21, 1960 in São Paulo, Brasil.
Senna was a Formula One triple world champion, 1988,’90 & ’91.
Senna was considered to be the best wet weather driver, and
have the best qualifying skills. A discipline he mastered like none
ever before to produce a record 65 pole positions out of 161 races.
This record stood for an amazing 12 years after his death, before
it was surpassed by Michael Schumacher, some would argue,
equally one of the greatest F1 drivers himself.
I can remember watching in awe, Senna driving his McLaren
on the absolute edge of disaster, wringing the neck of his 1000+
horsepower machine- correcting a front end slide, saving the over-
steer, lap after lap, making it look so effortless. Truly an amazing
talent behind the wheel of a F1 car. Again, watching him perform
the same magic when he went to Williams, though tragically, 1994
would be a short-lived season. For me Senna was an inspiration in
my previous racing days, trying to capture the essence of his philosophy.
One of my favorite Senna quotes;
"Racing, competing, it's in my blood. It is part of me…”
Sums up how I feel about motorsports, and competition in general.
Every May I am reminded of his loss, from the sad, sureal memory
of watching his death unfold during the television broadcast on that
1994 May Day morning in Italy, to the F1 tributes and millions of fans
around the world who pay their respects each year in his rememberence.
Senna was exciting and even maddening to watch, his mastery, his
sometimes arrogance, his fierce give-no-quarter attitude, and his
complete joy, or maybe it was more relief when he was victorious.
I miss those days.
Ok, on to the big two May Sporting events, first up is the Famed
Indianapolis 500. The Race, arguably the biggest around the world.
Though in recent years it has suffered from the Champ Car split.
Before 1996, there was only one American open-wheel series.
The IRL Formed in 1996, and has never really recaptured the buzz,
and the tradition of the Indy 500 pre-1995. The split caused most of
the great open wheel drivers to compete in Champ Car,and the “rest”
went to the IRL. Although the quality of the drivers in the IRL has
gotten much, much better with the defection of Ganassi and Penske
from Champ Car to the Indy Racing League.
But of course the purists will still tell you, it ain’t indy until ALL the
best drivers are there competing. I tend to agree, but I still love Indy.
It used to be that between the opening practice days to qualifying, it
nearly ran the whole month of may, hence the nickname the “The
Month of May at Indy”. Now it’s about 3 weeks. I still get a little giddy
when May rolls around…I have never been to Indy, but I have been to
an Indy car race.
The lure of massive 2.5 mile track, the smell of Methenol, the high-pitched scream of 800 horse power engines, and chunks of rubber flying off the racing tires…is enough to give you goose bumps. Well, that is if you are a racing fan! The Race, is a timeless legend, a long-standing tradition, and for a lot of people a way of life. This years 91st running will see a talented group of racers attempt to qualify for the coveted 33 starting spots, and will see qualifying speeds touching 230 miles per hour!
If you have never seen a snarling, ferocious, wicked fast race car fly past you at 200 mph plus, you just cannot comprehend what 230 MPH means! It is truly amazing, stunning in fact. The sight and sound of a racing machine traveling at 200 MPH is one of the most Incredible things you could ever witness. It is science, woven with human perception, and human abilities pushed to the very limit. It is one of the ultimate tests of physics, engineering, mental, physical and emotional fortitude.
Open-Wheel, Sportscar, or two-wheels, motorsport is a micro-cosm of life. The highs and the lows span the entire range of human emotion. From winning the Indy 500, the Monaco Grand prix, LeMans 24 Hour, in auto racing, to winning The Italian GP in MotoGP, or Brands Hatch
in World Superbike, or Daytona in Amercian Superbike.
The ultimate highs. To the very lowest of lows, the more recent violent and sudden deaths within the past 15 years, of Senna, Ratzenberger (F1) Earnhardt, Irwin, (Nascar) Gregg Moore, Jeff Krosnoff, Rodríguez, (Champ Car) Daijiro Kato, David Jefferies, Dunlop, (Motorcycle) Brayton, Renna, Dana, (IRL) Jeff Clinton, (Grand Am) and that’s not the entire list either. But, It is part of the sport, and accepted by competitors. Just as winning is the absolute pinicle of achievment in racing, the finality of death can be best described simply, and yet obviously, as the ultimate loss.
Which brings me to the second huge sporting event in May, which
is the Giro d' Italia. Or for those who don’t know what that is or means…
The Tour of Italy. A major road cycling event that takes place over 3 weeks in Italy. The Giro is an awesome race, only second to the TdF or…Le Tour de France. I was so psyched about the Italian cyclist, Ivan Basso, the defending Champion coming back and ripping apart the field.
But that went all out the window when he admitted his involvement in Spain`s Operation Puerto doping scandal. Basso said he made contact
with a doctor at the heart of the case, Eufemiano Fuentes, and gave him a blood sample with the intention of doping, but never went through with
it. What!? What the hell exactly does that mean?
"I have not done anything illegal," he said at a news conference.
"It was a moment of weakness on my part. I`ve never taken any
doping substance nor undergone any illegal blood transfusions."
Said Basso. Well, he might as well severed his feet from his legs.
I just don’t get it. I really believed he was innocent, and didn’t blood
dope last year. Seems I was wrong. I don’t like convicting these guys before all the facts are known, because that is just too easy.
But when they maintain their innocence in the face of overwhelming evidence, it is difficult to stand By these guys. Oh well, wtf…are you
going to do eh? Life goes on. So the Giro begins today in Italy, and there is still a great group of riders who will contend for the overall win and the race should prove to be exciting.
From the start on the Island of Sardinia, to the epic ascents and descents into the alpine area of Comano to the hopefully dramtic finishing up in Milano.Tune into the Cyclysm on VS network and check out the Giro d`Italia, or go to VS online at http://www.versus.com/cyclysm/ and you can watch it live everyday.
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