ABOUT ME
I was 8 when I found and dragged an old Chinese Repsol Honda mini moto out from the back of my Dad’s shed whilst he was tinkering with his bike. The mini moto really had seen better days, thrown to the back. I asked Dad if I could ride it, he took one look at it and answered no, it was too far gone, but I had planted a seed. A short while after Dad surprised me with a new mini moto, still a Chinese one, but we all start somewhere right?
We started going to Swindon Karting regularly to practice. I made lots of friends on the academy days, such as Mikey Hardie, Rossi Banham, Ryan Hitchcock, Olly Horner and many more…it was great fun. And much to everyone’s surprise, I was able to ride the thing pretty quickly too. Though in traditional style, the Chinese bike kept my Dad on his toes, breaking down all the time and eventually, due to the sprocket not actually being in the centre of the rear wheel would you believe, shook the engine out of the frame – LOL.
So we picked up a little more reliable GRC RZ with a Polini engine, that I continued to learn on and became quicker, holding my own up against others who had been riding for some time. We heard about Fab Racing (Cool Fab at the time) and I found their YouTube channel. I was enthralled, I watched all of the races from the minis to the Metrakits. I was hooked, I wanted to race.
Dad had seen that I had potential and bought me a Fab competitive DM mini moto for by 10th birthday, a great upgrade, a past race bike bought from Scotland where the person who was riding it had come 2nd in their championship the year before. And it proved to be a storming bike, causing me to get pole position and win my first ever race at which was at Llandow in bporrowed leathers that were too small! …but I also high sided and broke down on races 2 and 3 – LOL.
Throughout that season, I dominated the championship with 15 race wins and 3 podiums out of 24 races. Crowning me 2018 Cool Fab AC40 Rookie Champion at the grand old age of 10.
Moving up to the AC40 pro Championship in 2019, we were offered a sponsored TEAM EVO bike made by Andy Weeden. I loved it, the best mini moto ever. I could feel the bike, I knew what it was going to do. But the class was extremely fast and I was now competing against riders who had been riding for several years more than I had. I still came 4th which I was pretty proud of.
At the same time we had also decided to practice in the LC40 Elite class, and had acquired a GRC RRZ3. I instantly liked the power of the engine but I struggled to ride it. It would throw me off without a moments notice. I was still doing OK finishing on average in 8th place for the first 4 rounds but if only I had this engine in a TEAM EVO chassis…!!
I nagged and nagged, Dad eventually folded, and we set the LC engine into a second TEAM EVO chassis that we bought. No excuses now, got to get results, and I totally did, standing on every podium step of the next round. I took great pleasure turning round to my Dad “Told ya so!”
The 3 following rounds were a similar result, and I upped my race average to 3rd place…I finished that championship in 3rd too, amazing since it was my first year on the LC, and only my second season racing.
Moving on to 2020 and I was onto geared bikes, Metrakit GP50 as well as continuing on my LC40 Elite bike. Overall it was a good season on the LC, riding with my best mate Ryan Hitchcock. We had multiple battles throughout the season, but overall Ryan came out on top winning the championship, thanks to me, I might point out scoring some tactical points from his nearest rival. He never did thank me – LOL. I finished 4th, just 10 points behind 3rd I was gutted.
The Mini GP50 was a tough season, the competition was so close for most of the races. I finished 6th in the championship.
2021 was a weird season due to the end of COVID and an opportunity popped to race in a new championship – it being the infamous FIM Mini GP on Ohvale 160 bikes, which at the time looked really good on paper. Definitely on the plus side, we got to race at Cadwell Park, Silverstone Stowe and Pembrey tracks that ordinarily due to our age wouldn’t normally have been allowed.
But in reality, we were plagued with bike issues, poor support and lack of parts from the importer, the races were back to back too, so if you had a problem, it was pretty much tough you didn’t have time to sort them out! and to compound all this, I broke my arm at a practice day at Whilton Mill.
Fortunately, I was fit enough to ride at the BSB Cadwell Park round, my fondest memory of the debacle. Stuart Higgs (director of BSB) was great giving us a pep talk, Alan Lorde from BMB had organised everything meticulously, the crowds were awesome as we did a grid walk, the weather was…well…awful…it rained.
My arm though weak, was strong enough to handle the bike but it was in my head, and I disappointingly qualified 10th for the races which wasn’t actually that bad really all things considered.
I flew off the line from 10th position and slid into 6th by the first corner, but I got held up trying to get past 5th place and a large gap developed ahead. My race pace was getting better as I forgot about my arm and the wet, and began to enjoy myself.
With a few laps to go I could see 4th place in my sights some 10 seconds ahead. Lap after lap I chipped away, eventually catching up to his back wheel and on the final lap, at the last corner, I tried going round the outside…which didn’t work…I crashed. Tucking the front, I slid off into the run off, my first excursion to see the Orange Army. It was only a little low side in the wet, it didn’t hurt at all, no damage to the bike, but I wasn’t allowed to rejoin the race.
After the race, I collected my bike and rolled down the hill to pit lane, my Dad bracing himself for the onslaught of emotions, removing my helmet, with the biggest grin on my face I shouted “I’ve only gone and crashed at Cadwell Park”…we laughed it off.
We proceeded to have terrible last few rounds, hampered with bike problems, I finished the championship 6th overall. We sold the Ohvale…
2022 was my favourite season yet, back to FAB and riding the Metrakit 70 and Pit bike 140, plus I passed my ACU test and got the opportunity to ride a Kawasaki Ninja 400.
A very decent season in my opinion finishing 7th in the 70’s championship, having only completed 6 of the 8 rounds (we dropped out and focused on the Kawasaki at the end of the year).
I finished 10th in the PitBike 140 championship having only competed in half of the rounds – double my points and I would have finished 5th.
But the great finish to the year was my first time out on the Kawasaki Ninja 400 at Donnington Park…both track and bike new to me. Qualified 9th on the grid for race 1 and I only went and won it.
0.4 of a second off the lap record too, putting me on pole for Race 2. But that didn’t go to plan, as a rookie error on my part showing my wheel rather than completing the overtake, allowed it to be wiped out whilst challenging for the lead at the Esses.
Race 3 didn’t happen due to bike damage and Race 4 I had to start right from the the back, position 32…my dads phone couldn’t zoom that far!…but by the 3rd lap I up to 15th and was hunting down the leading pack which wasn’t too far ahead. All to no avail though as the race was Red flagged due to a crash and restarted. Of course I had to start from 32nd again. However I again I made my way up to 15th quickly but this time the gap to the pack ahead was too big to bridge. Still, I got the top step and got the spot prize of Junior rider of the day.
The experience riding at BEMSEE put doubt in our minds as to the correct path to take, and after much deliberation, we decided that the BSB Hel Junior Super Sport championship will be the best challenge for me in 2023…I can’t wait….
