As I was wandering around the pits and the area where the general admittance crowd stand I was trying to watch the Power to power when I was rudely interrupted and asked to judge the Surya 12 girls next to where we do the media appearances and then announce the winner.  It was definitely a tough job, but hey someone has to do it. 

It was kind of funny the prize for the top 3 is a helmet, instead of the traditional flowers and sash. But I guess in a country where everyone rides scooters it’s a functional prize that’s for sure.  As I finished there and strolled over to have a chat to Yudhi we were given a little bit of excitement when one of the lower class 125cc racers decided he didn’t want to take the berm in front of us and went straight through the fence made of rio steel, into the 4 quad bikes on display until he ended pressed up against the VIP stage.  Probably not the end to the race he wanted, he was fine but it was comical in a way.

As it came closer to the 7:30pm start for the show the afternoon turned into night time sooner than we hoped.  My keen weather predictions looked like they were coming true when I asked the race directors to hurry up and start the show as the storm clouds were banking up to the west of Jakarta.  Unfortunately it was directly to the side of the freestyle ramp position and what normally happens in a storm is the wind starts whipping into the storm clouds.  So instead of the tail wind we had all hoped for, we were now getting strong side winds and that spells danger for FMX.  Awesome, just what we didn’t want.  The rain was getting closer and just as the Indonesian national anthem was finishing up we finally were able to start the FMX and try finish the first show at 75ft in 3 weeks.

Just as we kicked our bikes over we felt the first few rain drops.  Crap!  So we got into the show as quick as we could, and I think if we had transponders on our freestyle bikes you’d find we were doing some pretty quick laps to get as many jumps in before the downpour would come.  Clinton had no qualms in doing a few big upright tricks and getting his flip out of the way.  That’s what the crowd came to see and he smashed it within 5 jumps.  Sheeny who hadn’t ridden since his flip under-rotated crash back in Perth 4 weeks earlier was also committing himself to flipping.  His shoulder was still only 50% and he was struggling to even do any tricks.  Sheeny also threw down his flip early in the piece which meant they kept the sponsors happy.  One of the worst parts of the show was when I was coming back from a Hart Attack look back and I was almost on the landing when some bozo who was in control of the fireworks sitting on top of the downramp and let it off one second too early.  I still had my feet above my head and just trying to get back on the bike when they 10 fireworks went off in front of my face to the point I didn’t know what was happening.  It stunned me big time, I didn’t expect it, especially with a side wind and the rain to boot.  I’m so glad I held it together and landed without an issue, but the heat that comes off the fireworks was something I hadn’t felt before.  That pretty much spelt the end to the FMX show for the night.  The wind kept picking up and the rain kept coming.  We wrapped it up and the crowd were going nuts for more and we intended to see if the rain would hold off so we could do our finale.  Unfortunately it kept belting down for the entire night.

So the racers were back facing their 3^rd week of mud racing.  At least this time it was sand and it held together better than a slippery mud track.  Lewis Woods was just in front of Aep Dadang for the overall championship with a mere 2 points separating them.  So Lewis’ plan was to at least be in front at the end of the race, even if they were back in the field.  Matt Hunt and Kim Ashkenazi missed the first 2 races, so were out of the championship hunt, but they weren’t there to play around.  Between the top 3 riders there was nothing in it.  The racing would be a race of attrition, and whoever could hold themselves up for the whole race would take home the spoils.  Lewis was the first to find himself going down, but not before taking Aep out in a corner which almost sealed Lewis’ chances of taking the overall.  Then as Ashcan was in first place he dropped it in a tough rut coming out of the start line part of the track which was enough for Matt Hunt to jump in front.  From there it was just a catching up race that couldn’t be done.  Matt Hunt simply had too much distance in front of everyone else to be concerned.  The old notion of kiwi’s being good racers in the crap conditions proved true again and Hunt took the win for the night.  Followed by Ashcan in second and Lewis in 3^rd place. 

Lewis’ 3^rd place was enough to secure the overall Powercross Championship with Aep Dadang in 2^nd place.  With the podium taken care of and the celebrations we had finally finished the 2009/10 Indonesian Powercross series.  With the poster boy Lewis Woods narrowly taking out the win, but it wasn’t without serious competition from the Indonesian racers.  From all reports they have improved 10-fold on last years supercross series.  A great result for Indonesia and that is the mission of the Powercross series to the point their racers can come to Australia and confidently battle with the Aussies on their home turf.

We all stripped down our bikes as quick as we possibly could.  We could all almost taste the meat pies and smell the fresh air of home.  As much as it has been a great trip for the 5 weeks of riding, nothing feels better than knowing you’re heading home after a long time away.  We headed back to the hotel, cracked a beer that we definitely deserved and hit the fart sack.  It would be home time for Lewis, Kim, Adam, Blake and Tas the next day and 2 days later for Sheeny, Clinton and I.