Riding motorbikes started at the age of 12 years old. Had just about thrashed my Raleigh Grifter to destruction and needed a bigger buzz so a Honda C50 was acquired (in hind sight think the buzz may have been a little mellow!). After thrashing this round the garden, I persuaded my parents to buy me a big wheel YZ100 MotoX bike and got a local farmer to give me use of a field.

Had much fun but learnt that bikes can bite back, managed to wrap myself and the bike around a fence, which resulted in a broken ankle. After recovering my appetite for two wheels had not diminished. I decided that at the age of 13 MotoX racing was the way forward and entered my first schoolboy MotoX race with my Mum and Dads support.

Completed five years of MotoX on various bikes including a YZ100, YZ125, KX125 to end on an arm wrenching KX250 in the AMCA and ACU men’s races, won some races at club level and had a go a national level but didn’t quite make the grade and got a bit disheartened and too injured!!

Riding road bikes started again at university (not counting my RD50 I had at 16!!) bought a RG125 gamma and took my test, proceeded to get hooked again and had various bikes including a TZR250, CBR400 and ZXR750……….not bad for a student, as you can see made good use of the student loans!!!!

Did my first track day in 1996 on a Thundercat at a Yamaha race school and absolutely loved it, but being a student couldn’t really afford regular track excursions. Once graduated from university saved some cash and finally bought a ZX6R, did three track days in 2002 at Brands Hatch, Castle Coombe and Silverstone and a trip to Spain through the Pyrenees to watch the Cataluna GP.

For 2003 (joined November 2002 - ed) hooked up with Go Star and decided I needed a newer bike, got a GSXR600K1 and took it round Brand Hatch Indy circuit and was doing respectable lap times and someone said (Chris P I think {Go Star member - ed }) that ‘you should have a go at racing’.

Shortly after Brands went on a trip through the Alps to the South of France unfortunately my Gixer got nicked in Nice. So, upon my return to blighty got the insurance company to cough up the cash relatively quickly, but about the only thing I could afford to insure was a C50…de ja vo!!!! So as if forced by the hand of destiny I decided to buy a race bike and go racing. In July 2003 purchased a very nice 2001 R6 with all suspension modifications done but a standard engine.