Steve Parrish
Gearing up for a fun few months in the sun.
So now we’re hitting February, I feel like everyone has finally got over the Christmas rush! Or I have anyways. I’m not sure about a lot of my pals though, as I sent them all out penis enlargement kits as presents… I’m guessing they weren’t thankful for them. Aside from helping out friends, and dressing my alpacas up in Christmas gear (don’t worry kids it wasn’t cruel, they absolutely loved it), I’ve been razzing about on the sidecar. God, I absolutely love that thing, it’s always a good laugh and it sort of keeps me going until the summer holidays come round... or until I manage to escape the winter here.
I mean, the cold weather is just a bit pants, so I do my best to escape it, kicking off with a trip down to South Africa for a classic race meeting on an old school RG500. It’s always a good laugh and there’s even some younger guys like James Hillier who came along for the craic which is nice, especially in the 28 degree heat. It’s only a weekend, but I decided to treat myself to a couple of weeks’ holiday afterwards to relax. I mean, it would almost be rude not to, wouldn’t it?
From there, I’m back in Blighty for a couple of weeks before buggering off again… this time I’ll be heading down under for a couple more classic race meetings… one in New Zealand called Hampton Downs and then one in Eastern Creek. It’s absolutely bloody awesome there, and I’ve done it for the past four years now; just roll up like a factory rider and use my mate’s RG500. If that wasn’t cool enough my support crew aren’t that bad either: I’ve got a whole bunch of ex-GP mechanics that have worked for the likes of Rossi and Doohan in a previous life. Even Jerry Burgess is coming along to help out. It’s absolutely great though as everyone is so chilled out nowadays as it’s not serious in any sense of the word; I’ve already been told by the boys I’m only allowed one main carb jet change and one sprocket change a day, because otherwise it will eat into their valuable beer and barbecue time. Who am I to blame them though? I’ll already be there anyways, and if I go pretty slowly I’ll just blame the squad.
Aside from that, things are a bit boring without any racing aren’t they? I mean there isn’t even any testing to talk about, besides the unfortunate Dani Pedrosa of course who must literally be made of glass. The boy quits to become a test rider and still ends up broken, which really isn’t ideal for the KTM squad – but then again, that’s racing. On the roads scene, I have heard some very light rumours that Michael Dunlop will be back racing this year reunited with the Tyco BMW squad, although that is still very early doors. What I do know is he’s bought himself a plane and he landed it at the IOM last month, so hopefully that’s a good sign…