The Curse Of Nelson Ledges Strikes Army Of Darkness Again
Army Of Darkness (AOD) was born at Nelson Ledges in 1993 with a 24-hour effort curtailed by a transmission failure. AOD lost their only race in 2019 to a transmission failure at Nelson Ledges.
At this year’s N2/WERA National Endurance 4-hour, AOD led early on and was pulling the field until a red flag brought the other heavyweights back into contention. AOD led again after the restart, but Chris Peris indicated that he thought the bike needed a safety check and pitted early for an oil smell. A cursory inspection and cleaning revealed no major problems, and AOD returned to the fray two laps down to the new leader.
Peris and Ben Walters put in hard consistent riding and made up the two laps to retake the lead, running the fastest pace of the race with 15 minutes remaining. The close battle at the front riveted the attention of the pits but, heartbreakingingly, having to run a faster pace (0.5 second off the lap record) took its toll and, with only a few laps left in the race, AOD had to yield the lead. The lead bike ran out of gas on the checkered flag lap and coasted silently across the finish line but, although AOD took the checkered flag first, in an endurance race the final scoring reverts to the last fully completed lap, keeping AOD in second.
Team Captain Sam Fleming opined: “These races are so hard to win that even the smallest problem that puts you on your hind foot is tough to come back from. I’m so proud of the way our team performed today by staying focused and motivated after the endurance goddess had kicked us in the balls with a long safety pit stop but it was important to make sure the bike was safe to ride.”
Lead Mechanic Melissa Berkoff offered a string of expletives which can’t be published in formal communications.
Army Of Darkness remains in the point lead for the 2020 endurance championship.
AOD is sponsored by: Army of Darkness, Yamaha Champions Riding School, Yamaha, Michelin, Chicken Hawk, Wood Craft, Hindle, K-Tech, Fast Frank Racing, Supersprox, Thermosman, N2, Industry13, WERA, Roadracing World.
