Race Career

Overview.   At 18 years old, and after some silly stunts on the streets of Northamptonshire, I was introduced to Bill Langley and Steve Trasler, two local racers prepared to give up some room in their van for me and a bike. I’d already tried the Vic Camp Ducati School on Brands Hatch' Indy Circuit. The bikes were awful and the tuition basic, but I was hooked. My second trip to ‘school’ ended in Maida Vale, north London, when I rammed my road bike into the side of an Algerian Embassy car at a junction and broke my thumb.

(1975)  But, at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire, on a recently purchased Crooks Suzuki, (a hybrid of the T500 twin cylinder production bike), and wearing very second-hand black leathers and long hair billowing behind my newly painted AGV helmet, my first race season began. (First race picture T500 Crooks Suzuki - Mansfield Corner at Cadwell Park - 1975).

(1976)  I was just a working lad, an apprentice mechanic for Wollaston Motors, famous for BMW now but back then it was British Leyland no less, and funds were tight. So a new road bike, (I smile when I write - 750cc Norton Commando Interstate), the surf of Cornwall and a girl called Janice seemed higher priorities than racing and I missed an entire race season. It was still a great year though, (and hot)!

(1977)  I purchased my first proper race bike, an old TZ350 Yamaha, from Derek Huxley, (another racer). It was the beginning of a long love affair with Yamaha machinery and led to my first encounter with a man who would turn out to be one of my best friends, Arnold Fletcher of Len Manchester Motorcycles in Melton Mowbray. It was also the year that Welshman Jeff Webber gave me a little sponsorship, my first and, again, we are still firm friends to this day.

(1978)  I’d worked hard over the winter and me and another friend, Paul Irwin, had set up Midland Automatic Transmissions in Kettering, (we fixed.... automatic transmissions). I'd also splashed out on a brand new TZ350 Yamaha and went on to win just about everything there was to win at club level, surprising myself and a few established racers on the way. At the end of ‘78 Arnold decided to give me a go on his awesome TZ750 Yamaha and, despite terrible winter conditions at Croft, I finished 3rd in the Plum Pudding races.

(1979)  Len Manchester Motorcycles was my new team, and winning the premier British Championship at my first attempt their reward. I raced for Britain in the Transatlantic Trophy for the first time too, where I was given race number 16 and decided to keep it, wherever I could, throughout my career. Team captain Barry Sheene’s first words to me? “Never fxxxing heard of ya”. Welcome to the big time then !!               I received my first ‘start’ money, £25, which rose to nearly £3000, (per event), before being phased out for all over the next 4 years. This year was the first I'd traveled  on a plane, (Alitalia), enroute to my first race abroad, (the AGV Nations Cup, Imola, Italy). I also won a Grovewood Award, much coveted by up-and-coming young racers. (Pictured in 2007 is Arnold Fletcher with my original TZ750 Len Manchester Yamaha).

(1980)  I sold my share of Midland Automatic Transmissions to Paul and became a full time racer. Still riding the same TZ750 Yamaha my biggest win of the year was on my debut at the International North West 200 on the roads of Northern Ireland, setting a new lap record at 125.01mph in the feature race and beating one of the sports nice guys, John Newbold, (#24), by a tyre width...  www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/nw200/clips/p007rbst  
John was killed in 1981 at the bend I'd overtaken him the previous year, (Juniper), to take the win.   

(1981)  With SDC Builders my new personal sponsors and Suzuki providing a basic RG500 Mk6 to go with out-going SDC rider Peter Melnik’s old TZ350 Yamaha, the Grand Prix series beckoned. Despite our tiny 'privateer' team the season high was second place in the 350cc British Grand Prix, (behind the factory Kawasaki of world champion Anton Mang but in front of his team mate Jean Francois Balde). All in front of 120,000 fans at Silverstone. We had a drink or two that night!  I went on to finish 6th in the FIM 350cc World Championship.

(1982)  Suzuki supplied Randy Mamola’s one year old factory RG500s, and we dedicated much time, (and pain), to making them work, winning first time out in the UK. The biggest crash of my life, (over 170mph), came at the Austrian Grand Prix on the fearsome Salzburgring. I only broke a wrist, but it felt like much more! After missing a few races, 4 time world champ Kork Ballington, now on the factory Kawasaki 500, beat me to my remaining goal of the year, the Shellsport 500 title in Britain. (Pictured is team manager Rex White on signing my contract at Suzuki GB headquarters in Beddington Lane, Croyden).

(1983)  Suzuki kept faith, providing two lovely RG500 Mk8 ‘customer’ bikes with support for British races and a few Grand Prix, and I ran the team out of my home in Wollaston, Northants. This was the year I learnt about politics in sport. Sheene was now my team mate, and you didn’t mess with the master! Despite the standard machinery I finished 5^th in the French GP at Le Mans and won the premier championship in Britain, the MCN Masters, from Wayne Gardner.

(1984)  With machine development at a stand-still at Suzuki I purchased, at huge cost, a new state-of-the-art RS500 Honda triple. There were only two in Britain and expectations were fantastically high. I won first time out, but at the time it was only me, (perhaps), that knew how hard I’d had to ride the thing to get that first win! I won more races in Britain, and had a couple of good GP rides, but that bike burned cash faster than fuel and I was broke by close of business that year.

(1985)  Bike shop owners and long-time friends Leonard Tompkins and Clive Simmons provided an FZ750 Yamaha for me to use in the Motor Cycle News Superstock Championship. Unbelievably, (today), this was the top championship in Britain at the time and all the big names were in it to win it! I now had no Grand Prix ride, so for my sponsor's pleasure at the British Grand Prix I borrowed a stock production bike for a support race at Silverstone. To the surprise of everyone I won, in very wet conditions! But it was only a one off ride and I never tried racing a standard road bike again.

(1986)  Suzuki had been the Superstock bike to beat the previous year so I joined in with my own new GSXR750. Once again the MCN Superstock class propped up racing in Britain. It was tough, fast and furious racing, but nothing like Grand Prix. The standard of riding was, ahem, lacking a bit of class too. Good to watch though !  I finished 3^rd again but was enjoying the experience.

(1987)  I was employed alongside the naturally talented Trevor Nation to race Loctite Yamahas in the Superstocks. I finally won the series at the penultimate round at Cadwell Park after breaking my shoulder in a turn one melee and then riding Nation’s bike in the race restart, (my bike was destroyed). It was no easy task as his machine was set up completely different to mine, but I won the race and the championship. Don’t ask, I still don’t know how!

(1988)  Loctite Yamaha ran Bimota machinery for British and selected World Superbike rounds but, like most things Italian back then, the bikes were a little temperamental. I was also defending my Superstock title. It was a difficult year, the low point being a live BBC TV race at Cadwell Park where aspiring Kenny Irons hit the rear of my stuttering Bimota as I led the warm-up lap onto the back-straight, and fell to his death.

(1989)  Britain was now in a deep recession and teams all over the world were disbanding, I was 32 years old, my first daughter was due and, so, the writing was on the wall. It was time to look at my other work more seriously....
Hello and welcome to a new career in television!

But that wasn't quite the end of my track career, I also had a brief flirtation with 'open-wheel' car racing that lasted just a few months in 1989 and I was very fortunate to 'race' against David Coulthard and Gil de Ferran et al during their formative years in Formula Ford. I have no comment to make about my own abilities, save as to say that my motorcycle skills were never likely to be surpassed by my car control. But it did give me an early respect for what top race car drivers can do, that respect remains firmly in place today.