Works Team - The Crack 2

1985 - leaving the Navy, I had no solid idea of what to do next, so on a whim I contacted Chas Mortimer to see if he needed another mechanic for his Racing School. When I arrived at Silversone Circuit, he steered me rather to his GP Team Unit, and suddenly I was working for a Works Motorcycle Grand Prix team, Silverstone Armstong. Stuff of dreams really.

Donnie McLeod & Nial Mackenzie were the riders, 250 & 350 British champions that year, and it was a great experience to be involved in the Nationals and GP´s with them.  

But, as great as it was, I was not a professional mechanic or tuner, my career lay in electronics and telecommunications, and to further it I needed to go back to college. So at the end of the year I quit the team, Chas was a gem about it and wished me well.

That does not mean I had totally left racing.....................I´d got to know another Rotax rider, a young Andy Machin from a racing family with some impressive history. I spannered for Andy in `86 at week-ends, and he was clearly talented. After an unfortunate fall at Donnington put Andy out of action for a while with a broken wrist, I turned my focus to finishing college.