My Story

Bitten by the motorsport bug

 

My name is Cem (pronounced 'Jem') and I am an avid motorcycle racing fan based in North London. My passion for two-wheeled motorsport was properly ignited in the mid-1990s when I became hooked to World Superbike (WorldSBK) racing, which at the time was being shown live on Sky Sports; Keith Heuwen and Julian Ryder were the commentators during that period, and for me they are the 'original' voice of the sport (got to love those rose-tinted specs!). 

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In fact, I had already developed an interest in 500GP in the early '90s, but due to my passion for Formula 1 at the time - I was, and still am, a huge Ayrton Senna fan - and combined with Mick Doohan's crushing dominance of the 500GP class throughout the mid to late '90s, I gravitated more towards World Superbike during that period.

 

Throughout the mid to late '90s I attended the UK World Superbike round at Brands Hatch on numerous occasions when 'King Carl' Fogarty helped draw bumper crowds of 120,000+ (unofficial figures). Getting out of the car park, or indeed car 'field', was fun and games - two+ hours of waiting anyone?

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Opportunity knocks

 

The major turning point in my young adult life came about in 2001. At the time I collected Motorcycle Racer magazine, which was edited by Tony Carter, who would go on to present the World Superbike coverage on Eurosport in years to come. Former three-time British Superbike Champion Niall Mackenzie had just started commentating on World Superbike races for Eurosport that season and frankly I thought he was awful (sorry Niall, you've improved a lot since then!), so much so that I emailed my displeasure to Motorcycle Racer...

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Well wouldn't you know it, they duly published my email in the next issue! My initial excitement at seeing my comments in print was short-lived however, as 'Racer' (well, more specifically Tony) decided that apparently my name must be an alias and sarcastically commented: "Nice name, couldn't have thought of a better one ourselves."

 

I didn't have a very thick skin back then and wrote a lengthy complaint about why it was unacceptable for a reader to have their name ridiculed. As recompense, I was offered to go to a British Superbike race of my choice as a 'VIP Guest' of the Virgin Mobile Yamaha team - I was ecstatic! Being based in South London at the time, naturally I chose the iconic Brands Hatch as the circuit I wanted to attend.

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So, the big day finally arrived and armed with our 'Virgin Mobile Yamaha VIP Guest' lanyards my friend and I walked around Brands Hatch like we owned the place! I was a big Noriyuki Haga fan, and because he was a Yamaha rider I was excited to meet James Haydon who was ostensibly riding the same R7 Superbike that Haga came so close to winning the World Superbike Championship with in 2000.

 

James had established himself as a British Superbike championship contender during his tenure at Reve Red Bull Ducati and had been riding the wheels off of the R7 in the 2001 season in an attempt to keep up with the faster Ducati 998s of MonsterMob Ducati and his previous employers.

 

Unfortunately, he crashed in Race 2 and as a result was unable to attend the 'Meet & Greet' session - I was gutted! We still managed to meet Virgin Mobile Yamaha's second rider, Jamie Robinson, who in fairness was a very nice guy and posed for photos with us.

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