Whitham tries to teach his best friend Foggy trials riding skills
Twenty years after they last stood on a podium together Carl Fogarty and James Whitham can’t stop riding bikes — or trying to beat each other
Twenty years ago this August, Carl Fogarty and James Whitham shared the WSB podium in front of a sell-out crowd at Brands Hatch. Unfortunately it wasn’t the top step, Troy Corser bagged that, but it was a race in which the two diehard Brits went elbow to elbow to be the UK’s number one, finishing less than a second apart. Their success on track back in the day and their personalities off it mean that they remain two of the most recognisable motorcyclists in the UK. Whitham is the face of Eurosport for BSB and WSB, and Foggy — well Foggy is Foggy and winning the biggest show on TV — ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here’— in 2014 just added to the A-list status he earned from his TT wins and four WSB crowns.
Nowadays they are no longer taking chunks out of each other on track, but their banter each and every time they meet up remains just as cutting. Best of mates for over 20 years, another thing that hasn’t wavered is their passion for bikes and love of riding — if anything it has grown. Whitham still rides and coaches on track at his own race school, but for Foggy, due to knee and shoulder injuries sustained when racing, squeezing on to a sportsbike is a thing of the past. Now it’s all about off-road. For Whitham having a trials bike has been a constant in his life, whereas it’s all new for Foggy.
We meet at Whitham’s local practice ground which is a compact playground of rocks, climbs and woods. There are a few scary looking world championship type rock steps, but plenty of obstacles for a more normal level trials rider to tackle. Whitham is on home turf so looks relaxed and comfortable in his surroundings — Foggy less so.
Foggy “I’ve been riding 25 minutes, while James has been riding 25 years. He’s been trying to get me into it while I’ve spent years taking the piss out of him for riding one. It was actually my mate that got me a bike. He said I’d been going on for so long about getting one, so he went out and bought it and then told me I owed him three grand! I thought I was going to hate it and I’d just get rid of it straight away, but I actually love it.” As two of the ballsiest racers of their generation they made a living by pushing the limits, but it’s fair to say the self-preservation gene has finally caught up with these serial winners. Foggy “I never used to give things like this a second thought (pointing at a 2ft-high fallen tree), I’d just go steaming in, but now I don’t and my thinking has gone the other way. I think smashing myself up doing Dirtquake last year didn’t help — injuries suck! And as you get older they get so much harder to shake off.” Whitham “It’s not injuries I’m worried about. I specialise in life-threatening diseases, me!” [James is speaking about his current cancer relapse and ongoing treatment.]
Foggy “The funny thing is though, you shouldn’t complain about getting old, because for some people it’s not even an option. At least we’re getting old!”
Whitham “Bloody hell, Carl, have you been having some lessons on how to look good in the press? All those years of talking about yourself and now all you can do is talk about other people. I’m not sure I like this!”
While Whitham still competes regularly in trials, Foggy is yet to bite the bullet and actually enter a competitive event — something Whitham is convinced he’ll change in the near future. One thing is clear though, riding with Whitham is an all-encompassing and entertaining experience. Do something well and he’s the first one to praise you, but make a silly mistake or crash dramatically and the piss taking and mocking are both loud and relentless. So what’s it like turning up at a motorcycle event when you’re James Whitham or Carl Fogarty and you’ve made your name from being one of the most competitive people on the planet?
Whitham “Well, you generally get a free entry!”
Foggy “What? Even you! From my point of view I can park the competition side of things with trials, because I’m not very good at it. If we were lined up here on motocross bikes I’d be back to the guy I was that had to win. Nowadays I can finally do something I’m not very good at and laugh at myself. It’s all about banter and spending time with your mates, which is something I missed out a lot on when I was winning world championships, because it went to my
‘It’s the simple things in life that I love now’
head and I was up my own backside. The success, fame and TV did change me, which I regret, but now I’m back to being the shy lad from the North of England that I always was. James never changed; he’s always been a likeable idiot.”
Whitham “I never got good enough to be a c*** . I always intended to become a right bastard, but was never quite good enough! I used to think: ‘You just wait until I’m world champion’.”
Foggy “That’s what happened to me, I became a c***, but everybody liked it so I just carried on.”
While their competitive edge has subsided a little over the years, it’s definitely not gone. After an hour of free riding, Whitham starts laying out sections and he’s not riding to look good in the pictures, they’re hard technical routes that require 100% concentration.
For Whitham, while he clearly enjoys riding any type of bike, he’s here to practise, improve his technique and ultimately get better with the main motivation being beating his mates. Foggy is clearly new to trials, but as you would expect still oozes talent. It’s all new to him, but he’s up for giving it a go and the trademark intense stare of concentration is never far away.
So do they think they will always be on two wheels?
Whitham “Yes.”
Foggy “I’m riding more than now than I ever have. When I was racing I rode on track but nowhere else.”
Whitham “My inspiration is Mick Grant. He’s 74, he still rides and he still beats me. He doesn’t do modern stuff anymore (he rides a Bantam) and if I do a trials event with him I borrow his Cub.”
Foggy “I’ve got a flat-track bike, but I don’t know where I’m going with that.”
Whitham “Left! Keep going left. Don’t turn right, for f***’s sake.”
Foggy “That’s just as well I like left-hand corners and I don’t like changing gear or using the brakes so it kind of works well for me. But after last year’s disaster at Dirtquake… [Foggy broke his shoulder blade, ribs and punctured his lung in a crash whilst racing at the King’s Lynn event last summer.]
“It’s funny because if someone had told me 30 years ago I’d be riding trials, enduro and flat track I’d say they’d want locking up, but here we are. My perfect day is going away with the lads to Spain enduro riding. Bit of sunshine, beer and riding bikes. It’s the simple things in life that I love so much now.”
After three hours of riding we’re done, both Foggy and Whit have got a sweat on, both have had a few good rides and both have crashed. But being on trials bikes it’s no big deal. Living an hour apart they don’t actually see each other as much as they’d like; this is one of the first times they’ve ridden trials bikes together. But from the look on their faces it’ll be the first of many.