Unfortunately Cecil has had an EXTREMELY bad start to the 2010 season (except for the results on the real street bike the week I was there and the week after, when Ryan Schnitz ran a world record 7.81 run), as BOTH his Pro Street bikes have suffered MAJOR gear shift problems, that have prevented them getting down the track at all in most instances.
At first he thought it was the pneumatic shifters that were at fault but he's now discovered that the real cause of the problem is that the gearbox manufacturer has put an undercut on the 1st gears which prevented the gears from disengaging on the shift.
Its now going to be another 5 weeks before these boxes are replaced, so his chances of winning any championships this year are virtually zero.
If that wasn't bad enough, Ryan Schnitz who was commissioned to ride his Real Street bike, crashed on a new BMW motorcycle and broke his shoulder, so he's no longer available to ride Cecil's bike.
Talk about "shit happens"!!!!!
All we can now hope for is that the gear problems will be solved this time round and that Cecil will be able to finish the 2nd half of the year on a high with a few record runs to prove it was only the gear problems that stopped him achieving his goal.
I'd also like to send best wishes to Ryan Schnitz on a speedy recovery.