Mike Sinclair

King Kenny’s spanner-man

Published by Bateman Publishing. www.batemanpublishing.co.nz RRP (NZ): $39.99 incl GST 332 pages soft cover ISBN: 978-1-86953-956-6 Available from: www.fishpond.com or www.mightyape.co.nz

To refer to Mike Sinclair as a ‘spanner-man’ is a bit like calling Michelangelo a house painter. In a 25year career, Mike Sinclair became one of the most highly respected race engineers in the business, providing the technical input to riders like Pat Hennen, Randy Mamola, Wayne Rainey, Eddie Lawson, Jean-Michel Bayle, Norick Abe and Kenny Roberts Junior. More often than not, it was Sinclair’s relentless pursuit of perfection, continuous innovation and thirst for the competitive edge that made the difference between winning and losing. He was one of the first to delve into the black art of electronics, when that area was little understood outside the Formula One world. The life of a GP race engineer is a largely invisible one of incessant ravel, late nights (often all-nights), experimentation, triumphs and tragedies, and Mike Sinclair has experienced the full gamut. After his stints with