Foggy on...
The World According to Foggy is in the shops tomorrow (Thursday) priced £20. Here’s a taster…
Characters in sport
I like to be around big characters. It’s just a shame that these characters are disappearing from top-class sport. The more sport is on telly, the more sponsorship it attracts. The more sponsorship that’s available, the more the sportsmen and sportswomen are paid. And the more they’re paid, the more they’re scared of opening their mouths.
Meeting Whitham
When I started racing I could not wait to get to the island for the first time. It wasn’t for the TT, but for the Manx GP. I wanted as much track time on the bike as possible for the 250cc newcomers’ race, so went out in every session including one damp and misty session. I passed the other guys in newcomers’ orange jackets in the first few laps but, all of a sudden, one of them came flying back underneath me at Ballacraine and nearly took my front end away.
‘Who the f**k is that dickhead?’ I thought. I caught up with him, drafted alongside him on Sulby Straight and looked across angrily. I saw a weird-looking thing with a bright-red face and one big eye in the middle of his forehead. ‘What the f**k’s going on there?’ I thought, as I pulled past him. Race on! Over the mountain section, we could barely see 20 yards in front of our faces, and how we are both here today I will never know. We pulled into the pits – me first, obviously – and I went up to introduce myself. ‘That was a laugh, you nutter,’ I said. ‘I’m Carl Fogarty, good to meet you.’ ‘Too right. I’m James Whitham. See ya later, I’m off out for another lap.’
Regrets, I have a lot!
People say you shouldn’t have regrets, but that’s b ***** ks. I regret having that extra-hot curry last night. I regret running out of fuel on the last lap of the British Grand Prix in 1993. I regret not racing full-time in GPs. Who wouldn’t regret that? Maybe I wasn’t given that Marlboro Yamaha ride by Kenny Roberts in 1996 because of the way I spoke to people or handled myself back then. I regret that, too. But there is no question I would have won races on the Marlboro Yamaha, which would have suited my style. Would I have beaten Doohan and become world champion? I can’t answer that. Nobody can.
The best TT rider of all time
Joey? McGuinness? Neither, in my opinion. The fastest guy I have ever seen around the Isle of Man was Steve Hislop. He had the edge on me round there – and it’s never easy for me to admit that. I was faster on the short circuits and would not have even classed Steve as a rival. At that time, my main rivals were Whitham, Rymer, McElnea and Reynolds. But Hizzy could have gone on to win TTs for another 10 years.
McGuinness
I was standing on the scaffolding of our rented house in 2015 when he first came through in the Senior race, dust flying everywhere as he used every inch of the road. His autobiography is called Built for Speed, but to look at him he’s more built for driving a tractor. He was built for speed that day, though.
Michael Dunlop
I remember him as an annoying little lad when I was racing against his dad, Robert. I once visited their family home. It was a weird place, like a stately home but with sheep running around, shitting everywhere.
Yer Maun
With 26 wins, he is still the most successful TT rider of all time and I have many fond memories of Joey (not including the time I was carried out of his pub at 5am after he introduced me to potato wine). But it was his final appearance at the TT, in 2000, that I remember the most. Bear in mind that his first win was in 1977. So to win the Formula One TT 23 years later at the age of 48 was incredible. Not content with the Formula One win, Joey followed it up with two more wins in the 125 and 250 races. I remember thinking: ‘For f**k’s sake, Joey, just walk away and retire. You’ve achieved all you need to.’ But racing was in his blood and he would probably still be racing classic bikes to this day.
Guy Martin
Anyone who straps himself into a box travelling at 400mph across sand or hurtles down a mountain on a tea tray or flies the fastest human-powered aircraft, as he did for his TV show deserves respect – he does have a few screws loose, though!
‘People say you shouldn’t have regrets, but that’s b ***** ks’