Michaela is also pretty confident riding the bikes around the field. And she was full of herself recently when she passed her road test. Mind you, she was wearing my lucky green T-shirt, so what do you expect? Seriously, though, I was convinced that she would fail because she was due to take the test on a 500cc when she had been learning on much smaller bikes. I thought that was a pretty stupid way of going about it. I sent her instructor, John Stone, a note saying, ‘Thanks for putting up with her.’ So I couldn’t believe it when she rang to say that she had passed first time. I was really proud of her. She knew she would never have been able to live it down in and around the World Superbike paddock had she failed, and said the whole experience was worse than giving birth. She won’t be going out riding on the road, but she might buy a 125cc or 250cc trail bike and come enduro riding in the Lakes. I’d be quite impressed if she could do that, although she wouldn’t be able to do the really tough stuff and would have to stick to the fireroad sections. But it just wouldn’t be her, somehow. She’s better suited to playing tennis or shopping in Manchester!
I remember the very first time my dad sat me on a bike quite clearly. He had bought me one for my ninth birthday, a bike made up by a Honda dealer called Ken Martin. It was basically a ‘monkey bike’, with a Honda 50cc engine and a chassis made up from different parts. It was a case of crash and learn. At one point, having fallen off a few times, I was convinced I would never be able to change gear. So we started again by dad putting the bike in second gear while I got used to the throttle. I opened it up and shot off down the drive, out of control! There were a couple of ornamental statues at the bottom of our garden, but they didn’t last long!
Dad let the other kids at my birthday party have a go, and one lad shot off the back when he opened the throttle too quickly. The bike did not have much to speak of in terms of top speed, but it accelerated pretty quickly. It seemed a long time before I was riding with my feet on the footrest instead of sticking them out in case I lost balance. Maybe I tried to go too fast from the start, because Danielle never seemed to have the same problems when she was learning. Perhaps she had more sense and took it more slowly, realizing she could get hurt if she fell off. Bikes do need to be respected.
The next step was obviously learning how to shut the throttle off while changing gear. But for my next birthday I was given an XR75, a four-speed bike with a clutch. I couldn’t get the hang of the clutch at all. When a bike revs loudly, or stalls, or jumps in the air, it puts you off trying. So I thought I don’t really have to use the clutch. Dad will put it in second gear and I can just let the clutch out once and ride around forever in second gear. The bottom line is confidence, and it takes a while for anyone to learn how to ride a bike. I certainly didn’t take to it like a duck to water. In no time, however, I was pulling wheelies with the older boys, my dad and his mates, and all my early problems were quickly forgotten.
I had fifth place in the British GP of 1992 in the bag at Donington until my Harris Yamaha hit coolant that had leaked from John Kocinski’s bike.
The hardest thing for me was making that step from mucking around to actually entering my first race, which I did at the age of 15, a schoolboy motocross 125cc event in Carnforth. I was not that good at motocross but I did win every now and then, and within two years I was up against senior riders. That summer of 1983, I went to the Isle of Man, as usual, to watch Dad in what was to be his last-ever TT meeting. Immediately I realised that I had been wasting too much time in motocross and that my heart lay in road racing. This was what I knew I could be the best at. All it needed was for dad on my behalf to apply for a novice licence and enter me in a race meeting at the nearest club – Aintree, in Liverpool.
Anyone can do this by approaching their local branch of the Auto Cycle Union. Novice riders are forced to wear an orange jacket for 10 races so that the better riders know to stay clear for their own safety, but all the novices have probably been brought up riding bikes and know the basics. It would never be safe for someone to come off the street and race without any knowledge of bikes, even if they were wearing the orange jacket. When those 10 races are complete, you are free to enter club races without having to wear that jacket. It was a bit different with me, though, because I was beating people who weren’t novices from the word go.
The other way to get a head start is by going to a race school. I have just set up a Carl Fogarty race academy in conjunction with Brands Hatch and Ducati. The aim is to get riders, especially those between the ages of 12 and 18 who cannot get track time due to licence requirements, up to ACU licence stage five. That way there should be opportunities for riders to get cheaper bike insurance, and some of the best pupils will get a chance to test with Ducati’s race team, as well as British superbike support teams.
Riding the Honda RC30 on the way to my second World Formula One title in 1989, with one of the Nortons in the distance.
For the first level of training, riders must have some experience of bikes or scooters and be able to balance without aid, steer, and be able to stop and start the machine. Specific points will include the need to look ahead, throttle control and how to build a rhythm through a slow start. To test their skills, they will have to perform an extra-slow slalom, another slalom at 30mph so that they begin to appreciate weight shift and balance, and a triple hairpin to develop steering and balance control with braking and accelerating. The second level is really an extension of these disciplines for the slightly more advanced young rider. The third, though, takes on board other disciplines such as pit-lane and circuit entry, overtaking, braking, gear change and body position in corners, for riders with a full licence. Riding dynamics will be tested, as will braking performance, and in addition to another slalom course there will be riding in a circle to examine position on the bike. Again, the next level, four, is a refinement of these disciplines to get riders ready for racing in level five, after which I’ll be giving them individual tips.
It all sounds very straightforward, but sitting on a racing bike seemed like the strangest thing in the world at first. I had been used to having the handlebars sticking straight out on a motocross bike. To suddenly find myself in this strange, cramped racing position took a lot of getting used to.
Track 2Brands Hatch
Great BritainRating: 6“Brands is not one of my favourite circuits from a riding viewpoint. It was the crowd which made it so special”
Brands Hatch has always held a special place in my heart because of the amazing support I received there, but it wasn’t a circuit on which I really enjoyed racing. I was either very good or very bad there. It’s a typical British track, where a rider is on the go all the time. I could never feel relaxed at any point, as it’s not a track that flows smoothly. It’s a very demanding and challenging circuit where people really struggle on their first visit, so the British riders tend to do quite well there.
The local support is like nowhere else, and that includes Italy. The event in 1995, when I won both