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Startline Ep 33 - Gary Partridge: Just mega · Startline - Road Racing podcast

• 0:00
  Hello and welcome to Startline, brought to you by the Manx Motorcycle Club.
• 0:13
  I'm Beth Espey and this podcast delves into the world of road racing on the Isle of Man.
• 0:19
  What does it take to take on the mountain course from the racers and the teams to the
• 0:23
  mechanics and sponsors?
• 0:25
  It's all here on Startline.
• 0:30
  Hello and welcome to another episode of Startline.
• 0:33
  Thank you so much for listening.
• 0:34
  We're going to be hearing shortly from the man behind Happy Dog Image Solutions.
• 0:38
  We heard about the hound behind the business in the last episode.
• 0:42
  Today though, it's all about Gary Partridge, so do stay tuned for that one.
• 0:46
  But first, we've been keeping up with some of the newcomers who are taking on the Manx
• 0:50
  Grand Prix this year.
• 0:52
  And you might remember that the first newcomer's weekend was in February.
• 0:56
  Well, because the weather really decided not to play ball, one of those newcomers was not
• 1:00
  able to get here.
• 1:02
  But a month later, he has made it over and I caught up with him quickly while he was
• 1:07
  here.
• 1:08
  So I'm Thomas Alderfer, 28 years old, from Austria and a newcomer at the Manx Grand Prix.
• 1:13
  And honestly, great to see you over here.
• 1:15
  We heard from you a couple of weeks ago, obviously you had a bit of a nightmare for the first
• 1:18
  newcomer's weekend.
• 1:19
  Yeah, there was a big snowstorm in Austria and all the flights got cancelled and I didn't
• 1:24
  catch another flight to come up.
• 1:26
  And all the people from the organisation, Mielke, Liz, Lee, all of them were pretty
• 1:31
  kind to me and organised a second newcomer's weekend 1.2.
• 1:36
  And yeah, I did my laps now and I'm really, really happy that all of them were so kind
• 1:41
  to me.
• 1:42
  And this is the Monday.
• 1:43
  I know you're heading home a little bit later, so you've been here since Friday.
• 1:46
  Talk us through what you've been doing this weekend.
• 1:48
  So on Friday, the first thing after landing was doing a lap, of course, on my own.
• 1:53
  And then on Saturday in the morning, I met with Mielke, did a lap with Mielke.
• 2:01
  After that, I did two laps with David McDal-Metzen.
• 2:06
  And yesterday with Darren Sluice and Jim Hunter.
• 2:08
  So a lot of good information and I tried to process them by doing laps on my own as well.
• 2:17
  And yeah, it was really useful.
• 2:19
  And that's the thing.
• 2:20
  I mean, there's so much information to take in and I guess it's really good to speak to
• 2:23
  different people.
• 2:24
  They'll all pick up on different things.
• 2:26
  Yes.
• 2:27
  And I'd always try to pick the things from each person which I can recognise the best.
• 2:32
  And every instructor has a little bit of a different angle on a corner or on some things.
• 2:39
  And I always try to pick them out which works the best for me.
• 2:43
  One of the laps took about three hours?
• 2:44
  Yeah, with Mielke.
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  So that was crazy.
• 2:48
  But we had to talk a lot about all the general things and like the theory of the race.
• 2:54
  And we stood at some corners and watched the corner itself.
• 2:58
  And we were talking about what's outside of the racing course.
• 3:02
  So that took a little bit longer.
• 3:03
  Was there any lying down on the road and having a look?
• 3:06
  No lying down, but getting on the knees and having a look.
• 3:11
  What many people don't see is how the track goes up, down and the camber of the road and
• 3:16
  the bankings.
• 3:18
  And that's very important here because you can get caught, catched up from them really
• 3:21
  quickly.
• 3:23
  And we don't have that at the European road races.
• 3:26
  And that's very good to know them.
• 3:28
  And do you know what?
• 3:29
  I mean, everything that goes into getting you over here, all the races that you have
• 3:32
  to go to, to get your signatures and whatever, there's so much.
• 3:36
  And yeah, you must just be exhausted.
• 3:38
  Yeah.
• 3:39
  Right now, I'm really looking forward to go racing now.
• 3:42
  I'm happy to do it.
• 3:44
  It takes a lot of time.
• 3:45
  It took a lot of money, of course, because flight cancellation, you will not get any
• 3:50
  money back.
• 3:51
  But no, I'm really looking forward to it.
• 3:54
  And I'm short on holidays.
• 3:56
  So every day has to be counted.
• 4:00
  And yeah, but I'm really looking forward to learn all the things.
• 4:03
  And now it's like another kickoff point to set off and start the season.
• 4:09
  And you know what I love?
• 4:10
  You said when you came over, obviously, you've been to the Ferry Bridge, you made a wish
• 4:12
  when you were over here last year.
• 4:14
  That's come true.
• 4:15
  Obviously, you've got your team as well.
• 4:17
  It kind of feels, I guess, like it's all fitting into place.
• 4:19
  Yeah, as it stands now, it's working out.
• 4:22
  Everything is working out perfect.
• 4:24
  Like I want to start this week, I want to test my bikes for the European road races
• 4:28
  and then I will have a test with the Roadhouse Macau team with Brian McCormack.
• 4:34
  And then I'm looking forward to the next newcomers meeting in July.
• 4:37
  And how much contact have you got with Brian at the moment?
• 4:40
  I'm texting him all the time, asking him all the questions.
• 4:45
  And he's like very responsive and he helps me out a lot.
• 4:48
  And he was also in the organization of my newcomers weekend this time.
• 4:56
  And yeah, he's helping me a lot.
• 4:58
  And what do you do with all that information?
• 4:59
  Do you sort of personally take loads of notes?
• 5:01
  Do you just kind of just remember it?
• 5:03
  How are you learning?
• 5:05
  So when I did the laps with all the instructors, I was only listening.
• 5:09
  And after that, I was going home in my apartment and watching onboard videos and putting some
• 5:15
  notes on a sheet of paper, which were, in my eyes, important.
• 5:20
  And I just try to put them together with the onboard so I can have them at home and picture
• 5:27
  it at home.
• 5:28
  And you're a bit of a fan of the PlayStation game, too?
• 5:30
  Yes, for sure.
• 5:32
  But right now, the preparation of the bikes and going to the gym is more important than
• 5:37
  the PlayStation game.
• 5:39
  But yeah, I do it also to find the concentration for a little bit of a time for two or three
• 5:46
  or four laps, because it's not very common to have such long races.
• 5:51
  And if I have a day off or I'm sick or something like that, I always play on the PlayStation.
• 5:56
  So just finally then, the next few weeks and months, what are they looking like for you?
• 6:02
  So as I said, I will go testing this week in Hungary with my own bikes.
• 6:06
  Then in April, there will be my home race, the hill climb race in Landshark.
• 6:11
  And then there will be two road races in Czech Republic in May.
• 6:16
  And then let's see what happens until the next newcomers' meeting.
• 6:21
  And of course, the season highlight is the Men's Grand Prix, and I try to work as hard
• 6:27
  as possible to get there.
• 6:28
  And remind us where people can follow you on social media.
• 6:30
  Perfect would be Instagram, Uccio underscore 23, or Facebook, Thomas Altendorfer.
• 6:37
  Safe trip home and good luck trying to get some sleep on the flight, eh?
• 6:40
  Thank you.
• 6:41
  Thomas Uccio Altendorfer.
• 6:43
  So good to see him over here getting those all-important laps in, and looking forward
• 6:47
  to seeing him back when he's here for the next newcomers' weekend later this year.
• 6:52
  You're listening to Startline, brought to you by the Manx Motorcycle Club.
• 7:01
  So in the last episode, we talked a little bit about Happy Dog Image Solutions and the
• 7:05
  real-life dog that was the inspiration behind that business name.
• 7:09
  But what you might not know is that the man behind that company, which is based here in
• 7:13
  Derby on the Isle of Man, Gary Partridge, has got an incredible history when it comes
• 7:18
  to three-wheel racing.
• 7:19
  And while I was up there visiting the business in Derby, he gave me an insight into this.
• 7:24
  And it's the literal highs and lows of the sport, which he clearly still loves very much
• 7:30
  indeed.
• 7:31
  I was working as National Accounts Manager for a London-based company, and a friend of
• 7:35
  mine was racing solos in the British Championships, what is now British Superbikes.
• 7:39
  I think it was the HEAT series at the time.
• 7:42
  So he was racing the 600 there, and I bobbed up to Alton Park, my best friend from school,
• 7:48
  and he's there working out this old van, and obviously on a shoestring, and I thought,
• 7:54
  we must be out sponsoring him a couple of tyres.
• 7:56
  So I had a word with my boss, and so I went up there and said, this is a set of tyres
• 8:00
  and whatever else.
• 8:02
  And then being in Cheshire, it started raining, and it's hoofing it down.
• 8:07
  In the back of my car, for returns and whatnot, I had a big roll of bin bags, black bin bags.
• 8:12
  So all these people are stood on the bank, and it's absolutely slotting it down.
• 8:16
  So I ran back to the car, got these bin bags, started making holes in them, and I'm passing
• 8:20
  them around to the crowd, so they sort of stay a little bit dry.
• 8:24
  And a lot of people, the solos were out, a lot of people were sort of like leaving the
• 8:28
  bank and whatever else.
• 8:30
  And then all these guys started coming up, and these girls, that looked like they were
• 8:34
  from a different planet, they were a little bit more biker-y type looking.
• 8:37
  And then I saw, the first time ever, because I didn't have a clue, I saw one of these sidecars,
• 8:42
  only one sidecar, and I watched this thing go around the corner, well there was a gaggle
• 8:45
  of them, because obviously they were coming out of the collection area.
• 8:48
  I see these sidecars, and they look like toboggans, but with another guy on the side of it, do
• 8:53
  you know what I mean?
• 8:54
  Like a triangle of toboggan.
• 8:56
  And all these sprays coming up and whatnot, and I was just like, what the, are they?
• 9:03
  And anyway, oh they're sidecars, oh you're getting dead well with them, they're like
• 9:06
  the gypsies of the paddock, and whatever else, and I went, anyway, I went in, I was watching
• 9:11
  them, and honestly I was so impressed, and I'm watching these guys jumping on the back
• 9:14
  of it, and whatever.
• 9:15
  So I went into the paddock, and I'm chatting to a few sidecar crews, just saying like,
• 9:20
  how much are these, what are these, and whatever else, do you make them yourself, where'd you
• 9:24
  buy them from, and whatever else.
• 9:26
  Anyway, they then started telling me how much these things cost, and this was like in about
• 9:30
  92ish, 91, 92, and even then it was quite a lot of money, and my heritage, I'm a little
• 9:37
  bit tight, and I'm thinking, poor, and then one of the guys, a guy called Dave Kimberley,
• 9:42
  who I ended up riding with, you know, years after, he sort of turned around to me, and
• 9:47
  he went, well if you were a passenger, and I went, what's a passenger, the guy on the
• 9:50
  back, if you're the guy on the back, if you got good at it, you might even make money,
• 9:54
  well my ears pricked up, and I thought, oh yeah, well if I make a quid, and I went, oh
• 9:58
  really, and he went, oh yeah.
• 10:00
  So anyway, I went back home, and a friend for a friend introduced me to a guy that I'd
• 10:05
  heard of when I was a kid, you know, being a biker in Worcester and whatnot, I'd heard
• 10:10
  of this guy, a guy called Phil Donworth, who had a sidecar, anyway, I got in touch
• 10:15
  with Phil, and Phil told me of a guy in Ilkeston, a guy called Fred Hancock, who had tried six
• 10:21
  or seven passengers, he was just setting out as a driver, tried six or seven passengers,
• 10:25
  he'd spat them all off the back, so he couldn't find a passenger, and Phil went, you know,
• 10:28
  do you fancy having a go at him then, gal, and I went, yeah, go on then.
• 10:31
  So he arranged me to go down to, it was on a Wednesday afternoon at Mallory Park, and
• 10:36
  I fitted it in between customers, you know, because I used to do, like I say, national
• 10:40
  accounts, so I was doing a round robin, he had the leathers, the helmet, the whatever
• 10:44
  else, anyway, I sort of put this gear on and whatnot, and whatnot, never sat on one of
• 10:49
  these things, and anyway, there was another passenger, can't remember his name, he was
• 10:52
  telling me roughly what I needed to do, and off we set, and I did about three laps, and
• 10:57
  I thought, you're not going to spit me off, so of course, having no clue, I am hanging
• 11:01
  on to this thing with my life, after about three laps, I can't move my hands, I was
• 11:08
  like that, trying to tap him, I couldn't move my hands, so I'm tapping him with my head,
• 11:12
  and it was like, what is going on here, and we pulled into pit lane, anyway, he was like,
• 11:18
  oh, you all right, and I went, no way, I can't move my hands, and I was like, Pat Gallagher,
• 11:24
  I lifted my visor, and I went, Pat, can you take my, I couldn't undo my helmet strap,
• 11:28
  I couldn't lift my arms up to, anyway, his passenger came up to me, and he said, look,
• 11:32
  you just need to relax, you need to do it, and whatever else, so I went, right, okay,
• 11:36
  can we do it again then, but a little bit slower, so I can just find my way around it,
• 11:39
  so we did that, and off we went, and I sort of took to it, really, he was fairly quick,
• 11:44
  but not as fast as you end up going, you know, as you go through your career, but he was
• 11:48
  fast enough, certainly to open my eyes to it, we did another session, and my arms, because
• 11:52
  I think, because they were already blown, they were still fairly secondhand, and then
• 11:57
  we rested for about an hour, we did another session, and I was like, I love this, this is
• 12:02
  mega, and then, you know, the monster is born, isn't it, I was just obsessed then, and I raced
• 12:08
  with Fred for about half a season, and then we had a few upside down moments, because he was,
• 12:14
  you know, he was a bit of a nightmare, to be honest, he was just, I'd talk to him about
• 12:18
  racing lines, and stuff like that, and he'd go, no, no, you just need a fast engine, right,
• 12:23
  we're not doing like drag racing, and whatever, so eventually, I thought, well, the way for me
• 12:29
  to learn this, is I'll just become a paddock trollop, so if anybody wanted a passenger,
• 12:36
  I just jumped on, and quite a few times, you know, we sort of, we won, and we crashed,
• 12:40
  and we blew up, or whatever else, but I just got to see a lot of riding styles, I got to sit on an
• 12:46
  awful lot of sidecars, you know, so I thought, a bit like my business career, do you know what
• 12:51
  I mean, I worked for lots and lots of companies, and lots of industries, trying to learn as much
• 12:55
  as I could, so I did this, I sort of applied the same thing with sidecar racing, and I just spoke
• 13:00
  to as many people as I could, and I took the bones, because there's a lot of peddling, you know,
• 13:05
  that's pushed around, you know, the paddock, you know, you don't always get to know the truth,
• 13:10
  so I sort of took the bits that I thought were good, and whatnot, but met some really,
• 13:15
  really good people, that sort of guided me, and helped me along the way, and then,
• 13:20
  it sort of went from there, really, I started riding Formula One, with a guy called Chris Hibbard,
• 13:27
  again, guy who was looking for a passenger, he was local to me at the time, he was in Eversham,
• 13:33
  who was a mega man, Chris was a real good passenger, and a real good driver, and been a real
• 13:39
  good solo rider as well, so he taught me, probably taught me more than anybody, really, you know, and
• 13:45
  he became my, like, my paddock big brother, definitely, you know, and I just love that man,
• 13:51
  and me and Chris went, and we won, like, a lot of club championships, and whatever else,
• 13:56
  and then we were down in Pembrey one day, and we'd won the races, and there was a family called
• 14:03
  the English family, and they had a dad, Ray English, they were a lovely family, really into
• 14:08
  sidecar racing, he'd been a sidecar racer, and whatever else, and he wanted his boy to race a
• 14:13
  Formula One sidecar at the European championships, but he didn't have the money, so he sat down,
• 14:19
  he was a brilliant engineer, he sat down, and he made his own LCR in a family garage, this is an
• 14:25
  8B whatever garage, right, made this LCR, anyway, Ian the rider was looking for a passenger,
• 14:32
  and his brother Steve, who was racing for another team at the time, they came up to me, and they
• 14:37
  said, do you fancy doing a European round, and I was like, and this was on a 500cc two-stroke,
• 14:45
  right, these things are like a switch, never sat on one of these, and I'm like, well, I'm riding
• 14:50
  with Chris, and Chris went, no, we haven't got the money for you to do this, this is what a lovely
• 14:55
  man he was, right, we haven't got the money or the funding, and I want you to experience this, you know,
• 15:00
  I know you can do this, you go and do that, and it's like, at least one of us will be there, do you
• 15:05
  know what I mean, doing what we should be doing, and I went, oh mate, and I spoke to my boss, and I
• 15:10
  was, I'm a little bit flat out, so I was pretty much flat out with work, I'd never had, I hadn't
• 15:15
  had a holiday in about five years, you know, I was just like focusing on work, and then of course,
• 15:21
  then sidecar racing was starting to sort of trickle into it, and whatnot, and so I spoke to my
• 15:26
  boss, and he went, can I have a sticker on the bike, and I went, yeah, and he went, right, I'll pay you to go,
• 15:30
  so I was like, happy days, so anyway, off we went, we had such a brilliant time, we've got an old caravan
• 15:37
  on this old Mercedes van, it was a proper family trip, you know, and like, we were going through the
• 15:42
  borders, and we're, you know, Dobroden, we still say that to each other now, you know, anyway,
• 15:48
  we ended up going to Most, which is like, in this petrochemical town, in Czechoslovakia,
• 15:54
  and like, we pulled up at this circuit, I've got this two-stroke thing, and luckily, the first
• 15:59
  session, it rained, well, they're not like a switch in the rain, they've got to just reel it on, we came in
• 16:04
  after the first session, and Ryder said to me, he said, what do you think of that, and I went, mate, too easy,
• 16:10
  I'm all over it, just mega, you know, and I love passengering in the wet, I think you have a little
• 16:15
  bit more to say in the wet, you know, as a passenger, so I'm like, that was ace, love it, and then it
• 16:21
  dried, right, so we went out with the second session, Jesus Christ, my arms, I was like an orangutan,
• 16:28
  like, my knuckles were dragging on the floor, I'm like, what is this, we did quite well in
• 16:34
  qualifying, but I was like, tap, tap, tap, can't do this, came in, and I was broken, I was like, honestly,
• 16:40
  like, I can't, I'm really sorry, but I don't think I can do this, I'm just, it's just too much for me,
• 16:46
  and there was a guy there, Peter Hill, fantastic passenger, and Tony Baker's passenger, they came
• 16:52
  to me, they could see I was, I was sort of like, you know, that I was a little bit upset, so they
• 16:56
  came to me, and they went, what's up, and Andy Peach, he came up to me, and they all got
• 17:01
  around me, and they went, right, we're going to do, we're going to walk a lap of the circuit, because
• 17:06
  we've all followed you, and you are a passenger in every single kink and corner, and you're just
• 17:11
  completely overworking it, and blah, blah, blah, so they talked me around, they said, right, do this, do
• 17:14
  that, blah, blah, so we went out the next session, and I just did what I was told, I just found my confidence
• 17:19
  again, and I thought, and then we did the race, and we finished really well, and that was good, and then
• 17:24
  I got asked to do the second, another round, which was in, in Schleitz, in the old east of Germany,
• 17:30
  but of course the war was down then, so I went and did that, and that was such a brilliant experience,
• 17:36
  you know, everything about it, we rode really well together, we had a fab time, sort of starting to
• 17:42
  belong to that sort of paddock now, and I met a lot, a lot more teams like Stuart Muldoon, and
• 17:48
  Klaus Klaffenbott was there, he was running his bike out, even though he was doing the world thing,
• 17:53
  so that was really good, and then I never, it's not just the racing, it's, you know, you're only like
• 17:59
  on the track for say, probably 15% of the time, the rest of it is the crack that you have in the paddock,
• 18:06
  and it was one of those meetings, it was like one of the best and worst meetings, and I'll tell you
• 18:10
  what, one of the best meetings, I'm lay there two o'clock in the morning, like nervous, we're chatting
• 18:15
  about the race, none of us can sleep, and it's like, oh, this is a road circuit, you know, but we're on
• 18:22
  Formula One bikes, with rose joints, that don't like bumps, and whatever else, and even though
• 18:26
  it's quite smooth, you are aware that if something breaks, it's right turn Clyde, and there's no
• 18:31
  questions given, so we lay like that, then I can hear this, like, what is that, and there's a beer
• 18:39
  tent behind the sidecar paddock, so I'm like, I'm not lying here, I'll get my top on, and I'll
• 18:46
  climb the fence, and then go into this, anyway, I walked into this beer tent, right, and there's all
• 18:51
  these drunken Germans, and they see me, and I'm, all I've got is just like, you know, a polo shirt,
• 18:56
  with a couple of sponsors on, but they can see that I'm a racer, so they pick me up, and they're like,
• 19:01
  whey, throw me up in the air, and they go, beer, beer, drink more beer, so like you do, you have to
• 19:06
  oblige, don't you, so I sort of, I'm like, this is before I was a little bit serious about it all, so
• 19:14
  I came out there about, about six o'clock in the morning, absolutely sozzled, we're on track at nine
• 19:20
  o'clock, so anyway, don't listen to this, so we're, so anyway, we go out, and that was the first time,
• 19:27
  first and only time, I was ever ill in my helmet, went over a right-hander, and honestly, this is not
• 19:33
  good listening, if you, if you, if you're having your tea, but literally, as I'm going, I can see peas
• 19:38
  and carrots dancing on the inside of my visor, as we're going down the straight, thinking, I'm really
• 19:43
  not very happy at all, but we got, we, anyway, we got, we got food qualified, I know, yeah, I'm just wrong,
• 19:49
  aren't I, we got through qualifying, clean the inside of my helmet, we're, and we're into qualifying
• 19:54
  two, and there was a wonderful French team, this is why it was one of the worst, but just an
• 19:59
  eye-opening, but one of the worst meetings as well, there's a French team next to us, and it slides, you go
• 20:04
  uphill from the start and finish, and there's like a stadium, and then there's a left-right chicane,
• 20:09
  and you're tramping on into this first left, and on the old Formula One sidecars, as a passenger,
• 20:16
  you would stay in on the braking on the left, if you got out for the left, then you would have like,
• 20:20
  what you call, like a pendulum effect, and it would whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, and then come back on itself, and
• 20:25
  we're behind these guys, and I had a little bit of a peep, because I'm still getting, you know, to know
• 20:30
  the circuit, I had a little bit of peep up, and I can see the passenger out for the left, and I just
• 20:35
  thought, and I remember going into this corner, and there, they just had, it's like East Germany, there's
• 20:41
  just bales there of hay and stuff, not like the TT now, you know, with the safety that
• 20:47
  these boys put in there, and it just went poof, and this thing just like exploded, and whatever else,
• 20:52
  unfortunately, none of them came out of that, so that was the first experience, where we were next
• 20:59
  to a team, and we, you experience the zip being down, and the silence, and you know, the whole
• 21:07
  atmosphere changed, you know, within the paddock, and whatever else, and then you're trying to put
• 21:13
  that behind you, and I remember being on the start line, and lifting the driver's visor, and we had
• 21:21
  like a three minute silence on the grid, through respect, and whatever else, but we're there
• 21:26
  to show that the show goes on, you know, because it does, the show, you know, the show goes on, and what
• 21:31
  they were doing wasn't wrong, and so on, and we're sort of racing with them in mind, you sort of, you
• 21:36
  know, you use that as motivation, and that's what, that's how I was looking at it anyway, and
• 21:42
  I remember lifting his visor, and going like, everybody now is going to be thinking about them
• 21:46
  boys, I want you to ride harder, and faster than you've ever ridden, and I turned it around that way,
• 21:52
  you know, and we had a real good result, I think we finished third, third or fourth, it was a real
• 21:57
  good race, and whatever else, so we sort of did them proud, and whatnot, and then from there, I got
• 22:03
  offered a ride from another team, Roger Lovelock, and we had such a crack, we went, we did the
• 22:09
  European Championships together, and we were setting poles, and all sorts, got to Misano, we'd set pole,
• 22:16
  got to Misano, we were racing, we were on two strokes, we're racing four strokes, and this is when Misano
• 22:21
  was anti-clockwise, which was mega for us, lots of lefts, and stuff, you know, and I remember
• 22:28
  going down the straight, and I could see this four stroke, that we were coming to lap,
• 22:32
  had sort of like pooped itself, there was a, I know you could see this line of shiny oil,
• 22:37
  and I just thinking, oh my god, Roger got off the oil, and then we're in race mode, so he's in auto
• 22:45
  second lap, no oil flags, so he, nothing to remind him, we hit the oil, we're doing like 165, 170
• 22:54
  mile an hour, we ended up hitting the Armco, and all sorts of carry on, and I ended up like breaking
• 23:01
  my back, shattering my coccyx, breaking legs, and ribs, and arms, and I was just second hand,
• 23:08
  you know, so then I got to experience the pelvis, which is never a good thing to break, you break
• 23:15
  your pelvis, then something goes on down there, and I remember, I remember being in this Italian
• 23:21
  hospital, no pain relief, so I was in this Italian hospital, and of course there's a language problem,
• 23:26
  and this Italian doctor pulled down my my underpants, they're looking, sorry about the
• 23:30
  language, he just went, he's shit, and I went, are you joking, and he must have seen the, the, the only
• 23:36
  bit of blood that was in my face, drain from my face, and I went, oh shit, and he went, no, no, no, no,
• 23:41
  you could see him with the alarm, he's mad, he's mad, and this is still something, when I speak to
• 23:46
  Roger Lublock, which I do, yeah, when I see, when I speak to Roger, this is something that we sort of,
• 23:52
  you know, we'll sort of retort this story, and, and of us as well, you know, it was just a little
• 23:56
  phrase that we then, where they came on, anyway, so I'm broken, and I ended up coming back to the UK,
• 24:02
  on the back of the race truck, because I, they, I got no pain relief, I'm in this, I'm in this
• 24:06
  corridor, and, and, and, and it's very hot and whatnot, and I just rang the team and said, get me out of here,
• 24:12
  so they put me on the back of the race truck, and we came back, I got to Switzerland,
• 24:16
  and I thought, they do euthanasia here, don't they, oh, so secondhand, and I thought, I just can't cope
• 24:22
  with this anymore, anyway, we eventually, we got back to the UK, and then I went to see Brian Simpson,
• 24:27
  he did a load of this, like, like, bone welding, and whatever, it's not welding, but, you know, like,
• 24:34
  all this, so, like, three and a half weeks later, I met him down at Brian's Hatch, he gave me 21
• 24:39
  painkilling injections, like, all over the place, made me a special boot, and we went again, I got on
• 24:46
  the back of the bike. Three weeks later? Yeah, yeah, yeah, got on the back, well, well, the thing is, at
• 24:51
  Grand Prix, which is, you know, where we were going, and, and where we were racing at the time, at Grand
• 24:55
  Prix, you've got all these crowd, uh, that are sat there, but no, no real entertainment as such of an
• 25:02
  evening, so our team manager at the time, a guy called Duffy, his brother was playing for a band called
• 25:09
  Hawkwind, so I spoke to him, right, at his wedding, we're having the crack, I spoke to him, and I went,
• 25:15
  rock and race tour, how about you come along to the Grand Prix, or even just selected Grand Prix,
• 25:21
  that you could tie into your European tour, do you know what I mean, and I'm telling about the crowds
• 25:25
  at, like, like, Assen, we race at Assen, over the weekend, this was at the Grand Prix, there was
• 25:30
  280,000 people went through that gate, which is just, you know, I know the TT is busy, but, I mean,
• 25:35
  that's just ridiculous, and I thought, all them people, and I can do the t-shirts, like you do,
• 25:41
  make a quid, so I'd arranged for the BBC, Thames BBC, to meet us at Brown's Hatch, and the band
• 25:48
  come down, and, and all this sort of carry on, and then I just thought, well, I can't not ride, do you
• 25:54
  know what I mean, I need to be there, I need to be riding, uh, so I went down, and we rode, unfortunately,
• 25:59
  we had a bit of a moment on the grass, and the little boot got broken, and my legs started
• 26:03
  flopping around, but that's another story, so we had to find a replacement passenger, and whatnot,
• 26:08
  and then we got it all filmed, and I remember saying to the guy, I said, is this going to be on,
• 26:13
  is it going to be televised, because I was going to make sure the FIM saw it, and, you know, really
• 26:17
  push for it, and he said, he said, as long as the Queen doesn't die, that will be on telly, well, the
• 26:23
  Queen didn't die, but Lady Diana did, so anyway, I then didn't know what I was going to do, the girl
• 26:29
  that I was with at the time, she was a little bit like, mate, you're lucky you're still here, you know,
• 26:33
  after those sort of injuries, so she was like, yeah, I think you need to retire, and all this sort of carry
• 26:38
  on, so I sort of sat back, and I wasn't too sure, and I spoke to my rider, and I said, I think you might
• 26:43
  need to get Chris Hibbard stage right, and to Chris Hibbard again, get him on as a passenger,
• 26:48
  because I'm really not too sure what I'm doing, and then after a few weeks, and I started healing a
• 26:53
  little bit, I thought, now I need to be doing this, do you know what I mean, I can't let it beat me,
• 26:58
  so I then spoke to Roger Lovelock, the rider, and said, mate, we're ready to go, he said, I've already
• 27:04
  spoke to Chris, and I thought, well, I can't let Chris down, fortuitously, I then got a phone call
• 27:08
  from a guy called Ian Guy, a fantastic driver, smooth as, he was buying the bike from the
• 27:15
  Goodall Brothers, Paul and Charlie Goodall, which was a Swiss auto, an engine that was developed by
• 27:21
  Rolf Biland, and we're going to go and do Grand Prix, and I knew him from doing Europeans and
• 27:26
  whatnot, and he'd done the odd wild card, and he had the Royal Mail sponsorship, it's very corporate,
• 27:33
  and I thought, I can get my teeth into this, you know, and he's a lovely guy, we got on really well,
• 27:37
  we did a lot of laughing in the paddock together anyway, so I thought, yeah, I'll have this, I've
• 27:42
  got to do it, so I then jumped on with Ian, and we went off, and we did what was the final year for
• 27:48
  the sidecars, with the FIM Grand Prix, we qualified really well, we could never get the thing off the
• 27:54
  line, but we were really up at the sharp end, we did really well, we had a wonderful season,
• 28:00
  we did an awful lot of laughing, we had a very small team, but it was a real strong team, and that
• 28:06
  was fab, and then after that, we went, the sidecars were being moved to the Flamini Group, with the
• 28:11
  World Superbikes, which is really exciting, and going four stroke, and all that sort of carry on,
• 28:17
  so then I got to sort of do that, but I did that with an Australian team initially, a guy called
• 28:24
  Chainsuiter, who's just mega, but that was good, because it was just getting frosty, I got a phone
• 28:29
  call from their team manager, I'm sat in Whitchurch, I was renovating my sister's house, for whatever
• 28:35
  reason, well I was doing it, I was going into France, and I was getting these old,
• 28:40
  that's how we're going off again, aren't we, these double-ended French, you know, these double-ended
• 28:44
  French baths, they were using them for feeders, and in fields, and stuff like that, so I was knocking
• 28:49
  on farmer's doors, with these water bottles, and going, in French, yeah, ben oui, bonjour, I was saying,
• 28:56
  no, I don't really speak French, yeah, bonjour monsieur, I have a water butt, I will swap it for your bath,
• 29:05
  have you got the legs, so I was emptying my van of these things, filling my van with these French
• 29:11
  baths, taking them back to Dover, re-enamelling them, painting Union Jacks, and all sorts, you know,
• 29:16
  on the side of them, and doing different designs, and whatnot, getting the feet chromed, and you
• 29:21
  know, and also, and then I was taken up to London, because this was before, you know, there were
• 29:28
  these new ones being made, you know, in Italy, and whatnot, and I was making a quid, as you do,
• 29:34
  so that was good, so I don't know, where were we? I don't even know, I don't even know, honestly, so you
• 29:40
  were with that Australian team, I mean, you are obviously here in the Isle of Man, this is your
• 29:44
  home now, how did you come to be here, Gary? Right, well, I'd sort of finished with the, I ran out of
• 29:49
  things to sell with the World Series, we finished fifth in my final year, and obviously, I
• 29:55
  started it, because I wanted to be World Champion, you know, when you're World Champion, you are the best
• 30:00
  at that time, on that day, and that's pretty much, but I thought, for one day, to be the best in the
• 30:06
  world, and so it would be mega, so I sort of put everything into it, I sold my house, bought a boat,
• 30:11
  lived on the boat, sold the boat, sold my bikes, sold, I sold everything, so I've got nothing,
• 30:18
  and I thought, I've got to finish this now, you know, the obsession needs to end, so I sort of,
• 30:22
  like, retired, and then, Chris Hibbert again, I speak to him on the phone, he was living on the
• 30:27
  island at the time, and he'd done the TT and whatnot, so I spoke to Chris, and I went, I'm done, mate,
• 30:32
  I've got nothing else, you know, I'm sort of, I am done with it now, and he went, oh, you can't
• 30:37
  retire, and I went, yeah, I can, mate, and he went, no, you can't, yeah, I'll come and do the TT, to which my
• 30:43
  answer was, no, mate, I'm not doing the TT, because I was about Grand Prixs, and not that, you know,
• 30:49
  silk smooth, not roads, particularly, and he went, no, seriously, just come over the weekend, so I jumped
• 30:55
  on a boat, got off the boat, next day, we set off down Bray Hill, and, and that's when, when you were
• 31:00
  going into Court, Court Road, it was really bumpy, and you know, it's lovely and smooth now there, but it
• 31:05
  was really, really bumpy, anyway, I turned to him, and I went, so, where does it start then, and he went,
• 31:11
  mate, you're on it, and I'm like, you are joking, and we're getting rattled round in his van, anyway,
• 31:16
  we got to Kirk Michael, and it was raining, because we're in the Ironman, we got to Kirk Michael,
• 31:23
  and I could see the line for Kirk Michael, and I went, what's this, and he went, this is flat out, and I
• 31:28
  went, mate, I gotta do this, I gotta have a go at this, so, I then spoke to a rider, Simon Neary,
• 31:36
  who was 19 at the time, young, dumb, full of it all, anyway, I spoke to Simon Neary, and he was looking
• 31:42
  for a passenger, and I, and I, yeah, you're doing TT, and he went, yeah, so, we came over here as newcomers, we did
• 31:48
  a few round, rides together, did really well, just like Emma, and British Tamperships, and stuff like that,
• 31:53
  but we were at the sharp end, which is mega, real attacking driver, we came here, this is when Nick Crow
• 32:00
  was a newcomer as well, but obviously, he'd done it as a passenger, so, we were sort of battling with him,
• 32:05
  although we were like four mile an hour slower than Nick, but we just, honestly, the first lap, this was
• 32:11
  when you could go in the rain, and the snow, and what, we just went down Braille, so, they set us off,
• 32:16
  and it was a little bit damp when we left Douglas, we got to Kirk Michael, and they pulled us over,
• 32:21
  and they said, if you want, you can go back, because you're going to be aquaplaning through here, it was
• 32:25
  absolutely tipping it down, anyway, me and Simon had been over here doing laps, and whatnot, and he turned
• 32:30
  to me, and what do you think, and I went, it's Kirk Michael, it's flat out, mate, so, I just re-quoted Chris,
• 32:37
  anyway, we went through Kirk Michael, you know, where the bank is there, we went through there,
• 32:41
  flat out, what a wonderful moment, and Gary Horsepole, and Kevin Lee, they pulled over, and they were on
• 32:47
  the car park there, you know, the bank car park, just sat there, watching us, we went past them,
• 32:52
  absolutely sideways, flat out, right, and I've got my thumb in the air, as we went past,
• 32:58
  and then, we got to Ramsey, it was sunny, and we went up the top, and it was misty,
• 33:02
  and a bit of hail, this is all in the first lap, it's like, we've got every single bit of weather,
• 33:08
  you know, in one lap, and I was like, what is this place, and then, it's thick fog, we're behind
• 33:14
  Dave Molyneux, and Tony Baker, and Simon's looking at me, and we're in Kevlar's at the time,
• 33:20
  I was selling Kevlar's into the paddock, like you do, and so, we were in Kevlar's, and they're a
• 33:26
  little bit cold, they're great when it's warm, but when it's cold, you're cold, so you've got
• 33:30
  like these overall things on, and we're sort of like starting to shake, we're freezing, and Simon's
• 33:36
  looking at me, and he's like shrugging, and I just went, just go, so I'm just like pointing him to
• 33:41
  sort of kick on, we dropped it down two gears, went past all these, right, all these seasoned
• 33:47
  TT veterans, we went past them, and then, I remember going into Veranda, and thinking,
• 33:52
  I'm sure there's a left here, because we'd done, when we'd come over, fortuitously, we'd come over
• 33:57
  doing laps, it'd been foggy, so we sort of knew our way in the fog, which sounds a bit bizarre,
• 34:01
  so I thought, there's, I know there's a left come, so I'm out left anyway, luckily enough,
• 34:07
  anyway, we took off, we landed in the car park thing, and all I could see is white, you know,
• 34:12
  the big bales, so we brushed up against them, hit a bit of the tram track, got ourselves back on it,
• 34:17
  Molly and Tony Baker went past us, got ourselves back onto the, onto the course, and then we just
• 34:23
  sat behind them, until we come in, anyway, Tony Baker came up to me, and he was like, get off him now,
• 34:27
  you're gonna die, and all this, I'm like, no, no, no, it'd be fine, it'd be fine, anyway, we ended up
• 34:32
  having a wonderful practice week, the paddock atmosphere was mega, you know, I mean, I'd,
• 34:38
  it was a different atmosphere that I'd experienced in, at Club or any of the world
• 34:43
  paddocks I'd been in, and I think because, because the TT is so, you never really know what's going
• 34:50
  to happen next, like the solos and the sidecars, everybody's talking, everybody's helping each
• 34:55
  other, it was just, you know, the camaraderie wasn't just within the sidecar paddock, it was in
• 35:00
  the whole paddock, and I love that, you know, just a happy smiley place is always the best place to
• 35:05
  be, isn't it, so, so I sort of fell in love with not just the TT course, but also the TT paddock,
• 35:11
  and the organisers, and everything was just, like, I just thought this, after that first lap, I knew,
• 35:18
  I think you either do your first lap of the TT, and you're on the next boat, and you don't come
• 35:22
  here again, unless you're spectating, or, or you're knackered, you're in it, and that's you, you know,
• 35:27
  so, so that resurged my racing career, if you know what I mean, I fell back in love with sidecars,
• 35:33
  and sidecar racing, and I just thought this is, this is my future, at the same time, on the second
• 35:39
  race, we did all right in the first race, fastest newcomers, hurrah, and all that, and then, in the
• 35:45
  second race, sorry, in the second race, we went into the gooseneck, flat out in fifth, which is not really
• 35:51
  that advisable, and normally, like, if we were at Mallory Park, we'd sort of drift it on the grass a little
• 35:57
  bit, you know, the chair wheel, and we'd carry on, there's a little bit of stone behind that little bit
• 36:02
  of grass, so that, that was a bit of a no-brainer, so then I got, I got a helicopter ride, which was
• 36:07
  another experience, so I got a, I got a ride to the Old Nobles Hospital in a helicopter, now that's
• 36:11
  the way to get a fast lap, so that was good, then, and another sort of part of the experience, so I had
• 36:17
  it all, really, within the first, the first year, somehow, we managed to get best newcomers, even
• 36:22
  though we didn't finish the second race, so that was quite a coup, you know, and, and whatnot, and then,
• 36:28
  then, then it was all about the TT for me, so I rode with a guy called Steve Coombs, for Dave
• 36:32
  was with carpets, that was good, Greg Lambert, Greg Lambert racing, still out there now, number 69, so I
• 36:38
  rode with Greg, we just blew up, me and Coombs, he just blew up, I think we finished, we finished, we
• 36:43
  finished one race on three cylinders, with, we would be flat, black flag these days, with a bale of
• 36:49
  smoke behind us, right, this, on a Kawasaki, we'd done five engines, which every time we came in, we
• 36:56
  were rebuilding engines, in the mud, down at the bottom field, it just lashed it down for the whole
• 37:01
  fortnight, it was just one of those TTs, and we just, you know, we should have got the knob out of
• 37:06
  the year award, really, so, so we finished on three cylinders, at 89 mile an hour average, right, I was
• 37:13
  tapping him, going, just pull over, you know, one of those days, when you, when you can never have a
• 37:17
  dark enough visor, it was one of them, really, like, trying to unpick the name off the back of
• 37:21
  me levers, as we go in, thinking, no, it's not me, and anyway, yeah, we were at the presentation, and they
• 37:28
  gave us, like, a finishes award, which I think it's in the bin, or something, they gave me this finishes
• 37:32
  award, and, and he was like, yeah, I'll let you finish, you know, I made sure you got your slowest
• 37:38
  finish, and all this sort of car, and I'm going, yeah, mate, if you look in the record books, there's a 50 cc
• 37:43
  solo, that's gone quicker than us, you know what I mean, how do you feel about that, but so, me and Steve,
• 37:48
  we went in different directions, and then, I was riding with, I got a chance to ride with Phil
• 37:53
  Dongworth, the guy who actually brought me into it, so, you know, the whole circle, but I, but
• 37:57
  in the meantime, I'd live with Phil, and his family, in, in the cellar, I, I was in the attic, poor old
• 38:03
  Therese, his, his wife, I was in the attic, and then, Stu Castles, was the, was the cellar dweller, we moved
• 38:09
  him into the cellar, so, it was like, sidecar house, you know, we had such a fab time, you know, and
• 38:15
  whatnot, so, Phil, you know, always said, oh, one day, me and you can do a TT go, and I'm like, yeah, whatever,
• 38:20
  you're not fast enough, well, of course, he clearly was, anyway, it came, it came when he, you know,
• 38:27
  he asked me, would I, would I ride with him, which I sort of just snatched his hands off, really,
• 38:32
  so, and I knew that Steve already had a passenger, sort of, in the, in the wings, I knew there was
• 38:37
  someone that he could, you know, he'd sort of tested with, so, it was an easy, easy decision to make,
• 38:42
  and then, me and Phil went off, and we did, like, British Championships, and did really well, and
• 38:46
  beat, like, you know, the Birchall brothers, and all that, down at Browns Actuals, was like, ha, ha, ha,
• 38:51
  because we were just, like, a little privateer team, you know, it was like,
• 38:55
  you know, a couple of, couple of heads on, on top of the, you know, the BSB paddling, like, what is this
• 39:00
  all about, and then, we came to the TT, and yeah, we had, we had a few issues during practice week, which we
• 39:06
  got over with, and then, we had a fantastic race, you know, and managed to finish second, which was
• 39:12
  mega, second to Molly, and then, in the second race, we put in what would have been our quickest
• 39:17
  engine, and we were more on pace there, I think we were, Nick Froh was leading, on corrected time, we
• 39:23
  were about half a second in front of Molly, and, and then, there was a big gap with Simon Neary, and
• 39:32
  John Holden, and whatever else behind us, and then, Nick had his accident, which we, sort of, came on,
• 39:39
  which was most, you know, I love Nick, and Coxsey, his passenger at the time, known Coxsey
• 39:46
  for forever, so, and the crack that me and, me and Nick Crow, you know, if you know Nick, he is just,
• 39:54
  he's the devil, there's a devil in him, but he's so funny, you know, and he's such a good,
• 39:59
  such a good sport, so, you know, I literally cried, cried with laughter with that man,
• 40:05
  within the paddock, and, you know, to see them in the road, and whatever else, that was just,
• 40:10
  it was like a, you know, the highs and the lows of the GT, isn't it, you know, it was like, it was
• 40:15
  like a plane crash, really, it was bizarre, and, and then, a couple hundred yards down the road,
• 40:20
  I could see Coxsey, you know, in the fetal position on the grass, and it's like, what is this, anyway,
• 40:25
  that, sadly, that, that race never got pre-ran, which was a shame, really, because I think we
• 40:31
  would have won that, I'm pretty sure we would have won that, to be honest, because Phil had the fire
• 40:35
  in his body, you know, we were full confident, and whatnot, and then, we weren't going to do
• 40:40
  the Southern 100, and then, I got a call from Greg Lambert, he was looking for a passenger,
• 40:44
  and I spoke to Phil, and I went, you know, we're not doing the Southern, Greg needs a victim,
• 40:48
  I'm sort of booked, booked on anyway, you know, do you fancy that, so I jumped on with Greg,
• 40:53
  I've ridden with him before, you know, and we have a good crack, you know, we're, you know,
• 40:56
  we have a good bond, and whatnot, so I came over, and then Phil was like, oh, I might do the Southern,
• 41:02
  and I'm like, yeah, but I've already said so, but his old passenger, who'd also spannered for us
• 41:07
  over at the CT, Duke Castles, he said, because me and Phil had already done the Southern 100
• 41:13
  together previously, he said, well, do you mind if I put Stewie on, and I went, no, mate, we'll
• 41:17
  still have a crack, you know, and we had British Superbikes to do, literally, the weekend after,
• 41:22
  at Mallory Park, and a load of testing, and all sorts of stuff, a new bike coming from Trail Irison,
• 41:27
  so, you know, we were very much, you know, together, and a strong enough partnership,
• 41:31
  where we didn't have to, we didn't have to worry about that territorial stuff, you know,
• 41:36
  and sadly, you know, during the practice, Phil had an accident, and let's not even go,
• 41:45
  I don't even want to talk about that, to be honest, so that was another real low, you know,
• 41:50
  and then I remember Steve Coombs was riding there, and he'd had a bit of a crash there,
• 41:57
  but he needed a victim for the BSB at Mallory, so Coombs, he spoke to me, and he went, you're
• 42:04
  getting on, gal, and we'll do it for Phil, and I went, how can I say no, of course, yeah, so we
• 42:10
  went and did that, his chassis was bent, and whatever else, Keith Walters said, use my bike,
• 42:17
  just put your engine in, so we went to Mallory Park with two bikes, took the engine out of one,
• 42:22
  we spent all night fitting it, and then it hoofed it down, and the meeting got abandoned, so we
• 42:28
  never actually got to ride, but we had a good crack, and, you know, we had lots of tears, and
• 42:33
  lots of laughter about Phil, you know, so it was a good, it was a good thing, and then I was on the
• 42:38
  way home, and I got a phone call from Molly, did I want to ride the CT, and with the Kawasaki ride,
• 42:47
  and whatever else, so we went down that road together, we never got to actually ride together,
• 42:52
  but we, you know, built the team, and whatever else, and then I was on with Gaz Brian, and we got some
• 42:58
  fourths, and then stupid little incident at Mallory Park, where we were on the warm-up lap,
• 43:07
  would you believe, we changed the gear in, hadn't pumped the brakes back, going into Edwina's, 30 flat out,
• 43:13
  hit the brakes, and it just turned into like a jello, it was just biting and whatever else, anyway,
• 43:21
  spit me out, well, I was in while it was upside down, but eventually, you know, I got, I left
• 43:28
  of no further assistance, as was on the side of the track, they put the jumping leads on him, and it
• 43:32
  was all a little bit dramatic, and whatnot, and then I started, I was still trying to get fit, and
• 43:38
  trying to ride, and whatnot, at a collarbone, and reconstructive surgery on that, I had some internal
• 43:44
  injuries I didn't know about, came back to the TT, felt a little bit sick, went home, saw my surgeon,
• 43:51
  he went, mate, you need to come in, seven operations later, and then, and then, and it was obvious that
• 43:57
  I was never going to be right again, so then I had to call, and enter the TT career, and then,
• 44:04
  since then, I've really just been focusing, this is a long story, isn't it, sorry, I've just been
• 44:09
  focused, sorry about that, you'll edit this, won't you, just knock it all out, like, what's he on about?
• 44:13
  Do you know, I mean, I just think it's an incredible insight, isn't it, into, I mean, you mentioned just
• 44:20
  how many of the things that have happened, been almost like happy accidents, and the right people
• 44:25
  at the right time, and, and yet, you are still part of this world, you're an integral part of this world,
• 44:31
  and it's clear just how much you love it. Yeah, yeah, I mean, if you were to, even now, I mean,
• 44:37
  I think I'm busy enough TT that I don't have to miss it, because the first few years was like,
• 44:42
  especially when I was here, I mean, I wouldn't go to the paddock, well, I'm not going there, because,
• 44:45
  you know, I've always been the same, I'd be like, no, get out of the way, I'll have a go,
• 44:49
  do you know what I mean? So, I sort of steer away from the paddock as such, but,
• 44:53
  but I think even now, if you, you know, autopsy time, when they sort of cut me in half, there will
• 44:57
  be a sidecar somewhere within there, do you know what I mean? It's not as, it's not as prominent as it
• 45:02
  was, it's not as important as it was, but certainly the people in the paddock, they are, they're as
• 45:06
  important as they have ever been in, you know, within my life, and doing what I'm doing now,
• 45:10
  like when I was riding, I would be helping one team, so doing what we're doing now, I can help
• 45:15
  lots and lots of teams, so that's, that's a positive, do you know what I mean? And you have to take the
• 45:20
  positives, don't you? And I always said, I remember when I first started riding, there was an old boy
• 45:24
  in the, in the paddock who used to race Grand Prix's, and he was like, you know, spamming over
• 45:29
  this rusty old, looked like a bit of a garden gate really, with an engine strapped to it and three
• 45:34
  wheels, and the guy who, Andy Barber, who I went to help the first time I saw sidecars, I'm within,
• 45:41
  in the paddock with him, and he went, see that bloke there? And I went, oh yeah, he went, that's you,
• 45:45
  that is. And he went, well not now, but in 20 years time, that's you, that is. And I said, I'll tell you
• 45:54
  now, right, I'm only doing this for one reason, just to see how far I can push it, and if I can't do it,
• 46:00
  if I can't go quicker, if I can't do it at the speed that I want to do it, I will not be the
• 46:05
  has-been that, or we used to, I don't want to be the used to bloke, you know what I mean? I'd rather be the,
• 46:11
  the has-been that never did, or didn't quite, than some, some old broken bloke, just spannering over
• 46:19
  a rusty old gate. It's not my thing, you know what I mean? So, so I, I knew that there would be an end to it,
• 46:27
  you know, at some point, and to be honest, Kurt Valdisberg, Bill Allen's passenger, he was
• 46:32
  great inspiration, and I sort of stylized my, my, my style of, uh, passengering on, on, on the Formula One,
• 46:39
  I sort of stylized it on him, he was very much over the bike, and like, at one point, I was putting, like,
• 46:45
  knee sliders with, you know, like, sparky bits, bits of metal on the top of my helmet, so when I went over
• 46:50
  the right, the sparks would come, and, you know, all that, you know, just a little bit of drama, and
• 46:54
  he retired at 44, so I always thought, yeah, 44, I'm done, because I saw that as a good point,
• 47:01
  and I went way beyond that, you know, I, I can't remember how old I was, I don't even know how old I am now, but I
• 47:07
  went beyond, I know, I remember getting 44, and thinking, nah, I'm not stopping, I'm going to do this easy,
• 47:13
  so, so I, I, I did more than I ever thought I would do, I did more at a higher level than I ever thought,
• 47:19
  I achieved more than I ever thought I would, so I think you've got to be happy with that, haven't you,
• 47:24
  and now I am equally loving life, you know, my obsession has moved from freewheels to
• 47:31
  the hound, it's all about the hound now, you know, so I'm more than happy with where I am.
• 47:36
  It is all about the hound, but it is also about Gary Partridge as well, and what a journey so far,
• 47:42
  and I'm pretty sure there are more stories you could have shared with us, there is undoubtedly
• 47:47
  another episode to come from Gary in the future. Once again, I'll put the details for Happy Dog
• 47:53
  on the podcast page, so do give them a follow, and get in touch if you've got any ideas that you want
• 47:58
  printing on pretty much anything, I reckon Gary could do anything. That is all for this episode,
• 48:03
  thank you so much for your company, and to the Max Motorcycle Club for their support,
• 48:07
  do give Startline a follow on Facebook and Instagram, and in the next episode I'm going
• 48:12
  to be finding out what it takes to be a scrutineer, and actually what the scrutineering process
• 48:17
  is like at the various racing events here on the Isle of Man. So until then, take care, bye-bye.
• 48:23
  Well, thank you very much indeed for listening to this episode of Startline,
• 48:35
  do take some time to find the riders on social media, your support is very much appreciated,
• 48:41
  and if you'd like to get in touch with me and be part of the podcast in the future,
• 48:45
  you can email beth at startline.im. Until next time, take care, bye-bye.