Were any of you lot up at the Barry Sheene festival at Scarborough? I went and had a right laugh there riding some old bikes, but I also managed to get myself into a bit of trouble with Phil Read, too. He had a stall outside his caravan, selling his tat, so I grabbed a big air-blower and set it on him, blowing his stand over! He was well pleased, well, actually he really wasn’t happy at all! Me and Phil’s paths crossed a bit in racing, my first few years were during his last, though we had some good battles. It must have been in 1976/77, but he was definitely in his twilight years, so was old and beatable as he had an eye on retiring.
We had fun though, and let’s face it the bloke was bloody good to be an eight times world champion. Like many, he probably went on a little too long, though he had some good sponsorship from Life helmets which, incidentally, is also where Barry Simmons made his name. Anyone got any idea what happened to Life helmets? Gawd knows where they disappeared to, but then they were chucking lots of cash at Phil and it was an impressive outfit. He did make a bit of a comeback, the same as Mike Hailwood, by doing the TT again. I think he may have won the F1 race on a Honda, or something – my history knowledge can be a bit sketchy now and then. What is this thing Google you speak of!