Yesterday I went to see Round 2 of the Stunt Ireland Series in Mondello.
I'd never been to a stunt competition before so I wasn't sure what to expect. I think I might have mentioned it here before, but it strikes me that some of the stunt stuff coming from the 'States can be obnoxious - y'know, deliberate confrontations with the Law, terrorizing the public, that sort of thing.
While the stuff coming form France has more a sort of life-affirming, joy-d-vivre kind of buzz.
It's the same stuff, it 's just two different flavours...
Anyway, it appears that the Irish stunt scene is more like the latter. There was a very pleasant and friendly atmosphere. It felt much more like a bunch of friends having fun than a competition. That's not to suggest it was in any way amateur. The standard is very high and it's obvious that competitors are very serious about the sport. What I mean is, everyone seemed very friendly and there was no elitism or tribalism evident.
There were some fantastic performances, most notably from Josh Turner on a Harley Sportster. It's difficult to describe what was so good about this, but I'll try...
Firstly there was a lot of noise from the V-twin. And violence. And energy - he just throws the thing around. But I think the thing that set him apart from everyone else was the look on his face. It's a look of sheer, manic, unbridled joy and it's infectious (Check the photos below...).
I can't remember all the names and who was who, but there was one guy did a performance with a broken collar bone. Another guy had just had the cast removed from a broken arm. James Murphy, who has only been stunting a couple of months, was giving it socks on a complete nail of a CBR600.
Fishbone was so fast and aggressive that most of the time, by the time my digital camera got around to taking the shot, he was no longer in the picture... And Richie Ruane just made everything look very easy.
It was a great atmosphere, great to watch and I enjoyed the hell out of it...
EDIT: There's some footage from the event, HERE
#StuntIrelandSeries #IFSS #IrishFreestyleStuntSeries #Mercenary #MercenaryGarage
I'd never been to a stunt competition before so I wasn't sure what to expect. I think I might have mentioned it here before, but it strikes me that some of the stunt stuff coming from the 'States can be obnoxious - y'know, deliberate confrontations with the Law, terrorizing the public, that sort of thing.
While the stuff coming form France has more a sort of life-affirming, joy-d-vivre kind of buzz.
It's the same stuff, it 's just two different flavours...
Anyway, it appears that the Irish stunt scene is more like the latter. There was a very pleasant and friendly atmosphere. It felt much more like a bunch of friends having fun than a competition. That's not to suggest it was in any way amateur. The standard is very high and it's obvious that competitors are very serious about the sport. What I mean is, everyone seemed very friendly and there was no elitism or tribalism evident.
There were some fantastic performances, most notably from Josh Turner on a Harley Sportster. It's difficult to describe what was so good about this, but I'll try...
Firstly there was a lot of noise from the V-twin. And violence. And energy - he just throws the thing around. But I think the thing that set him apart from everyone else was the look on his face. It's a look of sheer, manic, unbridled joy and it's infectious (Check the photos below...).
I can't remember all the names and who was who, but there was one guy did a performance with a broken collar bone. Another guy had just had the cast removed from a broken arm. James Murphy, who has only been stunting a couple of months, was giving it socks on a complete nail of a CBR600.
Fishbone was so fast and aggressive that most of the time, by the time my digital camera got around to taking the shot, he was no longer in the picture... And Richie Ruane just made everything look very easy.
It was a great atmosphere, great to watch and I enjoyed the hell out of it...
EDIT: There's some footage from the event, HERE
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Niall Lawless (IRL) on the TDR minibike and James Murphy (IRL) on the CBR600F2, get some practice in.
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Baz Brittain gives an introduction to the peculiarities of stuntbikes. Note the abundance of rear brake calipers...
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Sam Bullimore (UK) on his beautiful Kawasaki ZXR 636
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Colin 'Flat Head' Smith (IRL) on his CBR600F4I
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Monny Mon (UK) on a Kawasaki ZXR636
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Danny Whitely (UK) on his Honda CBR600F4I
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Derek Byrne (IRL) on a Honda CBR600F4I
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Josh Turner (UK) and Monny Mon aboard a Harley Davidson Sportster
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Josh Turner about to scrape the tail of the Harley
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Jakob K 'Fishbone' (IRL) on his very tasty Yamaha R6
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Fishbone again.
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Prezz Bartho Bart (PL/IRL) on a Honda CBR600F4I
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Richie Ruane on a ZXR636 - This bike is something to behold...
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Josh Turner on Monny Mon's 636
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Josh again. The noise and violence of this performance were amazing...
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Josh and Monny
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Baz Brittain (UK) in action on his 636
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#StuntIrelandSeries #IFSS #IrishFreestyleStuntSeries #Mercenary #MercenaryGarage
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