Christian Iddon
Ihave always been a big advocate of hard work paying off, but after a couple of hard years on track not quite being where you want to be, you start to wonder. Sure, rounded the season off well with the Rider’s Cup, and then went on to win the Sunflower, which meant I left Tyco BMW in a wonderful way, yet even so the last few years have been challenging.
Funnily enough, probably my best years in racing were when I put in the least effort. Back in the middle part of my Supermoto days, I would go out three nights a week without fail (not on a race week) and get absolutely ruined around the clubs and pubs in Oldham with my best mate. I was getting paid enough that I didn’t need to be up the next morning so I never bothered, and I would then head off on a weekend to the races and pretty much win everything in sight – but that is a different story altogether. For one reason or another, that lifestyle couldn’t continue (or not if you want to be really professional anyway) so since then I really have put my heart and soul into my racing and it’s been awesome, but the last couple of years have been a struggle and that hard work hasn’t seemed to have been paying off.
Grinding away for hours on end in the gym and cycling till the pedals won’t turn any more (as all the top riders do), and then not getting that result at the weekend it does start to niggle away in the back of your mind. However, despite the results not being so apparent on the track, it has brought about that big result off it and I’m delighted to say that for 2020 I have signed for the PBM Ducati team and I absolutely cannot wait. Despite how I look, I’m not all that dim and I’m acutely aware that Paul Bird will have had every man and his dog from this championship and the next calling him up to replace the outgoing BSB champ
Scott Redding. I also know that the BSB organisers would have been pushing hard to have another MotoGP or WSBK exile in that seat and so my chances to land that ride were slim to none. However, despite all that, I am so grateful that Birdy has seen something in me that he likes.
So how did it happen? Well, taking the fight to the Ducatis at the back end of the year certainly put me in his eye line I would say, and despite the fact we had been chatting, there was never anything for me in reality and I was actually set to sign up for another team in BSB. Then after the last race of 2019 I was in Perc Ferme ready to pick up the Rider’s Cup when Birdy asked me to come and see him later on. I duly did and now here we are. I am set to ride the bike that finished in the top three in the Championship and for the team that went 1-2, and has won seven BSB titles. It’s the biggest and best result I could have hoped for!
As I had won the Rider’s Cup, I was in the post-race Press conference where my, now new teammate, Josh Brookes, had been asked about who his new teammate would be. “I don’t know,” he said, “but I hope they will be quieter and slower than Scott.” Knowing I was set to go and meet Paul, I sat and smiled to myself, ‘Well, I can do one of those things, Josh.’
I’d have big boots to fill replacing Scott, but I don’t plan to fill them. I have my own set of boots so I’m bringing them with me, and as much as I may not make as much noise off the track, I certainly aim to make as much noise on it. This is my big opportunity and it seems hard work really does pay off. I honestly feel like I’ve already won, but this is just the beginning…