Steve Parrish
The racing season is over now, and they’ve crammed it all in. I hope we don’t get another one quite the same, but I’m pleased we got one nonetheless, especially after last year’s shortened calendar. You’ve gotta feel a bit sorry for Jason O’Halloran though, haven’t you? It’s a bitter-sweet deal, and all the riders know the score with the showdown system, but in any other championship rulings around the world, you’d have a safe bet that Jase was going to get it wrapped up with a round or two to go. Well, it all went a bit pear-shaped for him at Oulton Park and young Mackenzie was there to step up and make it count when it really mattered, so fair play to him.
I was on the Eurosport commentary for the final round of the World Endurance Championship at Most, and that race was just as thrilling as the BSB finale. BMW was victorious but beat Yamaha by just 0.07 seconds, which is incredible after six hours of racing! I think that must be the closest finish in the history of the championship. I was on the job with Terry Rymer and he kept pissing around and causing trouble, so I put some Bovril on the nose of his glasses... it took him a while to work out where the smell was coming from, but he got there in the end... hence the napkin!
On the World Superbike front, it’s been so exciting to watch the battles between Johnny and Toprak, but it’s looking like Toprak has finally got one hand firmly on the trophy. It will be a shame to see Johnny lose his unbelievable winning streak, if he doesn’t win, that is – but it is bound to happen sooner or later.
I’ve just come back from a weekend at Berwick-uponcharity Tweed playing golf in a event and, once again, I claimed the Shit Golfer Award. The missus is going to love that one on the mantelpiece. My son and his mate came with us but got a bit carried away after the evening’s drinks. They ended up in the sea at 1am, lost their hotel keys, found some keys on the reception desk, and helped themselves to another room. It turned out to be a honeymoon suite for a bride and bridegroom, who returned to discover my son and his mate in their bed! The bride took a swing at my son and the boys were swiftly kicked out of the hotel. They ended up sleeping under a chippy awning... I’ve only just stopped laughing, the tw$ts.
I did my first Mad Tour show of the year last week in Newbury and it was a sell-out, which was brilliant. It was nice to be back on the road again, but that’s it for now as we’ve only decided to do one this year with one thing and another, but we’re back into the swing of it now, ready for next year’s dates. For now, we’ve got the Motorcycle Live show to look forward to in early December – me and Jamie Whitham are running the Black Horse stage with multiple guests. We are looking forward to a normal bike show again, and we hope to see you there.