Chris Macclugage of Macc Racing recently competed in the 2010 Kings Cup World Grand Prix in Thailand. Here is the Post Race report as seen thru the eyes of Chris himself regarding some of the things Chris and his team had to endure and adapt to.

“Macc Racing departed on Nov 24th early from the USA with intentions of working on our skis as soon as we arrived, after 30hrs of traveling with plane flights that took us from Vegas then Japan and on to Thailand we arrived in Bangkok. Chuta our mechanic was at the airport waiting for us then took us to our hotel but not before having a trendy coffee. We arrived at the hotel at 1am and then slept till 8am. We then got up and went to get a good work out in at the gym which had a modern 80’s style feel to it. It still had the machine where you strap you put around your waist and its meant to shake the fat off of you. Anyways I found a good tread mill and was able to get my sweat on. When I fly for so long I really like to get a good sweat going to kind of clean all the trash out from sitting on the plane. After we worked out we went to the breakfast buffet where we encountered an India style spread; now it’s not such a bad thing but this hotel seemed to cater to people from India so all of the food was curry or something like it. Rachel being from England felt right at home…LOL

When we were done eating breakfast we had arranged to meet Chuta at 12pm. He arrived on time and took us DCR (Duke/Chuta/Racing) Duke is the Thai Runabout 1200 Superstock Champion. When we spoke to Chuta about where our skis were he kept saying I will ask Duke, We had arrived before our skis as we found out and they were late & stuck in customs. We finally received them on a Friday night at 11:30pm. The next day when we arrived at the shop the skis were already on stands and ready to be worked on. I immediately started pulling my engine out of my Bullett/Macc Racing Ski. Once the engine was ready to come out Chuta lifted the engine out and handed it to me. Not many people knew what had happened to me next…The way I held the engine it caused a puncture wound in my arm. We immediately went to the hospital. It was very interesting experience as the hospital was the cleanest & nicest hospitals I’ve ever been to. They got me stitched up for $150.00USD…It was a lot better service than or crappy system here in the US. Once they were finished I was informed the hospital had a Japanese restaurant which happens to be my favorite food, we enjoyed a GREAT meal! On the way out we were asked if we wanted coffee, I then asked what kind. It was another trendy coffee so I said yes of course!

Rusty Gewecke of Bullett Racing arrived on Monday morning after a 40+hr trip due to delays etc and went right to work. He rebuilt the engine and re-installed it as it was then ready for testing. The ski ran great and we were pretty pleased with the initial tuning of it before race day but we knew there would need to be some tweaking for race day set up”

It was time for the opening ceremonies of The 2010 Kings Cup and the opening ceremonies were something to remember for a long time. When they begin to bring out the Kings Cups and display them they also have traditional Thai dancing demonstrations as well as Muay Thai demos too. The Mayor opened up the ceremony making a speech and welcomed all of the racers. They also provided buffets that were 100ft long each.

Macc Racing had sent over a Turbo FZR & The Bullett/Macc Racing Ski with every intention of racing in the Pro R/A Open Class & the Pro Ski Open class, Chris’s friend Duke from K45/DCR had just started racing for Yamaha and Chuta had just finished building Duke’s FZR that was exactly like The Macc Racing Turbo FZR, when the MoTeC rep from Thailand was out testing it he hit a buoy at wide open throttle at 90mph. The ski flew 15 foot high and lifted the nose like a drag boat. When he was in the air he was still looking down at his laptop with one hand on the throttle. When he landed the back of the FZR hooked the water and he went flying. The transom and boarding platform were ripped off the ski. FZR sunk immediately. He drove himself to the hospital. He was ok but very sore the whole week and did not make it to the race site which was 5 hrs north of Bangkok. At this point Duke had no ski to ride. Chris offered him his runabout. He accepted & they spent all of Thursday and Friday before the race tuning it. It ran great as he was able to finish 3rd overall on it, Stock hull and all.

Race day was finally here and Chris was ready for an epic battle ahead of him with a great running Ski under him prepared by Rusty Gewecke and now that he could concentrate on Pro Ski Open 100% he was hungrier than ever. Chris had a few demons he needed to put away and conquer from past races and he was determined to accomplish what he came to the Kings Cup for! In the 1st Moto it didn’t take him long to show why he was the fastest rider on the track in Pro Ski Open and took the lead early which resulted in a Moto 1 win for Chris and Macc Racing. Moto 2 was a bit different they made a slight change in the race day set up and that would prove not to be the best thing to do as Chris would see himself finish in 2nd place after a hard fought battle, It was a good 1st day of racing and Chris and the team looked forward to the final day of racing.

Sunday morning came quick and Chris was ready to go. Chris looked very focused and determined as he entered the final day of racing as Chris would break routine and decided to go out to run the track to warm up a bit, but breaking the routine could have been a unforeseen problem as Chris would tweak his back just a bit but knew he could channel the pain and get thru it with a little massage and focusing. Rusty would reverse the changes that were made in moto 2 as they elected to go with what they knew was a great set-up. But with the track being set-up it for Hydrospace skis, the power and precise handling of The Bullet/Macc Racing Monster Energy Ski they seemed to be no match for Chris and his power. He would get the lead and keep pushing thru-out.

Moto 4 would prove once again that Chris and his Bullett/Macc ski would be THE fastest ski out there on the track with THE fastest and BEST rider.

Chris would go on to finish with a 1-2-1-1 finish for a 1st place overall Kings Cup Victory for Macc Racing and The United States! It was a proud moment for Chris and The Macc Racing Team as well as The U.S.A. when he was able to hoist the big American Flag high in the air while he made his parade lap in front of the crowds with one of the largest smiles anyone has ever see on his face. Chris raced through mental and physical pains to overcome adversity and showed why he is one of the best ski racers in the world!

Once the races were over there wasn’t much time for Chris and his team to celebrate as the entire Kings cup winners had to leave the race site early and would receive a police escort back to the hotel where they had 30 minutes to shower and then be briefed on how to accept the trophy from the princess. They told them they were not to look at the princess directly and they had to accept the trophy in a certain way without using the hands. Chris had this to say about the way of receiving the trophy, “Being from America where we do not have a Monarchy I really didn't think it was a big deal. To me she was just another human. I would have rather accepted it from the 5 year old girl going through the trash at the race site trying to find food to survive.......” with that being stated here is what he meant. You see Chris is very caring about children and he and his wife Rachel witnessed a mother and a daughter digging thru some trash at the race site and witnessed the little girl pick out some food out of the trash when her mother stopped her from eating it. In Thailand it is not a wealthy country and they are poverty stricken in most places, the little girl and mother was very dirty and the little girl was without socks too. When Chris saw this it made him very sad to see this and decided to try and help anyway he could, so he went to them with Rachel and bought the little girl some food and socks etc and also gave them money for things later on. They were very thankful and Chris knew that in his mind he did the right thing and had the thought of doing his part to help another human and child survive.

With the ceremonies coming to a close it was time for a after party and celebration as the party was poolside and when its poolside with Beer + water that means someone’s swimming..Actually anyone around the pool got thrown in! It was great time with great champions and friends!!

Chris would like to thank the following:

All the people from Thailand, Duke, Chuta, DiDi, his wife Rachel, Macc Racing, Rusty Gewecke, Motec, Quakysense, Monster Energy, Alpina Watches, Riva Racing, Liquid Militia, R&D, Hot Products, TUF Stands, Bullett Racing, Oakley, HT Moto & Hutchhill photography for all the great photos.

Macc Racing will be looking forward to repeating the championship in 2011!!!