East Coast Yamaha’s Late Czech-In At Macau
Friday, November 19th, 2010by Barry Russell
It is impossible not to warm to Czech racer, Michal Dokoupil. He carries an easy smile and natural charm that’s been tinged – along with his English accent – with a touch of Irish during the last two years of racing on the Emerald Isle. In yesterday’s report I passed on an anecdote from East Coast team mechanic, “Spider” that embodied the spirit of road racing and today he made his mark again.
As I wandered around the back of the pit garages ten minutes before the final qualifying session was due to start, I snapped a pensive-looking Spider gazing into the middle distance. When I asked him how he was, he said “I’m getting worried. My rider hasn’t turned up!” Other concerned team members came out to take a look for the missing racer: it simply hadn’t happened before and they didn’t know what to do.
With seven minutes to go, a grinning Dokoupil sprinted into view, yelled, “I need more sleep!” and scrambled into his leathers. Making up for his tardiness, he stopped just once during the one hour session and completed 20 laps – more than any other rider except MV Augusta’s Horst Saiger, who put in the same mileage. Michal qualified 23rd on his first visit to Macau, having thrown a leg over the bike for the first time only yesterday.
- East Coast Yamaha boss, Phil finding it difficult to be mad with late arrival Michal Dokoupil
- “Sorry I was late!” Michal Dokoupil after a 20 lap qualifying session
“]
