[Bigcalm]

Hey

Thought I’d share an experience I had recently at the World Supers at Phillip Island. I’d always been keen to get back to Philip Island since my last visit for the ‘06 MotoGP, and when Troy Bayliss announced this would be his last year in SBK I knew I had to get back there.

Over a working dinner last Christmas I mentioned to an Australian colleague that I was going to SBK. The next thing I know, he casually asks how would I like an “all access pass to SBK and a chance to meet any rider I wanted?” After a couple of “Yeah rights”, he convinced me he had a good friend who was ‘connected’, so we made plans for the three of us to attend the Saturday and Sunday.

His mate turned out to be Mal Pitman, former Technical Manager at the Redbull Yamaha, 500 and then MotoGP squad. We met on the Friday and drove down to the Island, with Mal telling us all about his time in the premier class.

In the back of my mind I kept thinking the weekend had been hyped up, but when we got to Cowes and went to the hotel, there was a package waiting for us from a certain N Haga with pit passes courtesy of Yamaha Italia, and I realised then we were in for a cracker!

Saturday morning dawned sunny and clear and off we went to the track. Our passes got us through all security check points and the next thing I know the Yamaha team boss is taking us back to Nori’s riders’ room. Being introduced to Nori and chatting to him while he prepared for qualifying seemed surreal. He was obviously focussed on the practice session ahead and I didn’t want to break his concentration, but he was happy to chat about anything. He’d spent some time with Mal in the Redbull squad and was keen to catch up on old times, including checking if Mel would come out of retirement.

We spent a lot of the day cruising around meeting people and checking out bikes. The day was full of highlights – meeting riders like Phillis, Muggeridge, Slight, McGee, Chili, Balde, and wandering in and out of team pits’ was just amazing.

We watched Superpole and straight after were invited back to the Yamaha pits to watch the mechanics prep the bikes, and the next thing we’re talking to Corser about his Superpole and the amount of chatter he was experiencing! It was awesome being in the middle of all the action, watching the techs work with doctor-like precision – not a spanner out of place. I thought my garage was clean, but you could literally eat off the floor!

The time with the Yamaha squad was awesome but I really wanted to get into the Ducati pits, which just happened to be next door - so I casually wandered in. No one minded and I took a few shots as they worked on Bayliss’ bike.

Sitting on the race wall in pit lane watching the last race of the day I was thinking things just don’t get any better than this! But around 7pm we headed back to the Ducati pits and Mal popped in to see Bayliss. Even after a tough day in the office and heavily bandaged from his off in practice, he invited us in.

I was hugely impressed that after a long day he was happy to chat, really friendly and totally laid back. We talked about his future and he joked about the rumours of touring car racing and that he had signed to be a Ducati Ambassador. We had about Fifteen minutes with him which ended with a photo and a signed shirt. As we left he handed me a pass to his pits for the next day. Brilliant! We returned to our hotel and relaxed with a few beers, buzzing after a great day.

We rocked up again Sunday morning, with beautiful blue skies and no wind. We watched the racing from the roof of the pits and after each race went downstairs to talk to the riders. Gary McCoy, a long time friend of Mal’s, ran a superb race in Supersport on his Triumph and was stoked to get top five, but he said “I just couldn’t get it to go any faster!”

We spent more time with Nori and then we caught up with Laconi, another ex-Redbull rider. Apparently Regis was a shocking tester and could never tell the crew how the bike felt and what was needed to improve performance. So when we finally caught up, Mal asked him how the bike was and he replied - “ees sheet, ees completely sheet! I don’t know why I am eere wasting all my time!” So I guess nothing changes. But he was really good to talk to and super friendly.

I was surprised how relaxed the paddock was and how friendly the riders were - to fans and each other. The weekend was awesome, great racing, a superb double for Bayliss, and fantastic experience that I'll remember for a long time!