{"id":173,"date":"2016-04-18T05:19:15","date_gmt":"2016-04-18T05:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theshortbus.com.au\/?page_id=173"},"modified":"2016-05-03T00:20:52","modified_gmt":"2016-05-03T00:20:52","slug":"update-mick-returning-to-comp-bike-after-22-year-absence","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.theshortbus.com.au\/index.php\/update-mick-returning-to-comp-bike-after-22-year-absence\/","title":{"rendered":"UPDATE: Mick returning to Comp Bike after 22 year absence"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After a good day at the third round of the NSW Championships on Saturday, Mick has decided to enter the Nitro Champs in Competition Bike. <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
“The Short Bus is running consistent 60-foot times as well as half-track speeds now,” he explained. “From there to the finish line it’s just a case of tucking in and hitting shift points.”<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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This will be Mick’s return to Competition Bike after an absence of 22 years. His last Comp Bike outing was on a P\/CB Harley at Canberra on 26 November 1994.
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“I’ve always planned to return to Comp Bike it just took a bit longer than I originally thought it would!<\/div>\n
With the format for the Nitro Champs different to past years, Mick will be able to find time between his duties as a Sydney Dragway official to race as a D\/Altered Bike in the Competition Bike bracket.<\/div>\n
“I have to thank Sydney Dragway for allowing me to wear two hats at this meeting. I’m really looking forward to this race. I know that I’m not the quickest in Comp Bike but I’ll be out there racing and not watching.”<\/div>\n
Mick normally races in Modified Bike, a bracket that races against self-nominated handicaps whereas Comp Bike races against indexes that are based on records.<\/div>\n
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Mick (near lane) aboard John Parker’s P\/CB Harley at Canberra International Dragway. 26\/11\/1994. That’s John in the far lane aboard his then-new P\/CB Harley.
\nPhoto courtesy of Lee Davis, Western Auto Pics.
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Mick (near lane) and Craig Bonwick on the startline at the 1994 Nitro Champs. 21\/05\/1994.
\nPhoto courtesy of Lee Davis, Western Auto Pics.
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Mick will be riding\u00a0The Short Bus at the 2016 Nitro Champs,\u00a0 a modified Suzuki Hayabusa that represents a quantum leap in dragbike technology compared to those P\/CB Harleys of the 1990s.<\/strong><\/div>\n
Photo of The Short Bus, Sydney Dragway,\u00a0 16\/04\/16<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Leonard from Azzopardi Racing helped with one clutch change last meeting and that was enough to make a big impact on the bike’s consistency in the sixty-foot times as well as at every other measurable incremental down the quarter-mile dragstrip. “His advice and assistance really made the difference,” said Mick. “I’ve usually got half an idea but Leonard always has the bigger half and that makes a massive difference. I’m looking forward to representing Azzopardi Racing in Comp Bike. I already know that I’m not going to be the quickest bike in the bracket but I will be there and I’ll be doing my best.”<\/div>\n
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After a good day at the third round of the NSW Championships on Saturday, Mick has decided to enter the Nitro Champs in Competition Bike.…<\/p>\n

Continue ReadingUPDATE: Mick returning to Comp Bike after 22 year absence<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-173","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","ratio-natural","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theshortbus.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theshortbus.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theshortbus.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theshortbus.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theshortbus.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.theshortbus.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":196,"href":"https:\/\/www.theshortbus.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/173\/revisions\/196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theshortbus.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}