Supercross Success
By Luke Johnson
With the paint barely dry and the doors still stiff on their hinges, the high speed, high jumping, adrenaline fuelled sport of supercross recently invaded Liverpool’s Echo Arena.
Thousands of tonnes of dirt were piled high as the third event to be held in the newly constructed ACC Liverpool venue transformed the arena floor into a four lane, 400m long race track for rounds two and three of the 2007/2008 Future West British Supercross Championship. The arena which seats 10,600 will play host to many events though this the Capital of Culture year but none will match the speed and excitement brought by the supercross.
A number of races were held during the multi-day event with riders as young a seven competing on bikes ranging from 50cc automatics to 450cc four-strokes. The main attraction came in the form of the two professional classes, the Pro Lites and Pro Open, which were comprised of a number of top riders from Britain, America, Canada, South Africa and Europe.
In the Pro Lites class, where riders race 125cc two-stroke and 250cc four-stroke bikes, 19-year-old Canadian and 2005 British Supercross Champion Colton Facciotti now leads the championships with just one round to go after a victory and fourth, in front of a near sell-out crowd, during the Liverpool rounds were added to his fourth place finish from round one in Sheffield.
British rider Carl Nunn who was making his long awaited return to British supercross and his first appearance on the Motovision Suzuki had a bad weekend after a fall in the first corner of race one resulted in his stubborn four-stroke taking an age to restart leaving him six laps behind the rest of the field. Nunn, who was fast for the whole event, crashed on the last corner of race two just two laps from the finish dropping himself down to eighth position.
The Pro Open where riders race bikes up to 450cc four-strokes was dominated by former American National champion Mike Brown all the way from Tennessee USA. Brown led from the first corner to the finish line jump on both nights and with the absence of the first round winner, 18-year-old Californian Jeff Alessi due to prior commitments back in the states, he now leads the championship with just one round to go. After his opening night victory Brown said: “It’s always good to be leading a championship and I hope I can do the same tomorrow.”
With the racing at the arena complete, all that was left was for five time Canadian Motocross champion Jean Sebastien Roy (JSR) to throw some souvenirs to the crowd and make one child’s evening my giving him his race trophy. JSR who is currently sitting in second position in both the Pro Lites and Pro Open championships, just three points behind Facciotti in the Lites class, said: “That’s what we are here for, to give a good show.” He went on to add to the crowd “If you are at the final round then I will have more race gear to give out.”
Prior to the event John Hellam, CEO of the championship organisers Future West Promotions, said: “I have no doubt that we can and will put on an amazing show for the spectators in this awesome new building.” Despite the event not running entirely smoothly or to schedule, and due to the extremely high quality and closeness of the racing on display, this was achieved.
Never Walk Alone
By Amy Swift
The Liverpool football club anthem carries wise words for students, “Never Walk Alone.”
Violence levels across the country are escalating and students are faced with this growing concern.
The event was organised by the Birkenhead band “Rattlebus”. They are a four piece band consisting of lead singer and guitarist Tim Glover, guitarist and singer Martin Ward, bassist Phil Mchoul and drummer Steve Vasey.
Tim Glover was enthusiastic about the event explaining that he put on the night to cater for people with children.
Student, Claire Williams, 19, said recently: “It’s scary to think that it could happen to you. You don’t expect to be beaten up or mugged in broad daylight, but it happens all the time to people.’
The increase of violence in our cities was seen last year after Liverpool University student, Sion Hardy, 24, was killed after violence broke out outside the Medication nightclub in town.
And in October 2007, a group of students were attacked just yards from their accommodation after walking home from a night out. The gang that attacked them were not after money or personal possessions, they just wanted to fight. One victim, Hannah Lee said of her ordeal:
‘We were walking back after a great night out when a random group of young men followed us into the driveway of our accommodation. At first they just started threatening us, but then they started hitting us for no reason and a fight erupted. I ran away and called the police.’
Common sense and responsibility can often reduce your chances of becoming a victim of a violent attack. So, make sure you stick to well lit areas when walking at night, don’t flash valuables around in public, make sure you always have your phone on you in case you come into trouble and finally, NEVER WALK ALONE!
Interesting fact of the month
By Stephen Tilbury
Who invented Sign Language for the deaf?
Before the 16th century, people who were deaf-mute were treated horribly. They were regarded as idiots, incapable of intelligence, and were locked up in asylums or even killed.
Then an Italian doctor called Geronimo Cardano got the idea of teaching deafmutes through written characters. In the 18th century, a Frenchman, Charles de I’Epee, created a language of signs. This was a system of using conventional gestures of the hands and arms in such a way that they represented the thought that was to be conveyed. Meanwhile, in the 17th century, a finger alphabet was worked out which was similar to the one in use today.
