Tom Sagar
Good memories of motorcycling families hold well with me, and the name Sagar is one of them. I bashed rocks at trials with two brothers, Colin and Paul Sagar, under the guidance of their father Alan on my many trips into Wales in the 70s and 80s. I lost touch with Colin for many years but Paul emerged a few years later with a larger-than-life son, Tom. Always with an infectious smile and polite voice, we became good friends as his life followed his father Paul’s into off-road riding. A very competitive trials rider, with the success that followed he was one of the early pioneers of my generation who I watched move from the slow-speed world of trials to the fullthrottle racing action of the enduro world. The success continued as a professional rider in a factory team in the world championship before a move to the domestic home scene brought him into contact with Paul ‘Fast Eddy’ Edmondson. On our recent ‘Dealer Visit’ feature on the Fast Eddy empire I got talking with Tom and his path to the job he now holds with Paul Edmondson; as he said it’s basically just a change of gear…
So what is the new change of gear?
My primary job role at ‘Fast Eddy’ is running the race series. There’s something about building enduro or extreme tracks that ticks the box for me. The team and I are always trying to build and run the best tracks we can, and it’s actually quite good training.
At the moment, the shop is a kind of a fill-in job. However, now that I have spent so much time there, it will be fairly easy to fall in and out of this particular role once racing resumes. The events take up a lot of time and effort to make them the success story they are, as do the training schools. I feel very privileged to be part of the success story and be so involved with the off-road motorcycle world.
I remember your early trials days. Do you?
One seen, never forgotten. Trust me, John! Joking apart, I know how long you have known our family, and in particular my Gran and Grandad. They have been very much a part of my whole career, going right back to the early days. Since the age of seven, I have been riding motorcycles. By the age of nine, I had competed in my first season of ACU Youth Class British Trials, when I won the 1995 D class championship.
It was a case of trials and more trials.
Correct, nothing else mattered; all I wanted to do was ride in trials and eventually beat my father, Paul. I never looked back after that first title and went through the youth classes winning all the relevant ACU age and class championships.
In 2001, I finished third overall in the European Junior Trials Championship. These were fantastic times against many riders who would become world-class trials riders. Sharing the podium with a certain Toni Bou and Great Britain’s James Dabill in 2003 were also special moments.
You started to mix trials and enduro in 2004.
After competing in the adult trials championships, where I won the ACU Expert class from 2003 to 2005, I felt that my career wasn’t going in the direction I wanted. Being an enduro fan and my father being an ex-British Enduro Champion, I was tempted to take the gamble and race enduros. The gamble paid off, winning my first Expert championship in the first year in 2004. My mind was made up; I wanted to race motorcycles — not ride them, race them.
With some strong, encouraging results, you went ‘Full Factory.’
Three years later, I became a KTM factory rider. I’d had a strong season in 2006, winning the E2 European Junior Championship and good results in the British. I finished third overall in 2007 — a very strong year in my first KTM season riding in the FIM Junior World Championship. It gave me the chance to ride for the factory team. I competed on a 250F rather than the 450, which I had such success riding the year before. It was a great experience riding for a factory team, but with the season I had, it just wasn’t meant to be.
And the success came.
The period with KTM would see some of my most significant achievements, winning Junior World Enduro races, the British Championship and finishing second at the Erzberg Rodeo Extreme. More success would follow, including four overall British titles and a European title; racing was my life.
Tell us about life after the factory ride.
It’s never nice going backwards and the year after was a struggle. If I am honest, I could get good results, but trying hard to show I could still mix it with the best riders in the world sometimes didn’t work; it was tough.
The 2010 season was the first time I rode for Paul Edmondson aboard a Suzuki 450. It was the start of me finding and getting my mojo back, and it wouldn’t be the first time Paul would help with this.
How do you rate the current crop of young riders in the enduro world?
I have not much to say really; the results speak for themselves. You only have to see them to find out who’s winning. I have ridden against them all and had some great battles — and some great times with them too. The UK has great riders in enduro, but we need to make sure there is a young generation coming up behind to carry on with this success and keep the sport in the limelight.
You never forgot your trials roots, though.
I will never forget my grassroots. I have always kept in touch with the sport. I still love riding a trials motorcycle and having a ‘play’ when time permits.
I have competed and finished the Scottish Six Days Trial a total of 15 times, with a personal best of ninth. After Covid-19, I will continue to compete in Scotland every May. I have ridden the event so many times with my dad, Paul — it’s so good to spend quality time ‘father and son’ riding. You can never put a price on these times.
Having ridden with Toni Bou, was he always on a winning path?
You just knew he was something special. I remember at a European round in 2003, there was a crowd of riders in the training ground with people stood in a wood. I thought, ‘that’s strange as no one’s riding’, but as I got closer, I saw that Toni Bou was hopping on the back wheel and riding up quite a large step. I suppose this was the actual turning point in my riding career. Even back then, he was very dedicated and all eyes and ears, watching the other riders, learning all the time. I am happy that it all worked out for him; he is such a decent guy – 28 FIM Trial World titles, wow!
Will the Fast Eddy shop take more of an interest in trials?
Yes, one hundred per cent! It’s an area of the off-road world that all the staff are very keen to become involved with, and I am doing trials training schools with the enduro events. As my grandad, Alan, always told me, ‘if you can master the art of a slow-speed motorcycle, you can always go faster’.
Trials are very ‘grass roots’, and by getting a customer onto a trials motorcycle, maybe they will progress to enduro and motocross. The majority of off-road riders I know do the full circle of trials, enduro, motocross and then back to trials. It’s passed down through generations of motorcycling families such as my own.
Tom Sagar in 2021
Twenty-five years after starting my first competitive season, I have achieved some great results and Championships. Even now, I am still ready to win races and keep enjoying the thing I love — my motorcycle.
Covid-19 has been and still is very challenging, but I can’t thank Paul enough for the opportunity that he has given me to work with him. It is one I will embrace and strive to enjoy; as they say, if in doubt, flat out!
The Off-Road World – thank you.
I cannot close this article without giving a huge shout-out to everyone who has ever supported me in my 25-year career. It’s had its ups and downs, as do most things, but most of all, the support, be it in trials or enduro, has always been second to none. I have had many sponsors, too many to mention, but I would like to thank you all, past and present, for keeping me riding and racing. Thank you.