MotoGP, Phillip Island -

This was a really good event for me for quite a few reasons: It was the debut event of the #1 plates on both bikes, a non-championship event (don't have to worry about points, so we just go flat-out!) and I raised my media profile by being the national ambassador for the event.

Part of my ambassador duties required me to go to Cranbourne and wave off the annual GP run. I had to wave a flag for the bikes riding past (nobody bothered to tell me there was about 15000 bikes...talk about arm pump!)

I was also a guest at the GP Gala Ball, and met the local MP's as well as the Lord Mayor, but probably the best one was a show that we did on the Saturday night.

I was kinda like a panel, and it was hosted by Bill Woods (RPM, Sports Tonight and so-on) the panel included myself, 5x world champ Mick Doohan, Daryl Beattie, Ducati MotoGP rider Troy Bayliss, Red Bull KTM rider Casey Stoner and also Anthony West. When we first got there, hardly anybody was about but by the time we got up on stage, there was about 5-10000 people yelling and screaming! (probably for the others though) :-)

Back to the riding.... On the 1000 we totally dominated the weekend, winning all 3 races but I jumped the start in race 2 which cost me a 10 second penalty, subsequently relegating me to third. Race 1 was a good battle between Suzukis Shawn Giles, and I just got the better of him through lapped traffic on the last lap.

Race two was a major fight with Shannon Johnson in the early stages, but I cleared out a bit in the closing stages, and race 3 I pretty much led from start to finish, winning by about 5 seconds.

On th 600, things were not what I had planned, qualifying 2nd, race 2nd, race 3 and I was 2nd again (both races won by Kawasaki's Jamie Staufer)

We didn't start race two as we found a big cut on my rear tyre on the grid. Normally we may have tried to continue, but as it wasn't a championship event.... why take the risk?

Anyway, we got out in one piece, and once again proved hat we have the best package on the Superbike!!!

Next up for us is the King of Extreme at Eastern Creek (god I hate that place!) So I guess we will see how we go, hopefully we should have some new bits to test on the 1000.

This will also mark the return of Josh Brookes to the track, recovering from his busted pelvis a few months ago.

Once again......Keep ya posted

Cheers!

Phillip Island, Final Round -

Sorry about the enormous delay peeps, but I always intended to get around to this eventually.

There was a bit of pressure going into the last round, with the Superbike championship on my mind, but all we had to do was finish 6th or better in the 1st race to wrap it up.

The weather was terrible the entire weekend, with all types of track conditions for us to endure. As it was, we didn't even get to qualify on the Saturday, as turn 3 was entirely flooded, so our qualifying was taken off Fridays practice times which saw me 2nd on the grid.

Superbike race 1 on Sunday was part wet and part dry, which saw everybody go out with intermediate type tyres, and we went for the more wet approach. The start wasn't bad and we settled into third place for the race, and wrapped up the Superbike championship, which was a great relief. (I have since found out that I am the first person ever to wrap up both titles in Australia)

With that out of the way, I could now concentrate on doing what I enjoy most.... WINNING!

Race 2 was a great battle between myself and Shannon Johnson, and I manged to get in front about 1/2 way and start to create a gap, but then it started raining... the race was stopped, and restarted on a damp track.

I figured it would be pretty dry, so I opted to stay on slicks   (BAD MOVE).... The track was pretty dry, but all of the right hand corners were wet, apart from the ultra-fast turn eight (The Hayshed). Lap 2 on the restart, I was in third and tipped into the Hayshed wide open in fourth (about 215kph) The right side of the back tyre was not hot enough, and it stepped out and launched me over the bars, and crashing back to earth at a rapid rate of knots. Needless to say, my day was over but we had accomplished what we set out to do!

As far as the 600 went, I qualified 2nd (wet), missed race 1 to focus on Superbike race 1 (race 1 was won by Kawasaki's Robbie Baird) finished 2nd in race 2, and missed race 3 due to injuries sustained in the Superbike crash. So basically, there was not a lot to report.

Anyways, we won both Championships, and I had just been announced as the ambassodor for the upcoming MotoGP event, which will see me doing a lot more than riding there. I'll keep ya posted!

Cheers

Adam Fergusson

Ipswich, Round 6 - 15th August 2004

Hmmmm, not sure if I really want to report about this event.... after all I managed to crash 3 times and was off the pace the whole weekend.

We walked into this event with the mindset of doing what we had been doing for most of the year, which is going for the win instead of looking after our points lead. This all changed after our second crash, without knowing why it actually happened.

As it all turned out, we failed to get a pole position, failed to win a race, wrecked two bikes, and pretty much had a miserable weekend. To cap it all off, I had to rush to the hospital after the final race, because my eldest son fell off a fence watching the race and broke his arm.

A week full of downers had to have at least one positive, and I think that wrapping up the Australian 600 Supersport Championship could be called a positive. We also thought that we clinched the Superbike Championship but as it turns out, we were awarded too many points during the year (buggered if I know how) and we still need to get 10 more at Phillip Island, which shouldn't be too hard as I only need a 12th and two 13ths, or better yet, a 6th or better in race 1.

We tested recently at the Island, and things are working really good with both of the bikes so we are hoping to get in there and get the job done in the first race.

I have been doing a lot of promotional work lately which included doing a photo shoot with the GP Corp, and some kids suffering from Cystic Fibrosis (apologies for the misspelling, if any) and I am doing some stuff at Phillip Island tomorrow (7th Sept) with Ron Walker and the new owner of Phillip Island, Lindsay Fox)

Anyways, sorry about the delay of this stuff going up, but I've been real busy and I hope to have some cool pics up soon.

Cheers

Adam "Krusty" Fergusson

2004 Australian Supersport Champ

Mallala, Round 5 - 2nd - 4th July 2004

How close to a perfect weekend can you possibly get!!!!!!!!!! Where do I start?

Just to give you guys an idea, Mallala is basically in the middle of nowhere, about 40 mins NE of Adelaide, always damn windy, and it is either bloody cold, or stinkin hot. This weekend was bloody cold, and damn windy!!!

It is a pretty basic circuit, with fast straights and hairpin corners, which means you need a fast bike with very good brakes.

Qualifying went well and I stuck it on pole in both classes again! (I have only failed to put it on pole twice this year out of 12 attempts) I got a bit of a shock on the 1000 though.

Mat Mladin has helt the lap record here for about 8 years at a 1:07.770, and we always knew we could give it a shake, but after my flying lap on the soft tyres my lap timer showed 1:06.8 FAAAARRRRK! Even now I am not sure how I managed to do that time!

The races went really well, and my starts are ever improving too. 3 wins in a row in the Supersport races, and 2 wins and a second on the Superbike to give me a really good lead going into the penultimate round at Willowbank QLD.

A couple of defining moments on the weekend was the first Superbike race battle I had with Yamaha's Shannon Johnson, and the last 600 race I had with Kawasaki's Robbie Baird. What these races meant to me was that even though I have to protect a healthy points lead..... I still want to win races.

There was a bit of biffo between myself and SJ for nearly the entire Superbike opener. This is what people really want to see I believe. Pushing and shoving on 180+ horsepower 160KG rockets at speeds of over 200 kph..... GREAT FUN!

In the final 600 race, I was in second pozzie for the whole race, and I knew if it stayed that way I would still have the round win, but at the final turn on the final lap I managed to pull a stupid move on the inside of Bairdy, and crossed the stripe first by 0.016 of a second. (There is a pic of that somewhere, and I will try and find it, so I can post it here)

As it turns out, I have a 88 pt lead in Superbikes, and a 107.5 pt lead in the Supersport class. With only a maximum of 152 pts available from the next two rounds, we are in a damn good position to be the first rider ever to win both Superbike and Supersport Australian Championships. I just have to keep my head down and keep out of trouble. Ah bugger it, I am still gunna go for the win anyway!

Anyway, I will try to report a bit more frequent, and hopefully let you guys know how the silly season unfolds. (for those of you that do not know, silly season is the end of the year where all the riders are switching camps, going overseas etc.)

Take it easy y'all

Wanneroo, Round 4 - 25th - 27th June 2004

It looks like we have well and truly turned the corner this season. Our results are great, my starts have improved heaps, and the bikes are working fantastic.

The trek west saw a few things happen in the Castrol Honda world, some good and some really bad!

The worst part was sitting there watching my team-mate JB get airlifted to a Perth hospital with a broken pelvis..... at the time, we weren't sure of the state of his condition, but I am happy to report that he is stable and is expected to make a full recovery.

The best part of the weekend was gaining good strong results, and opening up a big lead in the championship.

I always had a good feeling about this weekend, as I have always enjoyed going across to Perth. The crew over there are always happy to see us, and they put on a good event as always. It was jus unfortunate about the weather on Sunday.

Qualifying went well, I managed to get pole position on both the 600 and the 1000, and we were well under the lap record in both classes.

I tried to use my head in the races, and make sure we brought away some good points. So as it turned out, I had 2 wins and a third on the 1000, and a second and two fourths on the 600 which gave me the overall win for both classes, and a 51 pt lead in Superbikes, and a four point lead over Josh in the Supersport class.

Josh is certain to miss Mallala next weekend, as well as Willowbank in Queensland which comes around the middle of august..... This means I have around a 80 point lead over the next guy.......

Well, we got round 5 next weekend.....busy busy busy...as well as the birth of my daughter on the 15th of June...we named her Kaylee Nicole Fergusson....this has been the main reason why this report is so late! Sorry All...

I'll have the Mallala report up ASAP

Cheers!

Winton, Round 3 - 14th - 16th May 2004

Man, what an awesome weekend.........

One pole position, one lap record, five wins and a second.

It was great weather that greeted us all to Winton Raceway, near Benalla Vic, for the third round and a change in fortunes for myself.

I knew I had to pull my finger out if I was going to have any chance at winning the Championship this year, so I went there with only winning in mind.

The good thing was that I was right on the pace from the outset, and just kept getting faster all weekend, even though I didn't think I was going to have it easy.

Qualifying was good for me again, and I always seem to find 1 good lap, (5 out of 8 possible pole positions so far this year) but I think the main thing that helped me was my starts. For those of you that know me, you will already know that I am a notorious bad starter, but I got it wired at Winton. Sure as hell makes your life easier when you're not having to fight your way back from tenth or so.

But anyway, I went into winton with a 25 point deficit in both classes, and came out leading the Superbike Championship by 14 points and only trailing Josh by 9 points on the 600.

It was a fun event, and I must admit, it was run a hell of a lot better than Wakefield Park was, even though there was as many if not more incidents on the track. The only problem left is that I believe that something needs to be done about the promotion of our sport, to make it more appealing to the public. It is a lot more fun when you are putting on a show for 10 to 15000 fans (or more) instead of only a few hundred.

Oh and another thing too, our team manager Paul Free became a daddy on the Sunday morning, a little boy which he named Alexander James Free..... so congrats to him. We will be having our third baby on the 15th of June, which we already know is a girl (let's hope she has her mothers looks) We aren't 100% sure of the name but it will most likely be Kaylee. anyway back to the bikes

So where was I......oh yeah, winning races. :) We have certainly got the set up right this year, because for JB and myself to be as strong as we are, everywhere, shows that we don't need the fastest bikes to win races.

Next up for us is a 2 day test at Mallala S.A on the 8th & 9th June, and then we have the W.A and S.A double header on the last weekend of June/1st week in July.

One last thing before I go, all of the pics on this site (the action shots) are the property of mcnews.com.au, and they are used on here with Trev Hedge's permission, so thanks to him (this site would be even more boring without pics):)

Take it easy guys and girls, and remember:

Bones heal, Chicks dig scars, Pain is temporary, Glory is forever!!!!! (I remember reading that on a toilet door once)

Testing at Winton - 3rd May 2004,

Hey guys, just thought I'd give you all an update on what has been happening over the last 2 weeks, apart from my public crucifixion on the internet on the issues at Wakefield.

Basically I have just been working at home with the transport thing, but mainly I have been focused on improving myself physically for the next round at Winton in a couple of weeks.

We went to Winton on Monday to do some testing, as well as to gain some extra set up, to make our lives easier.... We also had a new shock to try on the 1000 (we have been running a modified 600 shock thus far) and it appears to be a step in the right direction. It is definately not as harsh over the bumps as the old one.

We also tested some new Michelins to try and increse the grip advantage we have over the other mob, and all in all I think we have taken a good step forward. After messing around all day with set up, we got some good laps together at the end of the day, and we ended up running well into the 23's (under the lap record I am led to believe) so it turned out to be a very productive day.

We also tested some new fork settings on the 600, and after some minor adjustments, we ended the day on a positive note with some good fast lap times (low 25's) and I think the rest of the pack will be chasing myself and Josh again.

Jason O'Halloran was there to watch, but couldn't ride as he is still busted up after his massive highside at Wakefield. I'm not sure if he will make it to Winton for the race, but if he does he will be pretty weak. He is in good spirits at the moment, so I hope it all goes well for him.

Anyway, I'd better get back to work 'fore the boss cracks it! Hope to see a lot of you at Winton, I think it will be a good show!

Cheers