WORDS: Boris Mihailovic
ANOTHER CONVERSATION
WITH SLOAN FROST
After the Hidden Valley ASBK round, NZSBK champ
Sloan Frost opened up some more with Boris...
so enjoyed my chat with Sloan Frost
before the Darwin round of the 2018
ASBK championship, I called him again
right after the weekend. Interestingly,
he wasn’t crying… or maybe like Dovizioso,
he’s just run out of tears.
Sloan’s weekend was not a glorious
triumph. Champagne was not sprayed,
backs were not slapped, and expensive
take-out was not ordered. Sloan’s weekend
was a hectic and difficult exercise in
frustration. He didn’t say that, but that
conclusion is not hard to arrive at.
What’s amazing, and indeed almost
uplifting, is Sloan’s irrepressible
determination not to give in. He’s like Frodo
climbing up that mountain to destroy the
ring. He also (Sloan, not Frodo) has every
intention of continuing to contest ASBK
rounds, despite the huge cost in money,
time, and logistics. He’s a motorcycle racer.
No doubt about it. And he’s a Kiwi. It’s a
special combination.
BORIS: So the Darwin round went well. For
most of the other blokes racing, I mean.
Still, you didn’t get eaten by a crocodile,
huh? Maybe you should have been.
SLOAN: Darwin is a crazy place, mate. I
wouldn’t have been surprised to see a
croc at the track. We did see a big-arse
snake on the way to the track, and on the
Sunday night it was Territory Day where
Darwin loses its mind! It’s the one day a
year you’re allowed to buy fireworks, the
76 KIWI RIDER
sales are super restricted, the use is super
restricted, but then it’s like “OK lets fuck
shit up!” We have Guy Fawkes night with
sparklers and fizzlers in NZ, but these ones
are full commercial grade, ear-splitting
explosives going off in the streets, beaches,
restaurants, you name it. The field across
from the hotel was literally on fire! It was
absolute madness. Awesome. The sign on
the door of the backpackers summed it up
nicely saying no fireworks inside this year.
BORIS: I’m not even going to ask what
you’re doing inside a backpacker hostel.
You’re meant to be racing motorcycles
which is a glamourous, sexy sport enjoyed
by rich playboys and hot supermodels.
Bloody backpacker hostels… mate, I think I
have isolated your problem right there.
SLOAN: Well, yeah, we did some racing.
You know things are pretty rough when
you start fist pumping and high five-ing
everyone because you finish the session.
There is a lesson in all this. You just need to
lower your expectations to be happy!
BORIS: Well that explains my endless
bubbling joy. So yes, the racing. Race One.
You came 14th. Gl