The Dropkicks - 2007 - Episode 24

The Dropkicks look back at the final and deciding game of the 2007 Tri-Nations series; the All Black selections for the upcoming Rugby World Cup; follow Scott Dixon's ongoing winning ways in Indy Car racing; corruption in the NBA refereeing circles; a moments silence for Jarrod Cunningham; and Dick and Athletes of the Week.

Download Episode 2007/24.

The Dropkicks - 2007 - Episode 09

Pipping the post just hours before the kick-off of this week's Super 14 matches, the Dropkicks share their thoughtful and insightful analysis on not only the Super 14, but the Six Nations, Formula One, the Cricket World Cup, US College Basketball, and pick their athlete and dick of the week...

Download Episode 2007/09.

The Dropkicks - 2007 - Episode 07

The Dropkicks discuss week 6 of the Super 14, some Six Nations (record try-scoring!), Roger Federer's defeat to a 14 year old Russian, Cricket World Cup (hat-tricks galore!), Tiger Wood's death, and Michael Schumacher's surprise return to Formula 1.


Download Episode 2007/07.

The Dropkicks - Episode 37, Christmas Special

Those of you on the iTunes or RSS feed have probably heard this already, but we all forgot to upload it to the blog site, so, belatedly, here it is, the Christmas special, direct from Noizy's backyard, and featuring a selection of 'amusing' out-takes and anecdotes that didn't quite make the cut the first time around...

Download Episode 37.



And, rest assured, the Dropkicks will be returning in the very near future: our first cast is scheduled for recording next week.

Kiwis clean up at Indonesian A1 Grand Prix

Congratulations to Jonny Reid and the NZ A1 Grand Prix team who cleaned up both the Sprint and Feature races at the Indonesian leg of the global motorsports competition. Reid managed to win the race despite the efforts of German rival Hülkenberg and his judicious use of the PowerBoost button...

Relishing the wet conditions, Hülkenberg put Reid under heavy pressure for the lead over the first lap and drew level with the New Zealander down the pit straight at the end of the lap using the PowerBoost button. Reid however kept his line and jinked to the right down the straight into turn three to defend his lead from the German.

We kid you not: a PowerBoost button. It would appear the A1GP organisers may have been playing too much PlayStation, but, whatever the case, it certainly introduces a new element to what some might describe as the monotony of top-level GP racing. From the A1GP FAQ that describes the PowerBoost...

By changing the engine's parameters, the system can give the driver an additional 30bhp over a limited time during each race. Taking the A1GP car to its maximum 550bhp, the PowerBoost will encourage overtaking and even more exciting racing. Driver activated by a button mounted on the steering wheel, the PowerBoost function will only work if the button is pressed when the throttle is above 80 per cent and the car speed is above 60kph.

Awesome. And kinda puts cricket's PowerPlay into perspective, doesn't it? A real cricket power play would entail an additional 30km/h of speed on a Shane Bond delivery. We can but dream...

Anyway, this latest result augurs well for local motor-sport fans, as the next leg sees the debut of Taupo as a venue for the A1GP, with the weekend of the 20th/21st of January being the qualifying and race days.

You're a pack of arseholes

Another classic blast-from-the-past from YouTube...

The 1992 Bathurst race ended in controversy when a downpour turned the racing surface into a slippery slide, causing a raft of crashes, including that of the lead car at the time, a Nissan Skyline driven by Jim Richards and Mark Skaife. The race was called off early, and victory given to Richards and Skaife, much to the displeasure of the Aussie crowd, who reserve their support almost exclusively for Holden or Ford cars.

Jim Richards, being a straight-talking kiwi bloke, responded to the crowd's jeers with this infamous outburst...

You're a bunch of arseholes!

Apparently this incident spurred on the creation of separate races for the V8 Supercars (V8 Ford and Holdens), and 2ltr Supertourer (everything else), the details of which can be seen over at Wikipedia. (The passion and feeling fans of motorsport have for these topics is perhaps best demonstrated by the fact that something as relatively simple as the history of a race can be flagged as 'neutrality disputed' in the online encyclopedia).

A Wheel goes a-wandering

A wheel rolling free on the race-track as cars speed by at high speed.

Surely a recipe for disaster ... or is it?