‘THE NEXT BARRY SHEENE’ PART TWO
Glory in France
Debut season in the GP... making history at Le Mans... ones that got away.
THE 1983 season promised to be a great year for me and that’s how it proved. I had everything going for me. I was in the 250cc grand prix series for the first time, the youngest kid on the grid, I had a great coach in Mal and one of the best GP mechanics in the world in Howard Gregory, while the cream of Yamaha had produced a gem of a bike for the 83 season.
The 11-round 1983 world championship campaign began on March 19 in South Africa, where I felt great in practice and was doing even better in my first-ever GP race. There were five riders, including me, swapping places until I ground to a halt after the chain snapped. Although out of the race, I’d at least shown that I could run with the fastest guys in the world on a track I’d never seen.
On the trip to SA I noticed a stunt rider at the track wearing all black. I didn’t recognise him at first until my great friend and teammate, Ireland’s Donny Robinson, pointed out that it was in fact Eddie Kidd, the then golden boy of stunt riding and a right good looking chap. On the flight home Eddie was sat two rows behind us so, being a big fan of his, I introduced myself and chatted to him all the way home.
After the disappointment of South Africa, we were off to France. For some reason we were late getting to Le Mans, where Yamaha had produced a factory upgrade kit for their top riders. We’d been blown away in Kyalami by the straight line speed of Patrick Fernandez’s Hummel cylinder Yamaha and you couldn’t slipstream the rapid Chevallier Yamahas of Balde, de Radigues and Espie.
We paid the price for arriving late because Christian Sarron, Carlos Lavado and the other factory riders got first pick ofYamaha’s new go-faster kits, while me and Donny got what was left, which wasn’t a lot.
If I felt robbed of a podium position in Jo’burg, that was nothing compared to the disastrous start I had in France, where my bike seized – both cylinders – on each practice day. Talk about being on a downer. I qualified in 32nd place – or, to put it another way, last. On the start line for the race
