McPint gets a dose of reality
McPint’s getting organised with his Ducati project
‘IT’S FAR EASIER TO TURN UP AS A RIDER AND STRUT ABOUT’
So for those of you that don’t know, my plan was to race the Ducati TriOptions Cup which runs at BSB races. The idea was that I’d do it with a good friend of mine, Andre Compton, who’s a pro speedway rider. I figure that anyone that is going to go well on the roads has to be doing a lot of other racing – just look at Hickman or Harrison. Obviously it’s all up in the air, but right now I’m asking myself ‘why am I messing around building these Ducatis?’ I tell you what, it’s murder trying to organise it all and team managers who do it full time have really gone up in my estimations.
For years I have just rocked up in my camper and the hardest job for me has been to put the jacks down and wind out my awning! Team managers have to be so organised, always on the phone, chasing, chasing. I’ve been doing a fair bit of chasing myself and it’s a nightmare. You ring people and they don’t ring back, it’s just hassle and hard work. But while I’ve hit a few brick walls, I’ve had some good people come out of the woodwork and step up the support, which is brilliant. Win, lose or draw, they’re on side. What I’ve learned is that it’s a lot easier to just turn up as a rider, put on your team shirt and your sun glasses and strut about. You just don’t realise what else goes into it until you try and do it yourself and I’m only trying to pull together a little project – can you imagine what it’s like trying to run and organise a big team? So fair play to them, during my career at Honda I felt like strangling my old team boss Neil Tuxworth a few times but now I’m doing it myself I have to give him a bit of credit, not too much, but definitely a bit of credit.