Thundersprint - Salvation Army revs up for motorbike event
The Salvation Army in Northwich is gearing up to support an internationally-famous motorcycle event.
Thundersprint is an annual motorbike race, which takes place this year on Saturday 6th May and Sunday 7th May. Thundersprint sees over 100,000 racing fans from all over the world gather in Northwich to watch current bikers and past masters race around a local car park from morning until evening on classic motorbikes.
This year superbike star Leon Haslam, one of the fastest young riders in the world is taking part in the race for the first time. West Coast racing star - American Classic Champion and four times Daytona winner, Brid Caveney is also travelling all the way from California for the race. Sammy Miller, eleven times British Champion and twice winner of the European (World) Championship is also taking part. Sammy is racing a Gilera 4, which will be raced in the setting fans would have seen it in 50 years ago.
The whole event starts on Saturday at 10am with the Thundersprint National Motorcycle Show taking place in the centre of Northwich. All of the latest bikes will be on display for fans and local people, including displays from BMW, Kawasaki and Yamaha along with a fantastic display of the custom bikes from Orange County Choppers, Grinnall and MTB Customs. There will also be an exhibit of the new Skoda cars.
Sunday sees the actual Thundersprint races taking place from 12 noon, with participants arriving at 6.15am for breakfast and technical inspections. Each race sees the bikers do as many laps of the track as they can in the fastest time possible. Each lap lasts on average 18 seconds, therefore every ride lasts less than 2 minutes. The race is a great chance for fans to see classic bikes up close and raced once more. It's also an opportunity for them to meet the famous bikers taking part.
The Salvation Army in Northwich has always been very supportive of the Thundersprint event. This year they have helped with the organisation of the weekend and will be responsible for running the ‘lost children centre' on both Saturday and Sunday. The local leader, Captain Martin Jones will bless the race and will also deliver an outdoor church service. The local Salvation Army band will play the Thundersprint anthem and members of The Salvation Army will also walk around the track, carrying out a 'prayer walk' before the races begin.
Captain Martin Jones commented: 'Thundersprint is an amazing event for the community of Northwich. People come from all over the world, some even travel from as far away as America and South Africa to either take part or to be a spectator. It is a great event to watch and is getting more and more popular each year. It is fantastic that The Salvation Army in Northwich is able to support the day's activities and I'd encourage local people to come along and see what is on offer.'
The Salvation Army has a representative taking part on their behalf. Michael Hunt, aged 54 years from Poynton, Cheshire, has been racing for five years. He has competed in the last four Thundersprint events and this will be his fifth year in the competition. He has won two trophies in previous years. Michael is racing a Suzuki T500 race bike in 1960's era style. He currently competes in three club series - Wirral 100, Preston and District Motorcycle Race Club and Crewe and South Cheshire Race Club. He runs a team 'Just4Fun' and the other member, Ian Jackson, will also be racing at Thundersprint on a similar machine.
*Photo courtesy of thundersprint.co.uk
The Salvation Army: 4 May 2006: Thundersprint - Salvation Army revs up for motorbike event.