Valerie Thompson2013 Texas Mile Land Speed RaceValerie Thompson, owner/driver of Valerie Thompson Racing (VTR), is hoping to set new land speed records during her first appearance at the Texas Mile race March 22-24 at Chase Field Industrial Complex in Beeville Texas.
Thompson hopes to become a member of “200 MPH Club of Texas,” with her Martech Services Company sponsored BMW S1000 RR Superbike.Popularity of the Texas Mile has grown rapidly since its inaugural event in October 2003, with participants from the US, Canada and Mexico testing themselves on one of the fastest and most challenging 1-mile tracks in the world. This bi-annual Motorsports Festival is welcomes racers in several categories, including motorcycles, high-performance street machines, racecars and land speed racers.Valerie Thompson says: “I can’t wait to kick off our 2013 racing season at the legendary Texas Mile. We have been busy preparing our Superbike with new BMW Motorrad HP4 Race Parts, MS Production supplied carbon fiber race parts and new paint job by Orlando Autobody of Mesa Arizona. Even out tow vehicle has been improved with new Vision Wheels from our newest sponsor.”Valerie Thompson BackgroundThompson is a five-time land speed record holder and owner/driver of the Valerie Thompson Land Speed Racing Motorcycle Team. She has competed in the All Harley Drag Racing Association and National Hot Rod Association drag racing series. She set a personal best top speed of 209.5 mph on a 1.5-mile racecourse during the Mojave Magnum event in 2012. Valerie Thompson Racing sponsors include: Martech Services Company, CTEK Battery Charger, TROON Enterprises, La-Mann Corporation, BMW Motorrad USA – HP Race Parts, Vision Wheel, MS Production North America, Orlando Autobody, Schuberth Head Protection Technology, Go AZ Motorcycles of Scottsdale, Worldwide Bearings, Stand Up Photos, Hyperpro Suspension Technology and Shorai Battery.valeriethompsonracing.com
Hello everyone and welcome once again to the Ultimate Motorcycling podcast—Motos and Friends. My name is Arthur Coldwells.
Motos and Friends is brought to you by the Yamaha YZF-R7—Yamaha’s awesome supersport machine that is as capable on the racetrack as it is on the street. …and it’s comfortable too! Check it out at at your local Yamaha dealer, or of course at YamahaMotorsports.com.
In this week’s first segment, Senior Editor Nic de Sena rides the BMW K 1600 GT. This is the sporty bagger version of BMW’s K series of machines, those are the models with the awesome 6-cylinder engine. The GT has been given a little makeover for 2023, and Nic gives us his take.
In the second segment, I chat with one of my all time heroes—three-time World Champion racer ‘fast’ Freddie Spencer. I’ll do my best not to come off as too much of a fanboy here, but frankly it’ll be tough!
In my humble opinion, Spencer is a contender for the GOAT—greatest of all time. Sure, his career was a little shorter than some, and his number of championships falls behind the likes of Lawson, Doohan, Rossi, and of course Marquez. But at the time, Freddie literally changed the way motorcycles were ridden. 30 years before Marc Marquez, Freddie was able to push the front wheel into a slide, corner after corner, lap after lap in order to get the bike turned faster than anyone else. Freddie took completely different lines and was able to get on the throttle so early he could out accelerate anyone off a corner.
In the modern era, of course Freddie is the chairman of the FIM MotoGP Stewards panel. This is the panel of referees for all three classes of Grand prix racing. I talked to Freddie about his task there, and although for contractual reasons with Dorna and the FIM he cannot talk about specific riders, teams, or events, nevertheless his explanation of the job makes for interesting listening. It’s a tough job, and frankly I wouldn’t want to do it!
At any rate, Freddie’s new book ‘Feel’ is available on Amazon—I’d highly recommend you reading it whether you’re a fan of Freddie or not, even whether you’re into racing or not; every rider has something to learn from his mental approach.
Actually—Ultimate Motorcycling is giving away five copies of the book—signed by Freddie himself—to the first five listeners who contact us with the correct answer to the question: How many national AMA championships did Freddie win, and which years were they?
Please email your answers to producer@ultimatemotorcycling.com and we will contact the winners and send you a signed copy of Feel. Those five winners will be announced on a future episode. Unfortunately for legal reasons this offer is ONLY open to US residents.
So, from all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!
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