Black Flag

This was taken from an interview I did with Danny Webb for Motorcycle Racer magazine at the end of 2010:

“It’s very different in Spain compared to Britain. The fact that myself, Bradley and Scott have all come through the Spanish system, rather than from the British Championship, just shows that theirs is a system that works well. All the legends of the sport are still very much involved in the Spanish Championship, with all of them very keen to help out the youngsters coming through their national series on their way towards a career in Grand Prix racing.

“We just don’t have that here in the UK, which is a shame, because we’ve produced some fantastic riders in the past, but they seem to drift away from the sport once their racing days are over. Maybe it’s because, financially, the sport in the UK just isn’t strong enough to allow ex-racers to remain part of the paddock and earn a reasonable living.

“And maybe this is why the level of the British Championship, especially in the smaller classes, isn’t that high at the moment. Hopefully we’ll see an improvement in the future, or maybe we’re already starting to see some improvement. Taylor Mackenzie, Niall Mackenzie’s son, has started to show well in the Spanish Championship. This is partly because the lad can ride a bike, but the fact that he’s got the experience of his father to fall back on is also a big factor. Young riders do need mentoring at the start, but they need advice from someone with experience, and it’s this that seems to be missing in the British Championship at this time.

“The other big difference is that, in the Spanish Championship, the 125cc race is the main event. The crowd watch this race then go home when the Supersport bikes take to the track, whereas it’s the other way round in the UK.

“And in the UK where do you go when you graduate from the 125cc class? There’s no national 250cc championship, so your only option is Supersport or Superstock, which isn’t a good grounding if you want to make the switch to Grand Prix racing in the future. Just ask some of the riders who’ve tried it.”

This was taken from an interview I did with Danny Webb for Motorcycle Racer magazine at the end of 2010:

“It’s weird really, as a lot of the riders who ride for Alberto Puig do find him scary, but I’ve always had a good relationship with him and a lot of that is down to trust. I felt, and I still feel, like I could tell him anything. I still talk to him a lot now, and I still go to him for advice when I need it.

“We’re good friends and we get along well. He’s fantastic to work with, although he’s also very tough on his riders, especially with things like fitness training, where he pushes you all the time. As long as you’re focussed when you’re at the track then he’s not quite as scary as some people might think!

“I think Alberto’s philosophy of opening the throttle and not shutting is not such a bad approach, really. When I was struggling Alberto used to go out and watch me through the parts of the track I was having problems with, then he’d come back and simply say, ‘Danny, just ride it like an animal, open the throttle and, if you crash, then you crash, it’s not a problem for me’.

“He was really good like that. He was fantastic. If he told you to do something then that’s exactly what he wanted you to do, no excuses, and you just had to trust in his advice, and also his judgement. Alberto’s raced at this level and he was fast, so he knows what he’s talking about.

“Having said that, I once asked him what happened when he had his big crash at Le Mans in ‘95. Apparently he was convinced that it was possible to ride a 500GP bike flat stick through the first turn, so he tried it. Unfortunately, it didn’t work and it was a big crash! So maybe, when he tells me just to open the throttle and keep it open, I shouldn’t be so quick to follow his advice, but I always do!

“If he knows someone can do it then he’s pretty good at explaining things to you. One time in Jerez at the Spanish Championship at the last fast right, I was closing the throttle momentarily before getting back on the gas and he turned round to me and said ‘Danny, you can do it flat out. Get the line perfect and you can do it flat out.’ So, I went back out and tried it, and he was right. Since that day I always listen to what Alberto has to say and I put a lot of faith in his advice.”

In 2012 RHL Activities will bring the madness that is beach racing to the unsuspecting city of Swansea.

The first ever RHL Beach Race at Swansea will take place over the weekend of 2-4 March 2012 on the beach and beachfront at Swansea Bay.

More than 50,000 spectators are expected to descend on the event to see 1000 plus riders go head to head in the three-hour feature race on Sunday.

More info on the RHL Beach Race at Swansea can be found here.

Video edit by e-dub media.

The Weston Beach Race must be the maddest race on the British motorsports calendar. The main solo race involves racing for three hours on the Weston-super-Mare beach, which has been built up with jumps bigger than your average house.

The start of the race is equally impressive, with more than 1000 bikes hurtling along the kilometre start straight, with every rider aiming to get to the main part of the course before everyone else.

It’s (dis)organised chaos!

Apparently Creed (whoever the hell they are) have sold more records in the US than Jimi Hendrix and Ke$ha’s “Tik-Tok” sold more copies than any Beatles single.

I don’t know, the youth of today!

More info here

A recent post on Facebook about the Yamaha Pro-Am series of the 1980s had me reminiscing about going to races when I was an impressionable teenager.

This was in the days of the International races; races that weren’t part of a championship series but offered enough start and prize money to make them attractive to the big names of the time. 

It was also the era of the Transatlantic Trophy, where the best of the British and American riders would face off against each other, with three rounds at three different circuits over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.

In fact the first race I ever saw was part of the Transatlantic Trophy series. My Dad asked my two brothers and I where we wanted to go for a Bank Holiday Monday outing and then claimed to have misheard Alton Towers as Oulton Park.

Anyway, I digress.

I was prompted by a recent conversation on Twitter to think about how things have changed in racing since I started watching the sport that I am still involved in to this day.

In my youth while we had favourite riders, my mates and I were fans of the racing itself. Yes, we were pleased to see our favourite riders win, but if it was a good race and the winner rode well, then it didn’t really matter who the victor was on the day - it was still a good day.

Fast-forward 30 years and the situation is very different. Gone are the International races and the Transatlantic Trophy, as MotoGP reigns supreme.

In the past it seemed normal to have a favourite rider, but to respect the abilities of the other riders against which he raced. Nowadays there seems to be a growing group of “race fans” that support only one rider and are vehement in their criticism of others, even if these others happen to be world champions in their own right.

And it’s certain Valentino Rossi “fans” who appear to be the most vehement in their criticism. Last year it was Jorge Lorenzo who was the target, this season it’s Casey Stoner.

Is this because Rossi’s achievements and fame attract “race fans” in the same way that Manchester United attract “football fans”? That is, people who are more fans of success, rather than fans of the sport in which that success is achieved?

Is this why a minority of Rossi fans have been so vehement in their criticism of Stoner this season, because they want to see their rider continue enjoying the success that attracted them to him in the first place? Do they feel let down in some way, venting their frustration on Stoner because he is the one who has denied Rossi his success this time around?

Valentino Rossi has done more to popularise the sport of motorcycle racing than any other rider on the current MotoGP grid. That is an undeniable fact. But at some point in the not too distant future Rossi will retire from the sport to do something else. Maybe he’ll go rallying, maybe he’ll dabble in Formula 1, or maybe he’ll bugger off to Ibiza and open a beach bar.

I just wonder what some of Rossi’s more blinkered “fans” will do then. Will they continue to follow and support motorcycle racing, or will they switch their allegiance to a successful sportsman in another field, with their vehemence redirected at his rivals?

I hope it’s the former, but I have my doubts.