Christian Iddon .............................
Iddon sums up his 2018 season and talks of confectionary packaging-based superstition.
Well, that’s the 2018 season over. The least successful season in my career ever! I’ve never gone an entire year without a trophy, but this year I have. Okay, I did get one at the Le Mans 24 hour but I did that as a team effort of course so I’m not going to count that, and I’m hoping to muster up the speed to win the local lads’ Christmas outing to the go-kart track, but aside from that? Zilch.
The last couple of rounds at Assen and Brands Hatch were both a struggle with my ongoing shoulder issues but we got through, and in all honesty I ended up being pretty damn competitive in both. I even think there was a possible race win on the cards in one of the wet Brands Hatch races but a faulty fuel pump five laps from the end put a stop to that. I did crash again though and further separated my collarbone so that then put me out of doing the Sunflower races over in Northern Ireland which was a massive shame; ending 2018 broken. Talks for 2019 are well under way though, and I have a few options under my belt. I do hope that by the next column I’ll be able to reveal all.
As the season is now out, it’s time for me to get a few other things in order. First of all, I’ll be on with getting this collarbone fixed up and I’ve also started to compile my end of season ‘thank you’ gifts that I send out to my sponsors and family for all they do for me throughout the year. One of the things I send is an end of year book telling the tales of the season and I’ve been compiling pictures to go in it. As I was scrolling through the camera roll on my phone I came across a picture of me getting my kit on with a Bakewell tart tin on my head. Yep, a Bakewell tart tin. Empty of course! Now, we racers are a strange breed for sure and almost all of us have rituals before each race but it wasn’t until I actually saw the picture that I realised with this one I may have actually gone just a little too far.
I don’t know any rider without a superstition. I have quite a few things I do before a race and most of them I can trace back to some kind of origin. For example, I always wear something odd (tends to be odd boots as that is the easiest to do) which goes back to a Supermoto race where I had an amazing race wearing odd gloves.
Most racers will scrape new kit on the floor before riding, throw new helmets on the grass, cross themselves, dress in a particular order, or any combination of such things. I’ve heard of a Japanese rider who throws salt on his kit before he rides but God knows why – but my favourite is the Bakewell tart tin. It was at Thruxton this year and I had gone around to see my girlfriend’s brother who races in Stock 1000. My girlfriend was sat there with an empty Bakewell tart tin on her head so I immediately asked, “Why the f**k have you got that on your head?” She laughed and then said it was to see how long I would take to notice it.
She looked damn stupid and had to sit bolt upright to balance the bloody thing on her head but then she said the magic words: “It’s a lucky hat!” and that was it. Clearly if there was a lucky hat knocking around I had to have it. The hat then became mine and ever since, as I have been getting my leathers on I do so with the lucky (Bakewell tart tin) hat perched on my head! The lucky hat did nearly come to an untimely demise when my mate came to a race and wanted to help to clean out the camper. Thankfully I intercepted the bin bag before it made it to the Biffa skip of doom and the hat lives on.
Well, that’s me for another month. I have the lucky hat tin perched on my head hoping it also sends out good vibes to BSB team managers. Now, where’s the job centre?