SIBLING RIVALRY
When it comes to brothers and motorcycle racing, does family mean anything, or is it a case of every brother for himself? Scoop went in search of the answer…
When it comes to most sports, sibling rivalry has always been in evidence. In football there were the Charlton brothers, more recently the Brownlees’ brotherly performances in triathlons have been hard to miss, and so it goes on across a multitude of different disciplines in nations all around the world. But there’s one sport that seems to have an even greater allure to sibling rivalry than all others, as motorcycle racing tends to ooze brothers from the same mothers. It’s possibly down to the fact that cocking yours and your brothers’ legs over a field bike or minimoto is a darned sight cheaper than a season in F3, and once the racing bug bites, two-bike trailers or the requisite works Transit van are easier to come by than a 40ft articulated transporter.
Family fortunes
Perhaps the most famous dynasty of all when it comes to two wheels is that of the Dunlops. Revered in circles which go far beyond their native Northern Ireland, Joey and Robert are still talked about today in the present tense despite their racing-related deaths many years ago. Robert’s offspring, Michael and William, with their opposing characters, rule the roost on the roads, with the younger Dunlop already notching up 15 TT wins and the outright lap record, and he’s still in his 20s.
AMA has had the Bostrom boys, the Roberts’ and the Haydens, while BSB has seen the Bridewells, the Ellisons and the Lavertys. MotoGP currently boasts World Champions Marc and Alex Marquez, Pol and Aleix Espargaro, although Maverick and Isaac Vinales are cousins and not brothers. But that still technically counts as keeping it in the family, doesn’t it?
While the racing game is one based primarily on individual merit and achievement, sometimes there’s an added factor into the equation and not one attributable to a team or factory. It’s the input of ‘Our Kid’. Yes, that snotty-nosed excuse for a brother who used to flick bogies at you and who got the best Christmas presents now has become, rather ironically, your best mate as well as your biggest rival out on track.
So, to get the lowdown, we accosted three sets of British racing brothers, two of which are twins. One, the Neaves’, are just setting out in the support classes of BSB, the second one is the Mackenzies, the 2016 British Supersport and Superstock 1000 champions and finally the Lowes’, world championship race winners and two of the nicest guys in the paddock.
Neave it out
If you follow the BSB scene and have an eager eye for up and coming talent, the Neave twins will need no introduction. They’ve proven sensational in the National Superstock 600 class this season, following an arguably short time competing on road bikes, or any bikes at all for that matter. But what exactly makes them tick, and how do they feel when one outdoes the other? We got the lowdown from both halves of the talented duet, with Tim giving us his take on Tom to start with.
“My brother Tom and I are probably the most competitive two people you’ll ever meet,” chuckled Tim. “Racing can bring us so close together and also send us so far apart.
Our folks would only ever let one of us race at first and it was me that got first dibs on it, but within a year Tomwas sick of that so he started the year after I did.
“It always seems that whatever one of us does, the other doesn’t want to miss out on and it’s always been the same while we’ve been growing up. I started out flat-tracking and he started road racing so Tom has a little more experience and I know he’s won a couple of races in Superstock 600 but my results have improved considerably too.
“When he wins, it’s tough to swallow, especially if I’m not on the podium but I’ll beat him at some point this year; the win is going to happen. Tom winning only makes me want it more. Deep down, I’m 100% chuffed that one of us has done the business but at the same time, I keep my head down and don’t want to speak with anyone. I’ll say well done but I won’t be all over him. He was the same with me at Knockhill when I finished second and he retired, he wasn’t there to congratulate me, I didn’t see him for over an hour.
“Tom and I not only race bikes together but we train together and we work together on the family farm so we’re constantly with each other, but on the track, it’s every man for themselves.”
Unsurprisingly, identical twin Tom was of much of the same opinion as his brother Tim, as he explained: “There’s a very strong rivalry between me and Tim as no one likes being beaten, especially by their brother. What’s driven me most is I wasn’t allowed to race for the first year when Tim was, I was told to go clay pigeon shooting or something! So I spent the year sat on the sidelines thinking all I wanted to do was to get out there and race. I saved up for a bike and a year later I said to mum and dad that I was having a go whether they liked it or not!
“There’s absolutely no history of racing in our family and I started helping local road racer Phil Crowe and he helped me get started with a bit of sponsorship but I remember being totally out of my depth in the early days. Tim was good at flat-tracking and had planned to go to America but it never happened and the next thing we know is we’re both road racing against each other.
“This year has gone really well apart from the big crash at Thruxton where I dislocated my shoulder. Tim keeps telling me he’s going to start beating me soon so I’m happy to let him think that but I’m not dropping my guard. I think we’re so evenly matched and have been throughout our careers.
“Tim and I have a very good relationship but there is a fierce rivalry between us. We wind each other up a bit but we never fall out as we’ve always got each other’s backs. I keep reminding him that I’ve beaten him more times than he’s beaten me this year, just so he never forgets!”
The Mackenzie clan
The Mackenzies need no introduction, and that’s mostly down to the performances of Taz and Taylor’s father, Niall, who had an unprecedented career in BSB and GP. And his sons aren’t doing half bad either, with Taz sporting a ride at Grand Prix level in the Moto2 class, while older brother Taylor is getting to grips with his Factory Suzuki in the BSB superbike class.
TOM WINNING ONLY MAKES ME WANT IT MORE. DEEP DOWN I’M 100% CHUFFED THAT ONE OF US HAS DONE THE BUSINESS.
“The good thing about my relationship with Taz is that we’re good friends above everything. We both look out for each other but we don’t live in each other’s back pockets, especially when it comes to racing. We’ll call each other up on an evening when he’s racing some place and I’m elsewhere.
“We’re a little bit unique in as much as our dad has been so successful and he’s been a huge influence on our careers. This year it’s important he’s been with Taz rather than me and I understand that.
“There’s no major rivalry between us and I couldn’t be jealous of him in the slightest, we’re not that sort of family. Of course, we both want to do well and we take the rough with the smooth and we both know we’re good enough to race at the levels we do. He shares in my success and I share in his and when he’s doing better than me, it motivates me as I’m sure it does him when things are going my way.
“There’s a bit of a joke in our house that the mistakes dad and I made in my early career, we’ll fix them so Taz doesn’t make the same ones as you get such a limited time in GPs to make an impression. Taz is in a great team in Moto2 whereas when I was in GPs, all my bike did was break down, so it was harder for me in that respect.”
Carrying on the caring theme, Taz’s take on Taylor was much the same. He explained: “We’ve always gone racing as a family and we’ve all put an awful lot of time, effort and money into what we do. It’s always been important to me that we never lose sight of that.
“I spent a lot of time watching Taylor in the early days and I know how talented he is, but he didn’t always get the breaks he needed. I’ve been dead lucky as whatever lessons he and dad learned have been passed down
to me which has helped me no end and I’m doing what I do now as a result of not just my own hard work, but theirs as well.
“Last year was fantastic as we just kept loading the van up with trophies as both of us won our respective championships but when things haven’t gone well for him in the past, and even to some extent this year, I try to motivate him. The problem is he’s very headstrong and sometimes I think the last thing he wants to hear is his little shit of a brother patronising him and telling him how to ride.
“Not that it bothers him it seems, although I wouldn’t like it, so sometimes dad will talk to him as he’s been there himself, but there’s never any pressure on either of us. Mum is exactly the same and leaves us to our own devices, she’s had a lifetime of motorbike racing and now chills out at home, but it’s still very much a family affair.” The Lowes bros Hailing from the same neck of the woods as the Neaves brothers, the Lowes twins are possibly the best showcase of British talent on the world scene right now. They’ve grafted their way to the top, fighting one another practically every step of the way, but even their fierce displays of competition have failed to impact on their admirable relationship, as Alex told us: “There’s a natural rivalry in whatever Sam and I do whether it’s playing golf or on track, so it can be quite difficult although I always want him to do well. I try not to think about it as the job’s hard enough, especially in the past when we’ve been battling together in a race. I look at him as just another competitor in that case; I don’t treat him any differently.
“We get on really well, we’re very close and we never fall out so I feel very lucky that we have two lots of experiences to fall back on. He’ll tell me if something isn’t working or give me his opinion if there’s an issue in the team and that experience is something you can’t buy. We’ll always try to work it to our advantage to put us in a better position and I’m very lucky to have Sam to give me that little extra advice when I need it.
“We support each other but we’re two very different characters in terms of personality and howwe ride the bike. Neither of us are good at taking constructive criticism, no one is really, and there have been times when Sam has said something to me and I’ve not taken it on board. Then I have a think about what he said after I’ve calmed down and he’s usually right. I’d rather hear it from Sam than someone I don’t have such a strong relationship with. I know he just wants the best for me.”
Unsurprisingly, Sam was of a similar disposition when he told us about his relationship with Alex: “As twins, we’ve always had a special bond and each of us trusts what the other says. I’m lucky to have that special relationship with him. There’s always been a very healthy competitiveness between us but nowadays there’s a lot of respect too and whereas we’ve raced against each other many times in the past, I’d love to do it again some time in the future.
“Alex and I speak every single day, not only about racing but about life in general and he helps me a lot. You have your good times and your bad times and because we’re both involved with racing at the highest level, we can understand what each other is experiencing. You can have your mates, girlfriends and even family members and while they maybe understand the situation, it’s how you deal with it and Alex and I know how to when it comes to each other. He’s my best mate.”