DSCN1896, originally uploaded by thomasrdotorg.

————-PRESS RELEASE———-

Woodstock Thor Honda and Thomasrdotorg are pleased (some might say “fully stoked”) to announce a one year deal for Melbourne motoring journalist Tom Reynolds to race in the factory Woodstock Thor Honda team aboard a special one off Japanese prepared CRF450X.

Team owner Yarrive Konsky: “After Tom’s startling performances in last year’s Dirt Bike Master’s we were ready to look at a full year deal. His performances showed us we had found a rider for the over 50′s. Of course he’s ‘only’ 37, so that did make things a little difficult- but we’ll sort that out in due course. All jokes aside, we were pleased with the races he competed in where he didn’t crash- and that was a special one. The race where he crashed and broke two ribs showed us that he was a special rider. Very special. Of course at the time, we didn’t know the full extent of the damage and we were very, very worried. It was only later we discovered that it was a triple clamp setup, a set of handle bars, a full set of plastics, an exhaust and two marshals.”

Yarrive continues:
“After looking at the team members for 2009, it was clear we were going for a youth policy, so bringing Tom into the team will help to raise not only our spirits, but also the average age. We’ve gone from an average of 18 to 29 by adding just one rider.”

Tom Reynolds:
“There will naturally be some people who see this as a decision that is not based around talent, but more around whether I can get Yarrive a drive in an Aston Martin for the weekend. The answer is yes; anytime Yarrive wants a drive in an Aston I can organise it for an hour or two.”

While the deal has only just been finalised, Reynolds rejects any suggestions that he will not be fit enough for this weekend’s opening round at Albury Wodonga. “I won’t lie, at 37 it’s a struggle to get to a racing weight and Honda have been very supportive by providing a rear suspension setup straight off a Gold Wing. Meanwhile I’ve been hard at it for months. I’m on a semi strict diet of hops, barley and wheat delivered by liquid infusion. In time I’ve been on said diet I’ve gone from 72kgs to a race ready 97kgs.”

At time of writing, the final hurdle is an ASDA supervised drug test, due to be completed this afternoon 1 April 2009…

——————ENDS—————-

11:59am STOP PRESS UPDATE:
Woodstock Thor Honda regret to announce that Tom Reynolds has been released from his racing contract for 2009 effective immediately after failing a drugs test. Details at this time are sketchy, but it is understood that an excessive amount of oestrogen was found in his system, rendering him not only unable to compete in the men’s division, but a threat to other team members safety.

——-ENDS——

Mike Hickinbotham Wednesday, 18 March 2009 3:54:14 PM

Duncan,

Sorry to disappoint, but no one is getting fired and my update to yesterday’s post addresses your comment about ‘where the story diverges’.

Checkout the link here: http://tinyurl.com/c28l96

Mike Hickinbotham
Telstra Social Media Senior Advisor

Spin spine spineless

Leslie is subject to disciplinary action not because he Twittered as the Fake Stephen Conroy, but because of his ongoing unauthorised public statements about Telstra, including abusive comments towards a colleague.

Telstra, better than Canadian Mounties. They always get there man. Anyway they can.

the-age-30-3, originally uploaded by thomasrdotorg.

Wait, yr doing it backwards!

Thanks to Suzanne Carbone for having the vision to include a few paras about me at the F1 GP tweeting like an OCD sufferer (without the suffering bit!)

No… where are those offers of Social Media work? HUH?

CONTROVERSY OVERSHADOWS AWESOME AUSSIE RACING CARS AT ALBERT PARK 28 March 2009 A communication issue has left half the Aussie Racing Cars on the form-up grid and out of race 2 today at the 2009 Formula 1 ING Australian Grand Prix. Confusion reigned after the event as to the exact chain of events that led to only 17 cars starting the race while 15 were left behind with officials refusing them access to the track. The issues are expected to be resolved in the next few hours but it is expected that the race will be designated as a non-event from a round and series points perspective. What is not in dispute is the action that those 17 cars provided on-track as a reverse-top-nine format was implemented to beef up the action for the fans. Maurice Masini was set to start from pole position with Tyler Owen next to him and Adam Gowans and Peter Carr on the second row. As the field entered turn three for the first time a melee erupted after Peter Carr connected with the rear of Gowans Toyota Aurion, this set off a series of spinning cars as the field went in all directions to avoid the carnage. Clews was an innocent victim but soon recovered to start picking off the competitors ahead. Race 1 winner, Richie Rapa was a benefactor of the carnage as he drove through the gap and into the top three and proceeded to move into the lead early in the race. “I knew that the guys would be pretty toey out there with the reverse-top-nine so I just held back in the first few corners,” Rapa said. “We had a good clear run and I was really happy with how the car was going.” Allan Simonsen forged his way to second place and began a race-long battle with Clews and Masini for a podium position. “Obviously he (Clews) was coming pretty quick and I tried to drive defensively,” Simonsen said. “I thought I was pushing it as hard as I can but obviously not, it was a great race. “You can’t compare them at all really, I just jumped in for the first time on Thursday for practice and have not spent any time setting it up. “The cars are easy to drive and great fun and you can really chuck them around on the track,” he said. The three exchanged places many timed before Clews was able to break a gap on the last lap and Simonsen was able to overcome Masini in the drag to the finish line. David Lawrence threatened the top four but didn’t quite have the speed to make the top three. Many of the Masters Cup drivers didn’t get to race but the three that did were Darren Chamberlin, Glenn McNamara and Shane Sullivan. “There was no point pushing hard because I knew the others were not out there and it didn’t seem to make sense to risk my car for effectively nothing,” Chamberlin said. The drivers that missed the race were: Phi Ward, Kevin Smith, Garrett Halder, Dan Evans, Taz Douglas, Shane Wolki, Brendon Tucker, Rob Thomson, Darrin Masini, Michael Hovey, Tony South, Ruth Bowler, Adam Johns, Sheridan Phillips, and Grant Ludbey.