History -

Mick:
I started racing moto-X as a school boy, and have raced on and off ever since, only stopping for financial or injury reasons.
I spent 12 years riding moto-X sidecars as a passenger and having broken a large selection of my bones from the neck down, including three in my back, I decided to retire while I could still walk! The lure of racing proved too strong, and after a bunch of track days, I was seriously considering starting racing again.

Finding NG Roadracing at the 2004 Beaulieu bike show was the deciding factor, a very friendly bunch of people!! I asked my brother Tony if he would help on the mechanics side of things, and attend the races with me, as I wouldn’t be able to do it on my own and he agreed! I ran all this past “She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed”, got the green light and it was all systems go.

My original thought was; I would race a Suzuki SV650 in the mini-twin class. To do this I would sell my CCM super moto & Honda Fireblade to finance the purchase of the SV650 and race prepare it. I managed to sell the CCM but couldn’t shift the Blade. So, change of plan, I decided to race the Blade in the street-stock class instead.

Initially I thought that I would race the Blade as it is, no modifications, use a hired van and that would be it, cheap racing. That was the plan…..but the frustration after my first race meeting at Donnington Park and then talking to a mate of mine (who also races), soon there was talk of sorting the suspension out, changing the gearing, getting the bike dyno’d. So much for no modifications, here began the extra spend! Not so cheap anymore…

I have done all of the above during 2006, in the closed season I purchased a slipper clutch, second hand van and a caravan , (oh and a website, donated by a friend)!
I now have a new bike, and have sold the old one to a trackday rider, (good luck Simon) The new bike has some serious modifications. Let’s see how the 2008 race meetings turn out.

Tony:
I’ve done a bit of racing myself, racing Minis (cars) in my youth but it’s only track days for me now and supporting Mick, which is far cheaper and less risky!
I get some satisfaction from the preparation of the bike, seeing Mick out on the track, and knowing that I made sure the bike was put together properly, which if Mick did it, it is doubtful it would finish t he practice session.
The up-side to the modification we have made to Mick’s bike are, anything that proves successful, I have done to my bike also, as I have the same model, we bought them together in 2001.

Emilie:
When I met Mick (in 1996), he was racing sidecar-X as a passenger. I never even new there was such a thing and thought is sounded like a totally crazy idea (and I was right). So I decided to have a go myself and was a passenger for a couple of races, which was fun and made me understand what it feels like to be a shirt in a washing machine! The down side to moto-X is that you get dirt in places you didn’t think it could reach and the over used porta-loos (it’s a girlie thing)!
I am glad that Mick gave up moto-X as he was getting hurt more often and taking longer to recover but his racing bug was still there. So when he decided to start road racing I thought it was a great idea (far less dirt and proper toilets).
We’ve had good fun in 2006 and have met some really nice people.

My aim was:
1. Enjoy it! So much fun had in 2006, we are still doing it
2. Don’t crash (3 X Crash’s in 2007)
3. Try not to finish last Never last but I have been close in 2006/7
4. Do my best to avoid being lapped Not been lapped yet!