Built For Speed - John McGuinness
Since the weather today is less than wonderful I'll take the time to mention this book.
Firstly what the book is not. This is not a manual on how to do a quick lap of the Isle of Man. When he was writing this, McGuinness had no immediate intention of retiring and he didn't want to give away any of his secrets - and he says so.
His writing style is brutally honest. If he stuffed up, be it a social situation, a business decision, an on-track incident or a familiy situation, he doesn't hold back. He is a working class lad and expresses himself in a very direct way. Were I writing a book like this I doubt I would be quite as forthcoming as he is.
He is by trade a bricklayer and getting the money to go racing did not come easy and that, coupled with a rather undirected approach to racing in the early days, meant that he was relatively late getting to ride on the Island. He considers this no bad thing. Young riders can be pressurised by team management or sponsors and he feels strongly that the Isle of Man is no place to be riding under pressure.
On one occasion Guy Martin made a crack about riders having to leave to polish their flash motorhomes. McGuinness took offence. He was copping flak from a 25 year old guy who was riding for a top team with top machinery. At 25 McGuinness was still laying bricks and trying to get the money together to go racing. In the earlier days he did have a big American motorhome but only a few people knew that was his only home. He, his wife and kids lived in it full time.
Still, he could return fire. At a subsequent TT McGuinness had won and Guy Martin was on the podium with him, as ceremonies were completing McGuinness turned to Martin, shook his hand and said "Excuse me I have to go and polish my motorhome."
McGunness comes across as a nice guy. He really doesn't want to be bothered just prior to the start of a race but people will come up for a selfie or a chat or whatetever. He obliges because he understands that it's a big occasion for them too.
There's some nice anecdotes about TT characters. He tells about the occasion Joey Dunlop was honoured by his home town. McGuinness and some other Brit riders went across to support Dunlop which he appreciated. After the formalities the group adjourned to Dunlop's pub. After a serious drinking session Joey Dunlop drove the guys back to their accommodation. The place had a big rockery out the front, as he left Dunlop demolished the rockery completely. The owner appeared screaming the odds wanting to know what the Hell was going on.
Surveying the scene he asked, "Is that Joey Dunlop?" When told it was, he laughed and went back inside.
McGuinness comments on the various classes of bike. The 600s need to be ridden very precisely to get a good lap time and he feels the successful riders are underrated. The Superstock bikes are relatively easy to ride and thus there are quite a few riders capable of riding at the front of the field. The Superbike class is different. He says the Superbikes have a very small window where they perform at their best and very few riders can reach that window. The most difficult bikes to ride are the electric bikes, everytime an ebike goes into the pits the crew change the power settings and it's like riding a completely different bike. He says riding 120mph laps on a bike that weighs quarter of a ton is a special challenge.
McGuinness counsels new riders to wait until they have new machinery to race in the Island, both for safety reasons, and because they need to be riding around learning the course not working on the bike in the pits. Even now his bikes are never the most powerful. He wants enough power but he also wants reliability.
I have no idea what the book costs locally I got mine from The Book Depository. And now on to Michael Dunlop's book...
There is a grey blur, and a green blur. I try to stay on the grey one. - Joey Dunlop
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