BENNETTS SUZUKI BRITISH SUPERBIKES
Bruce has nagged me to write a column for the mag ever since we spent five days in Indonesia eating rice, more rice, and yes, you guessed it, a bit of dog too. So what better time to start a column than when laid up with a broken foot and a generous helping of whiplash. Naturally, I guess this piece should start with the first lap of the race that landed me here. British Superbike racing is pretty tough at the minute; there’s 20 riders who are all more than capable of finishing on the podium and the first lap is often the most intense lap of the race as it can make or break your end result.
First laps are pretty similar to Monday morning rush hour traffic, except you’re doing 180mph and you’re on fire, and everyone else is on fire, and the floor is on fire cause you’re riding through hell on earth. On such an occasion, I got caught up in a gaggle of riders going into the Maggots-Becketts bottleneck at Silverstone and I was catapulted over the handlebars at about 90mph. It’s been a while since I’ve had a ‘proper’ crash and, like childbirth (so I’m told), you forget just how much it hurts until the next time you’ve got your legs in the air and you’re staring down at terra firma.