1986: HONDA
In late 1985, I was in Japan with Eddy Lejeune at Honda with my new factory contract signed for the following season when we were asked to give a trials demonstration in front of the HRC workforce. They applauded and appreciated every move we made; everyone involved was 100% behind the team. It was so professional it was untrue. Eddy and I were taken through the HRC Competition Department. I knew it would be good but what I saw made me realise the privileged position I was in. To see my machine being hand-built alongside Wayne Gardner’s 500 Moto GP machine and the motocross machine of Dave Thorpe was one of the highlights of my life; I still smile when I think about it today.
Direct advertising of cigarettes was banned in 1986, so tobacco giant, Rothmans, sponsored the HRC motorcycle teams instead. My new machine featured many changes from the production one, including the frame and many parts in magnesium, the engine casings, carburettor, and front forks. The fork stanchions were made from titanium, along with the wheel spindles and all the various fasteners. The engine size would also be increased to 270cc. We both tested various prototypes whilst in Japan. We would always explain what we wanted but never tried to tell the engineers what to do. They would then go away and come back to show what they had changed and why they had changed it, usually explaining the changes on printed-off performance graphs. Each and every one of the new parts was a work of art; they were very proud people.
I was asked about some personal preferences such as handlebars and footrest positions and how I liked the engine to perform. Separate engineers would spend all day working with me in one chosen area on the machine. We once tried eight different footrest positions until I was happy; I then had to explain to them why!
We had different sets of headstock steering bearings that could be offset to adjust the head angle. It was never a case of number one and two team riders; we were always treated as equals.
MECHANIC MINDER
My world was changing at a rapid pace. I needed a mechanic-come-minder, so the services of experienced Derrick Edmondson was added to the team. His understanding of the Honda four-stroke engines was second to none. My new RTL arrived in time for me to repeat my debut win at the Colmore in 1985. Everything necessary and more had been carried out on the machine; it was a work of art. A true ‘Works’ supplied machine. Honda provided a van that included a workshop area where Derrick could carry out any work required on the trips away from the UK.
ROTHMANS HONDA TEAM
We were presented to the trials world as the Rothmans Honda Team, comprising Eddy and myself. I would have two machines, which we would rotate. I would ride one and then send it back to Derrick’s workshop while I rode the other. No matter what, the machines always appeared to be brand new. Derrick looked after the machines as his own. His work ethic towards me was always 100%. Eddy Lejeune also had his mechanic, and we all shared a very happy working relationship. Both team machines ran like clockwork. The only problem I can remember with the machines is that they were very temperamental to changes in altitude as they could ‘cough’; the loss of power at high altitude was also a problem.
WINNER
In one of the hottest-ever World Championship seasons, I started with one vision and proved my commitment with a win in England and a second in Ireland. I won another three rounds, but what really wrecked the job was finishing ninth in Spain; for some reason, I just was not with it that day. We all know who won the world title in 1986, and history records it was not me. Another BTC title was added, and I was once again second in the SSDT. Honda was very happy with me, but Rothmans were pulling out of trials and putting all of their money into F1. They only had the finances to support one rider, and as Lejeune still had one year left on his two-year contract, he got the deal.
It was not easy at Fantic. After working with the Japanese, I struggled to explain what I needed from the team as no one spoke English. If you did not like something at Honda, you explained, and they would analyse it; but, at Fantic, they did not like it if you disagreed with them. After my first year with Fantic in 1987, I had ridden the 301 model before moving to the new-generation red 303. The 301 was good, but the 1988 303 was something else!
Thierry Michaud was a personal friend of everyone at Fantic. He had lost the world championship to Jordi Tarres in 1987. It appeared that everything was geared around him winning the title back in 1988, so, at times, I felt like the second rider in the team.
I had continued winning in
Great Britain in 1987 and was still focused on winning the elusive world title in 1988. At the factory in Italy, I found a new friend in the Fantic mechanic and development man Dario Seregani. He had worked wonders at SWM before moving to the ill-fated Garelli trials project and then Fantic in late 1987. I now had a friend who understood what I wanted, and things changed dramatically.
In 1988, he provided me with the engine and performance I wanted from the Fantic. He repositioned the air-filter arrangement in conjunction with a new exhaust and silencer, and it worked. A hand-made rear suspension linkage was added, and an adjustment to the steering head angle was made. I won the tough English world round on that famous day in the mud at Butser Limeworks and followed this up with my first SSDT win.