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October 8th and 9th. Zippers, welcome to this episode
of the tea with me podcast with me, she and Todd.
There's a bunch of lights in the studio here.
These guys are some crack and we we've got a real good episode
coming up for you today. Before we get into anything, my
leg's still broken. All right, don't worry about
that. Before we get into anything,
I've just announced a bloody tour of America.
I'm not a blood like not a war rampage.
I'm doing stand up all over America.
The tour is in March. I'm going to tell you where I'm
playing and you can go get tickets from the from the venues
if you want to go. 16th of March, Cobbs Comedy Club, San
Francisco, 18th of March, the Hollywood Improv, Los Angeles.
20th of March, Chicago Zanies 22nd Laugh Boston 23rd, The
Comedy Loft, Washington DC 24th to Stan New York and then 26th 2
shows in Woodlawn, NY in Rory Dolan's and that's just a guy's
house, just Rory Dolan's gaff. I used to work in spar with him.
It's where long where like so so many expats live.
So if you know anyone in those places, send them my way.
Tell them there's a there's a kid coming to town from home and
you know he's packing a few jokes.
But yeah, buzzing for that tickets already on sale and I
mean it's anyone's guess. The guy's like many people to
the venue hold San Francisco 400 so so who knows, you know, I
could be out in the second. I could either be out in the
second show or there could be a people at that show, who knows?
But there you go tell anyone you know and I definitely would
appreciate that. Anyone you know who lives in
America, not like your mate that lives in Tomb is no good to me
at all. Or you know, you've got a
brother in Cairo or something. Whatever it is, you have a
fucking an auntie in down. Where's the place in America?
Anywhere in the world? Tasmania.
There you go.
Fuck it. To be fair, you've knocked that
out of the park. That is my American tour and
shows you've got locally because people ask a lot where you're
playing next. I'm doing the Opera House, Grand
Opera House in Belfast at the end of June, start of July, a
few shows and then in September as well.
We'll put the link in the bio. Go to plug the Patreon,
patreon.com/tea with me podcast. Now people won't admit what is,
what is the Patreon? Is it a drink?
It's not. It's a site where you can get
more content for the podcast. You can support the podcast, you
know, because like we go through a lot of a lot of dosh here on
record days. You know, let's just say Don has
a habit and he needs it taken care of.
That's all I'll say. He just sent an alert to my
watch then Fuck up patreon.com/TV podcast.
We do a bonus episode on a Monday.
We do a thing also where in that episode where we guess what,
people look like people that are patrons.
I just get the boys to give me a random name and you know, it's
offensive. You know, I've got to say that
we've done two of them and they've not been kind to people,
but the Patreon's a lot of fun. We also do a live stream episode
on a Friday with some of your favourite comedians.
The last week we have Mickey Bartlett and Dave Elliott, an
episode for the ages. I hope they don't drop out
because we're recording this before that happens.
So I hope it's not like me and just Rory Dolan back back on the
pod. Sponsors.
We've got sponsors, don't we done what episodes this mean
148148 complete stop at the dark.
It can pull Tasmania out of us all.
But when it comes to the episode of the podcast, obviously no
chance. Yeah, it's episode 148 or so.
We are sponsored as always, as Power by Manscaped, the number
one in Man's Below the Belt grooming.
You know what I'm talking about. You know, when you need to take
care of yourself down there. Maybe you're still using
traditional methods, you know, maybe you're going in with those
wee nail scissors hard open sometimes, aren't they?
You know, especially if you get water in them.
We bit rusty. I mean, you don't want to be a
guy that's trimming your pubic hair with rusty nails.
Like what do you do if you're if you're whipping out the rusty,
if you know, you mean the attractive lady or man or or you
know someone that defines himself as anything, It doesn't
matter. It doesn't matter.
What you don't want to say is when they say you know.
Oh, would you like to join me in bed?
Or if they're French, fuck, what's that thing?
This song, if you meet a French person and say, first of all,
you say trivial Sava, what you do.
I'm not going to do the whole episode fresh.
What you don't want to do is say give me in moment why while I
get the rusty nail scissors and trim this Bush.
What you want to do is have in your back pocket the manscaped
lawnmower 4.0. This is folks, this is
technology on a different level. Look, first of all, you have
that in your pocket. You know, it looks like a we it
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So that's kind of cool. You whip out it, there's a light
on it look. And if someone does say
Viluvukushevic Mosiswa, not bad to have in the back pocket
anyway, you know what I mean, eh, Mon le blue, I don't know.
What does Mon le blue mean? I don't know either.
Umm shuna sequa. But but yeah, look, all you do
is you get the light on this and you can even do it in the dark.
Like if you meet like a French, a beautiful French person and
they're like, oh, you need to take care of your people care
first. You know what you can say what?
And they say you must go if they say it'd be so unreasonable.
But if they're like, you must go into a dark room to do this, you
know, to take care of that. And you go and you go in there
with a rusty nail scissors, it's going to look like the Texas
Chainsaw Massacre. But if you go in with a manscape
lawnmower 4.0 hello, LED light. You're sweet.
You're shorted. There's also fall deodorant ball
cleanser, ball wipes. It will impress the French
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We have the discount code tea with me for 20% off and free
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for you making your tail a panjana is if manscaped are the
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tea. The the Northern Ireland's
number one selling tea is basically what I'm trying to
say. These guys are on top of their
game. These guys they take, do they
take a day off? Do they take a day off?
The Thompson's family with Panjana?
Yeah, they take a day off. You have to do in the day off
the make tea. That's what they do.
They don't take days off. Me and Don visited their
facility recently. Always nice to get invited to a
facility, isn't it? We went to a facility and then
like one guy pointed out, I think he's really high up in the
company that my car was quite dirty.
I was like, well, I don't like you've done that.
You don't know me, but and I got my car washed the day after and
then after that I broke my leg. So my car is still sitting very
clean mate, but a week later. So if you want to come to the
house and see it have a go, you can anyway.
But don't stop sponsoring the podcast.
These guys love it. These guys love it.
Like Jamie from Thompson's literally cut cut his bag open
the show us didn't he done. He cut his bag open in the
middle, in the middle of the facility to show us what was
inside. And we couldn't believe it.
He let it like we put her hand, we got her hands in it and all
that sort of thing. Basically, it's pure tea in
here. These other guys, I don't know
what they're putting in it. There is tea, sure, But there's
also, you know, there was a, there was a dreadlock from MEC
Hartnell in one of the, in one of these tea bags that I saw
Tetley, you know, but pyjamas, Northern Ireland's number one
selling tea. Keep drinking it, keep
supporting the podcast. We get videos all the time on
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So just keep drinking it. If Thompson's family keep making
it, we'll keep drinking it. They are the sponsors of the Tea
with me podcast. My guest for this episode is
this has won the World Super Bike Championships 6 times more
than I have. He is genuinely like one of the
Goats when it comes to like international sport.
And he's from here, you know, And I think you could not
overlook these achievements. But when you actually sit down
and look at what this guy's won in the career he's had and still
continues to have, it's mad. I want to ask him about his
career, about his life, about being a professional motorbike
racer. I have a big family link to
that, which I'm going to talk to him about in my granny won the
Isle of Man TT 97 times. We're going to talk about that
and maybe he can give me some advice on my injury because I
thought he's done a serious injury quite as bad as the old
fracture of the hairline, fracture of the fibula playing
soccer, you know, So we could talk about that.
My guest, of course, is Johnny Ray.
Jonathan Ray who? Yeah, it's just a wonderful
ambassador for this place. I'm one of the one of the top
sports people in the world, full stop.
So please enjoy this episode. Please enjoy all episodes of the
Team with Me podcast. Go back, go back into the
archive and dig through all the episodes we've done and watch
them back-to-back. Put a nappy on and watch every
episode of the Team With Me podcast.
That's all we ask. This is a Team with Me episode
with Jonathan Ray. I've just spent 10 minutes
telling you about this terrible injury.
I've done football where I've done a hairline fracture on my
leg. Are you listening to me saying
that, thinking about the horrific injuries you've done?
No, but do you know what the most horrific thing is?
Is you're in a cast? Yeah.
Because you can't do nothing about it.
No. And.
I thought you'd be the same, I told.
So I was going. No, but genuine I've I broke my
femur in 2013. That's already way worse and I
feel. Miraculous.
Lucky it was done in Germany. The surgeons were incredible.
So straight and operate on the Sunday within.
I want to say within a week. I rode my bicycle outside now.
Why would you tell me that? Because I did this 2.
Weeks. You know why?
Because because your bones still broken inside there, they
haven't fixed your bone. So naturally they're waiting for
the hail. Were they the basically cut me
open with a zip down my leg, hammered down in a big, big
nail, put 2 screws into my knee, one into my hip.
I've got it at home framed. Yeah, yeah.
I'll send you a picture after. But so you're not walking in the
broken bone, you're walking on the.
Yeah, yeah. You're walking on the nail.
But here's the difference in me and you.
If they had have done that to me, I wouldn't have left the
house for six months. I would not have thought to go
go out on my bicycle. No, but it's it's that mindset.
I had to do it. I had to walk within a couple of
days, right. Actually, the surgeon came,
right. I'm still plugged up to my we
morphine buzzer. Oh, yeah.
And he told me to get out of bed.
I said, what do you mean get out of bed?
I broke my legs. No, you can, you can get out.
And then he pulled me up off my bed and he says let me go.
Says when I walked to me right. I was like, I couldn't believe
what he was thinking. And then so I took a step, took
a step and that was an officers on my back for a few days.
Yeah, even getting a shower back then after like an aesthetic and
stuff was was tough, but. What's the worst injury you've
ever done coming off the bike? Possibly that for pain, right?
But I've had knee injuries like cruciate ligaments, which never
heal that well, and you've had always have we operations to
tidy them up or cartilage or whatever.
They're like the most recurrent because once you do a joint like
a knee or a shoulder, it's never 100% where a bone will heal
really good again. Yeah, probably stronger than it
ever was. See.
I've heard this before, right? And and I understand that, but
then I'm thinking like, why don't I just break every bone?
Like why don't I clear like a couple of months in my diary,
like fall off like not like a Cliff, but you know, like a high
sofa like and try and break. Almost unbreakable then after.
Yeah, because then I'll be like a, like a, like an Iron Man
after. It just wouldn't be popular at
home, would you? No, no, that wouldn't be.
And that'll be a nightmare if you were like food.
Yeah. Have you done the injury like
that where you've been like food casts?
Kind of, but I did. Tommy being a bit of a burden at
the end of a season once I finished my last race and I was
living in the Isle of Man so years ago. 2012 rings the bell
and my wife was looking forward to the weekend.
After the last round. We were going out.
I think we had a Chinese booked and we were going out after.
But I'd done a motocross race that year, that that day, that
morning, and I got a severe dead lag.
I felt like I'd broke my femur again and I I got home and I got
she read me up and absolutely mental like I'd ruined her life,
not her weekend, her life. And it was it was disastrous.
So I made a big effort, stupidly had a hot bath, don't know why
the hot bath but that made it worse and then said a lot of
painkillers and I thought or else make the effort here.
So I'm a made-up. He had a crutch.
He says can I come and buy you a crush?
And I went to his house and his dad says you need to get the
hospital because that's not good.
And that went the hospital. They sobered me up straight away
and told me they're preparing a theatre they're going to do.
Were you still thinking about a chow Mein at this point?
So they're going to open me up to release the fascia for
compartment syndrome, right? So I almost ruined my own life,
not just. Did you get the Chinese?
I spent the night in hospital. Yeah, I mean the whole idea,
yeah. It's just it's inconvenient
going about. But then I like, I play
football. So if I injure myself playing
football, it's never going to be too bad.
What speed would you could you theoretically be coming off a
bike up? So when I broke my leg, broke my
leg, that was the second time I told you about in 2000.
Adequate. See the first time.
I quit my brakes fields and I was probably travelling at 160
miles an hour. Not ideal.
And say the runoff area was
about it was about 3 lanes of like motorway.
Like literally 20 metres deep was the gravel trap and then you
had a tyre wall and that's obviously what hit the impact
when you hit that, that breaks your bone.
And yeah, that was the most horrific and fastest injury if I
ever had actually had an engine brake in.
In Phillip Island in Australia, it's turn 3, which is fifth gear
pretty wide open on a super bike doing 160.
So the engine broke and there was oil leaking over the rear
tyre. So that's like I'm like hooking
gears for 5th gear and tip in and there's oil in the rear tyre
and just like flicked me really hard and yeah.
The fact that racers just get back, like your first thought is
to get back on if you can. Like you see people come off and
then see if they can salvage the bike and get.
A bit bit like that, that's why. That's a crazy mentality.
They'll say I love football, my kids are mad about football, but
I hate the drama of appealing for a free kick or yellow car.
When you think you've been tapped, you know what I mean.
Not broke. Oh, you mean like the rolling
around after? And the big drama, it's like you
do disaster. Don't do that.
That's. I'll roll a minimum of 10 times.
Don't be like shame disasters. But I know exactly what you
mean. It's like, yeah, like the.
I guess, I guess you're acting to get something your favour
where we think, fuck, I've lost points in a championship, I need
to salvage something. Yeah, like run with your dead
leg or had a teammate. We do this endurance race called
the Suzuki 8 hours and he broke his leg and he.
It's an 8 hours and I'm competitive.
I only want to win where the Japanese want you to to finish
like it's an honour to finish that race.
Yeah, so he crashed. He's like trying to bring the
bike back and afterwards we find out it broke his leg.
You're thinking don't bring the bike back.
Last thing I want to do is ride around for 50th, you know what I
mean? After the repair of the bike.
I thought I was mad for hitting a corner after I did this.
But no, you know what? It was a good corner, no joke.
See, if I had a gone in, I'd be talking about this way more
other people will be talking about this.
You know what that what we enjoy that you want the medical
assistance trackside, right? You see, within minutes you have
you feel even better than you did before you started the race.
Well, to be fair, I had a pensioner with a bottle of water
squirting it over there, so I was like, here's me, that'll
that'll stop, that'll fix the brick.
And in Australia they have this crash once in Australia and test
in a private test and they give me a whistle to be Wesley sock
on. And so they basically soak this
foam or like cotton wool or something into the end of the
whistle and morphine, I guess, right?
Mad stuff. Nice, nice.
Nice. Those fellas offer me.
He's on the sideline after this, but it wasn't because it was
injured. They're just there.
It's in your corner. Do you Do you enjoy tea?
I do enjoy tea. I prefer coffee now to fair.
You enjoy coffee now. Do you think that's because
you've spent so long travel one year old?
In Europe I never drunk coffee. Never ate tomatoes either.
They were two rules. You had two rules in life.
Are you on the tomatoes? No.
Yeah. Flat out.
Oh, really? Coffee in the tomato every day.
I told my home economics teacher was allergic to them.
Can you be doing? That's a thing.
No, but what what's made you come around the tomatoes?
No, I don't know. One day you just fucking do you
think you're on the world stage and there's people that went to
school, you're watching, you're going.
People are like fuck I teach just one section or people.
He's never ate tomatoes at school because.
Oh, no one was allowed to bring them in?
I hear that when someone was like, you're not allowed to
bring nuts in. I did, just brought them.
On flights I do that. What?
You'll still open a bag of peanuts?
Yeah, for sure. Because, like, you know, come
on. Come on.
It's not. Real kind of smell them.
You're not going to like, have a fit for smelling my cashews, are
you? What do you bring?
Like if you're you know when the season starts and you're
travelling all around the world, is there anything from home you
bring with you? Like tea bags or?
Not really a pillow. Bring your ring.
Bring a pillow to hotels or. Like memory foam or something?
No, it's actually a pretty standard cheap pillar.
I don't really like them really. It's just a pillow you like.
Yeah. And you bring it everywhere.
Yeah, I like it. Like most people.
The Louvre. Tom, Wash back under the arm.
You're just walking in counter tomorrow.
From home after bit Wee bit in my motorhome.
There's a big name drop here. Good friend of mine has a
furniture company here from Balmoral Furniture.
Built mattresses, right and it belt.
I got a mattress from my house and it was so good.
I said oh, could you make me one from a motorhome?
It's like a hotel in Wales pretty much.
So he done one for that. So I guess that's taken someone
from home, See. Here, here's why I couldn't be a
professional motorbike. Well, there's many reasons.
My dad was a was a road racer, Dennis told Right.
My dad was a motorbike racer for.
Wait, your dad be no. 72 He looks somewhere. 48 and 100 and.
He'd erased with your dad, I. Want to say he's coming 60 I so
he. I'm sure he would erase for your
dad, but he he did north where raced did it all for I think he
raced for. So you'd agree up and following
him around then I guess. Yeah, yeah.
I mean, because he's like, he's 70 old now, but I was very young
when he was racing and when I was three he did a he had a real
bad accident. I should know where I don't know
corridors and best was court. I don't know.
And but he's a road racer and he broke his neck, his back, I
mean, everything you could think of.
And he so he never, although I sort of grew up around bikes, he
actively didn't incur like, yeah, yeah.
I was never on a bike as a kid. I went in a scrambler once and
thought I was going. I thought I had a flare for it
for the first time when the scrumbleers were the other nine
and then I watched a video of me on it back and realised I didn't
have a flare for it. I was going 3 miles an hour and.
That's normal. I I feel like that.
You're right. We we go riding all the time and
send a photographer a mate to get a picture.
I'll go to this jump. I'm gonna like give it a nice
big whip. And then I see the bitch.
I feel like I'm supercross hero and I see the picture.
I'm like such an amateur. But I like he he like made sure
I think that I didn't get in the bikes because he like, you know,
he was like he tells me and loads of people tell me your dad
was brilliant, you know, and, and like he showed me all the
but he fell off a lot of times, like a lot like I think he
thought that was one of the object, like that was, you know,
a good thing. But he had so many.
So I like, I never got into it, but you look at, you know, you
talk about the motorhome and the comfort.
I'm sure when you were starting you didn't have that level of
comfort. And anything but that.
But you go, when you go around the pits at some of these races,
once you get to the edge of the pitch, you see fellas, it's
maybe a two man operation. He's got to know he borrowed
someone's van. There's maybe a mattress in the
back. And it's just like, I don't
really like the colder it like I like, you know, when you you
just see how much goes into Yeah, you know, and yeah, you
might, it might just be the writer on the mechanic or
sometimes the yeah. That's that's how we started
then motocross you. You're from, you're from Lauren.
Yeah, I said. Lauren, you ever had a cold
water kill water? You're too young.
Davidoff, that's an off shift. Cool water, remember that?
Davidoff kill water so. Here's Sam Pretty national
landmark in the late 80s early 90s rave scene.
Cold Water House Hotel. I was on my way home from a gig
and got talking to someone about this and I didn't know if they
were making it up, so I'm glad that you've told me it was like
an old country house. When I say small hotel, right,
Actually it looked like Crawford's Burn.
Yeah, like that kind of old, right?
All the way. And this is middle of nowhere
sort of thing. Think yeah, I think Crawford's
burn hotel with coach Barn bridge attached to it, right.
It was it was big deal, right. A lot of funny stories there
growing up because we like literally my garden are we
garden ran on to the hotel lawns and so we would see like all
sorts going on. We actually had this be wooden
house like a Wendy host called it, like a Playhouse outside.
I like the way you said you're the Wendy host and then change
it really quickly to Playhouse. Why do they call them Wendy?
That's what my mom called it when I was young.
So with a pad, outdoor toys, just storage stuff and find all
sorts in there. Well, people like fivers,
condoms, a belly, chin. Oh, why?
Like that's very nice and. Imagine walking this Indian
Mommy. What's this, Mom?
So yeah, Belly. You have a water balloon fight
like no, that's. Not not another true story.
So my aunt and uncle when I was really young were babysitting me
for mom and dad were out having dinner or date whatever.
They come home and dad reckoned I was snoring.
So he's like, he's walking upstairs thinking why is he
heavy breathing? He's only three years old and he
finds somebody sleeping on the landing of the stairs and he
kicked him stupid out of the house.
From like they'd walk from one of the.
Roads drunk from walk down the garden pretty much into our
house and fell asleep but there'd be busloads to people at
cold water, but the. People will come from.
I had people come from. It was all over.
It was like. Kelly's, but in cold water.
And did you witness like we, what do we able to look at all
that like see this from where you lived?
Yeah. Like.
Must seen some states. Oh, wait.
Wait, there's a guy? Yeah, it was brilliant.
You can say anything in this podcast, by the way.
So if you're thinking anything and you're like I might be able
to say it, you can say. When I say thinking of it
because the bike was riding was a 60CC so it must have been 10.
My dad and my mates that were out in the guys working at the
bikes having a few beers late in a Friday or Saturday night and
we're running around with like woods, trees everywhere.
So we're running around the woods, me and my mate and his
Big Brother, and we've seen these two like snog in the face
off each other. I don't know why I would let out
one of these. And they chased us.
They chased us down through the woods.
They had no idea where they were going, but they chased us until
and I was. Me and Phillips, Big Brother
Chris got back to the guys first, screaming Phillip need
help and they caught my mate Phillip for the scruff of the
neck. I don't know what they're going
to do to him. Yeah, yeah, my dad was stood
there but I don't know. My dad had a hammer on his hand.
He says put him down and let him go.
But I was brilliant. But it's a shame because I think
it's not housing. Right, right.
And I was derelict for years. But it was, it's definitely
happening in my childhood. It was cool.
Is Rd like bike racing big where you are?
Like how did you know? It just because my dad raced
and. See you.
That's a difference in me and you.
I've gone to races with my dad, looked at that and gone.
Oh, no, and you've gone to that. It looks like a pretty crack.
Everything from like. That Road Rd racer.
Both circuits and road racing. So he did and he competed around
the UK, but it was made as sort of name here and like done
pretty well I think you reckon, Like prize monies and stuff and.
You won't take it. You're the.
One on elementary, Yeah, surprise money, some bonus
monies like furnished the family home or many bought the family
home and made all the renovations to it.
Right. So you've done, I think you've
done really well. Never got the chance like an
opportunity because, yeah, our sports, it's super expensive and
there's not a lot of opportunities knife for kids,
which is sad because it's a lot of it's not as bad as the F1,
for example, but it's, it's a wealthy man's sport.
Yeah. And we got into talking about I
have a nice big fancy motorhome now, but when we rode the like
in British motocross, we used to get one of my dad's little
distribution bands like a medium wheel brace sort of sprinter.
It was a fit, the Caro because he's in transport.
No. Of these pallets have upright
stakes. And then the whole textiles.
Yeah, we would just overturn one of them, right?
Put our mattress on top of it. And you'd woke up in the morning
with the condensation from the van coming down on you.
Yeah. But they were the best days.
I was going to say like I remember being great crack like
travelling as a kid. In the summer power washer like
and all the say all the English most like we went there because
we travelled for a good competition and then all big
fancy motor homes and showers and whatnot.
And we were we had this coke bottle with a drilled holes in
the bottom of it and taped it to the power washer to make a
shower. So like we were shower like
after races and like it was, it was great.
Great times, good fun. And when you were, when you were
doing that, when you were travelling in those early days,
was this some you saw as a future career or was it just a
hobby then? Like what was your?
That was a Hobbit, but I wanted to be a motocross rider, right?
More than what I deny like a super bike rider.
Yeah. I felt like Rd racing was
boring, you know, because there's no jumps and the tracks
just the same every lap. Yeah, I mean to like, that's
looking out from a writer's point of view, because when I
look at it, I'm like, you're on the like.
I also don't think people from outside here are people that
don't know Rd racing. I think, I don't think they
understand it's on the roads like it's on the public roads
that you go on and those speeds are as mad.
I didn't ever understand. Like say you sit in the ground,
I sat in the grandstand and watched that.
You'd still don't get. It's just like it doesn't make
sense. They're going fast and quick and
we stood for a thing. It was maybe a Northwest and
I've not been to many races at all, but we stood in like in a
bank and our eye level was level with the road.
So we're sort of in a, in a sunken bank.
Yeah, yeah. And it was only then that I
really got a sense of the speed, the speed and a still you would
never have. Because that's where you get the
sensor speed is live because TV doesn't do it justice.
And then if you do it yourself, honestly, see one chef your
helmet on your earplugs, it's a wee happy place.
Like you wouldn't I wrote Pitlian speed limit I think 60K
and I was 40 mile an hour 60K is that right?
I'd be the last person that would know that I.
Think it's 40 mile an hour and literally you feel like you're
walking. Right.
But I would feel, but if that was me, I'd feel like I was
going 200 mile long. So slow because like in Monza,
we do Monza, the F1 track, big, long, long front straight.
You do 208 mile an hour and and it's an.
And you're describing that as your happy place.
You know, you're just. Not happy place, but I know.
But you're you're nice and warm, calm, you're good Leathers
keeping your warm hands and all you're thinking about, all
you're focused on is you see your pit board going past
because it's start finished strip and you're just focused
on. I think it's the 300 yard
marker, right? That's my break point for that
term. One first gear corner.
So you're thinking about is there and back to 6th.
So you're focused on and it's not like warp speed, like yeah,
things are common. It's just actually really like
like driving down main. Street.
I just can't. Well, of course you can't.
And not many people. Can't speed your speed is not
the deal. It's actually the hardest thing
is changing direction because they think somebody's got, it's
like some sort of arcade game. Yeah, like on the PlayStation
and you just turn the handlebars.
But literally bikes 100 and I'm say 175 kilos.
Right, that's what I bench. And you're good lad and you're
so you're 208 mile an hour and you're stopping the first gear,
which is probably 50 miles. You can 40 miles you can very
slow. So the G forces is ridiculous.
Then trying to go through a fast chicane at maybe in 3rd gear 100
miles, changing that weight from left to right.
It's hard. Like my heart rates are
ridiculously high, ideal my effort tests and fitness tests
and I can't even simulate the same heart.
Is it? Almost rich that I do when I'm
when I race, do more. Accidents happen when you're
going slower, like in in the likes of corners and that sort
of thing. Yeah, Mostly, yeah.
Yeah, they don't. High speed accidents don't
unless you collide with somebody, which is, which is not
unheard of, but yeah, rare. Normally it's the most common
crashes. We call it losing the front.
We crash on the front. Either too much break or too
much lean angle or whatever, but that's right close to the apex
to the corner and honestly with these airbags and are sitting
nice. So you blow up like literally
some all my torso area down to my arm here, all my front chest
and round my neck. Just this be gyro sensor.
You know how it knows you're going to crash before you crash,
but some sort of movement that will inflate before an impact?
So see the DOMS afterwards from you just to feel like you're in
a washing machine now. The amount, the weight that
you're moving and also carrying. No, I mean like after you've had
a crash, normally the next day you wake up feeling rough as
hair, like you've been in a washing machine, where now with
this airbag, it sort of keeps you all together and.
I drive. I thought airbag already
inflated, Would you? I think 1000%.
I know plenty of people that look like they've got an airbag.
All the time. And how did you go from those
days of, you know, travel in the UK or wherever it was and you
know, the Coke bottle Shah, really, how did you go from that
to to being professional? Like what was the point of your
life where you realised that actually this might be a career?
Pretty early I realised going from motor across the road race,
so I got this opportunity. It was like a newspaper ad and
they were looking for young writers, rookie writers.
So I applied for my dad fell out a lot.
Was the paper. You remember it.
Was called Motorcycle News. It's a weekly English paper.
Yeah, I remember that being. Nice.
So it's a full back page thing and all I've seen was worth 75
grand. I thought my Christmas had come,
but that was the budget it took to run.
You didn't get paid. Yeah.
So I got this free, pretty much free ride because I sent a
pretty cute CV. I had 40 words to describe
myself, so I did it in bullet point I.
Remember. I know it's.
I it's tomatoes. And so it's like, it's like X
Factor. I remember there being like, I
want to say 30 or 40 riders at a selection day and then you
whittled it down to five and went to Spain and they select
them in there. What age were you?
16 right, but that was late to the road race game.
Like these kids were, were young and I realised quite quick it
was like I was good, but and it wasn't that difficult.
It wasn't as difficult as the other riders were, let's say,
because coming from motocross, I was riding a bike with the
clutch and gears from you're like 8 years old or 910 years
old. So you're in, you're in, come to
sport. Then when you feel like
sometimes it's more dad's dream and mom's dream than the kid.
Yeah. So I just found all this
experience helped me if quite natural.
Took to road race and then within a couple of years my
results were decent. Had that leg injury set me back
and then I actually qualified in pole position for a British
super bike race that was here in Dublin and Mandela.
Park you still a teenager at this point on.
My first ever year on a super bike against Yeah, I was a
teenager. I think it was mostly 17 or 18.
I think it's the youngest ever pole position.
Then last long. I got took out in turn 1 by
somebody else. Yeah, but somebody else.
So but then I realised that I was fast, but I was crashing a
lot. I'm not doing too well.
And then I got my first Mom and dad were always very strict that
I went to work. So I went and worked in a like
an engineer, my uncle's an engineering company so that they
release to do a manufacturing engineering degree.
And they were, until you get us like a wee bit of sponsorship
coming through, but not enough to call it a job.
Yeah. And so until you get a salary,
you're going to work. So I've done that in O7.
I got like a salary to race in the British Championship and
done that for a year with the factory team.
And then I went to World Championship in 2008 and I've
been there since. So you own not that you fell
into the sport by accident. But locked into it, Yeah, like
by a plan to use because if I didn't get that, like, we're
like working class family, like mom and dad worked hard and we
couldn't never afford to do something like that.
Yeah, I was literally, if I didn't get that job, I was
planning to do motocross again. Because like like you said, most
riders probably around that time were, you know, the your age
would have been the family have bought them a bike and had a bit
of money. Hard at that or now it's like
there's a lot of pay as you go rides like yeah, you have to
bring up big amount of money to the team right now.
They'll run you. Yeah, that's become a more and
more popular. But back in O3 or 4I just yeah,
I got really lucky to get into it and fell on my feet.
Really. What?
What was the first time you came off when you sort of when you
went pro? When?
Not the first on the audition. I thought I'd blew it.
So when they were selecting, when it was like 30, we're all
this track in the UK, that was a pretty crap day.
I remember there being wet patches everyone.
We had a borrowed bike and my dad's all borrowed Leathers and
stuff. And I went out and I was passing
loads of people on my first go. Some honour here and I'd done a
test day before, like my dad got my some went to a race school in
England. The Ron hasn't race school.
So I'd rode so I knew what tyres felt like and whatnot.
So I was flying this first out and then the second night I was
like passing everybody. I felt like the fastest and then
I crashed. Oh no, we didn't have enough
spares to fix the bike so that I fucked it blew it.
So we're driving home the whole way up there that a 75 up to Ken
Ryan boat and got a phone call send the they want me to be in
the last five so. They'd seen the potential.
Before we crashed on my first day, right?
Yeah. And is that maybe something they
look at and go was willing to go that fast that he.
Well, maybe not. I think they like, they secretly
like the idea of taking someone with no experience.
Right, Because all the other kids have maybe had a couple of
years of club race in our DM whatever.
Yeah. By literally gone from Desert
Martin motocross track to Donnington Park.
Was there ever, when you were getting into it more
professionally and more seriously, was there ever, did
you ever sort of think about the, you know, because growing
up with your dad racing and knowing so many people, you
know, you're probably like, my dad would have shown me race
programmes back in the day and he would point out at some point
while he's not with us anymore, he's not, you know, and
sometimes it can be a photo of my dad and four other and
there's two of them. You know what videos say, I
don't know why I always said loads of coverage back then, but
he's loads of videos and he could you're better name and the
people that are still. Around, yeah, yeah.
Like. Did that play in your mind at
any point? Not really, no.
It's a sick mindset really, because who's of a dog?
Because I have two kids as well now, and horrible to say this,
but I I love them being around and whatnot.
But then you put your helmet on and you don't think about
nothing. You don't think about ever left
the gardens cut or have I wonder they're not food or wonder where
they're going to be watching. Like you literally put help and
you're like two people. Yeah.
It's like it's it. I mean, obviously in a far
different level and scale, but I can equate that to be on stage
I'm performing. Like if.
If you, if any other thought entered your mind like you're
not in the zone, you shouldn't be up there and doing it, you
can. It's it's adrenaline.
Yeah, it's. And that's why I'm telling you
earlier about heart rates. Like literally I put when I pull
the zip and my letters up. I've I've used my computer and
put it in my hump, my heart rate strap on.
I'm a coach. Just took the same 10.
Breathe, breathe. This is why it is like 110 beats
a minute. Yeah, I'm just sat in my chair
done doing nothing. But I suppose if you it could be
dangerous if you didn't have. That it's adrenaline and you
didn't have the adrenaline. Maybe that's.
If I don't feel slightly nervous or adrenaline going on stage, I
know it's not going to be a good one.
Yeah, the times when you know you have you have to have a
good. One see, I love that and I think
it's I think it's a way better not the big up ourselves here,
but I think coming from here you've get even more of that.
You know I. Think you always have an
underdog mentality? Underdog mentality.
And you like your back then against the wall.
Yeah. And I I like that.
But the worst, I mean, if it goes wrong for me, the worst
thing that's going to happen is, you know, 80 people in Orma in a
week theatre go. No, I didn't love that.
You know, there's no the jeopardy is is nowhere near as
bad whereas you are going at such high speeds and I have it.
Emotionally, it can be tough. I think you're built.
Different than a big high side than people walking out on me on
stage. I'll get over that a lot
quicker. It's I think you just, you just
are obviously built different. The only time I've experienced
speed on a bike is whenever I was about 14, my dad took me to
his mate's bike around Craig Antler in Hollywood and I'm
talking single lane country roads.
The guy was going night. Now my dad is the most careful
driver of his car you could ever meet and has never really had
his own bike since he retired because he he doesn't enjoy, not
really if you're on a bike. He wants to race and he took me
out, he said to really scare me and put me off it once and for
all. Now it was never I was never
going to get in them. I'd show no interest in bikes
and my dad was like, I'll throw you on here, we'll go out for a
wee run. He's gone 90.
I was calling him everything in the helmet.
He obviously couldn't hear me get off.
My legs are like Jelly, he said. You'll you'll not be a racer.
I was like, I know I could have told you before we did this.
But that's mad. Like anything could happen
because shit in the road. Yeah.
Some regular reverse light in front of you.
Yeah. And I think, like what I do,
it's in a controlled space. I mean, you can't control the
other people you race with. Yeah, yeah.
Like the laws of it's pretty alright, you know, I mean, yeah,
airbags, that decent helmets. You're saying the PS and I
should investigate? Frigging right.
But you know what's worse? My dad was the same.
He has to with race bikes and they'd get something new and
he'd have to run it in. So take it around the local Rd,
cold water or whatever, and he'd have this, this farmer beside
us. He'd have this route that if the
police ever caught him or find them in the roads, he would lose
them and park the bike in the farmer's shed, quickly letters
off and then walk down to the house because they'd know all
that's Johnny Ray out there. They'll be back waiting for his
to be parking the lawn and every dad dandering down from the
garage. Were you in the roads?
No, and it would Take Me Out sometimes and I bet Marie
Helmont Dad don't go faster than six.
It was 6 was 6000 RPM, right. As soon as it would get to that,
I'd get dead nervous. But yeah, it was.
But that's meant. But that and that's the only way
back in the day people could practise and really get give
bikes a run out was if you're Rd racial was the road.
Just remember the Dunlop so we see in documentaries with them
and there were they were really going forward on the roads or in
Ballymoney like and because you had to.
Well, my dad wouldn't go for it. He was just running on his bike
and just in case, right? Yeah.
Any case, I throw my dad under the bus.
Here, no, I actually have. Visited him once a week.
I I. Sorry Dad busted you.
They're going back in the place. He's going to be in the Galbry
tonight. He's going to be in the Galbry
tonight. Or the historical team will get
him for sure. Him and my dad will be sharing
the sale. They can talk about bikes.
It'll be sweet. I've I've I've actually, I mean
like, like your framer, I'm sure you've done some terrible
injuries, but on a bike I've actually done I've done a pretty
bad one. Oh yeah, I see.
See this wrist? Holy shit.
Yeah, I was on, I was a, you know, biker, biker accent push,
push bike. Like really.
Yeah, I was, I was cycling down to me a toast when I was about
19 and the front end, you know yourself from then when I was
doing a boat, 12 and 12 MPH and and just that whatever way the
handlebars went, I went over the top, landed with my hand like
this and the bone just went through my hand.
But I had a hoodie on my sleeves up, so I didn't know that bone.
I was fine until I got home and. Was it broke?
Oh yeah. That's.
Just Jen, I swear to God, the doctor said.
It's described as fucked, the doctor at Dundonald A&E said.
That is fucked. I was like, well that's not made
me feel any better, but I you could.
Probably tell at yourself though.
Oh, it was looking at me like I felt fine until I took the
jacket off and saw the ball and then I like near fainted and
passed out. But when I went to Dundonald to
the Ulster D&E the the receptionist said what have you
done? They said off falling off my
bike and I've done this and she said motorbike, yeah.
Yes, safer. I have it bicycles now.
Big some horror crashes. Well, you it's weird to me that
you cycle as a hobby because I'd be thinking just going at that
speed, not. What bad knees?
So running as training, like cardio training is not the best,
right? So it cycles like low impact.
So I do a lot of cycling. And you just got your do you get
your motorbike licence last year?
Last year, yeah. What was going through the
examiner's head? You showed up.
I didn't think it sort of takes like if I made AI did do it
right and I'd really good training, but I thought it'd be
pretty ballsy to feel me. Yeah, I suppose being AI suppose
you're a good trip, being a six time or super bike champion is
probably good training for. You for here but then I also
thought maybe he'd see this is like his career maker.
You know what I mean, I. Feel Johnny.
Bike rider. So it's like 2 minds.
I'm trying Ballymena around loads of roads.
Didn't really know so but I got through it.
But that's crazy bike. I didn't have that.
I got a bike from Corey and Kawasaki actually and it's done.
No miles. I'm like a fareweller, right?
Even in the bicycle, right, you see the people.
I do a lot right in the indoor trainer just we see people like
all like waterproofed up like yeah, all elements like.
All the gears, yeah. I couldn't do that.
Yeah, they're weathered. Yeah, I mean cycling is
something like obviously since since you'll rest, I wouldn't, I
wouldn't be on a bike anymore after that high speed, high
speed accident. I'm actually looking to be here,
but and I'm still I'm doing a podcast with broken food, but
it's warriors like also just get.
On with it, yeah. You know, we just get on with
it. You have to.
You've got to get back on the bike.
See, I haven't back on the bike since.
You see, I'm like that. But I do think that adversary.
Adversary helps you. Yeah.
I mean, like, you can't wrap.
We have two young kids and you can't wrap them in Commonwealth.
My miss the worst nightmare thinking our boys ride bikes.
Yeah, they can ride and I encourage them.
To ride, I suppose if you really held it back, that would make
him almost more attractive to do.
You know, if you were like, you're never getting on a bike,
you know, your kids might then. Whatever even more had the shits
with the others from once because he had always want to
ride. So we'd take him someone and
they would just have a Davis truck that I'm not riding.
Like drove an hour and a half. To get here, set it all up,
obviously. So I put a wee bit of pressure
on him. It didn't really work.
So the second one, I'm playing a game right now with him.
He's like, don't want to write. I was like, that's alright,
because it might come Ryan Yeah, but they're mad in the football
and there's not a football in my family.
I I've started playing my Lord of dads from kids school
something and turn up to the first night they've been asked
along. They've been playing for years.
Happy. A lot of big fat old blokes, you
know, like really old. Yeah, because they've got kids.
And then I realised and I realised like they're all super
young, super good. Like yeah not semi pro but.
Yeah, good level. Really good level of football so
I can't kick a ball. I play rugby at school.
Right. But I've got terrible first
touch. But I'm fast.
Right. Yeah.
I don't think I'm the wakest, right?
But I'm not good. So I asked one of the other
dads. Cool Dad, can you help me out?
We went to my last playing field is there, took loads of cones
and stakes taken dead serious and if you choose to, so I've
got a wee bit of skill now I can control the boys to just run.
The ball, is that your competitiveness, do you think?
And in wanting to be really. Good at something you do.
So I don't, Jenna, apart from golf and this football, I don't
tend to do stuff that I'm not good at, right?
But I'm really not good at football.
If I were you, every week that you play, I'd show up in my
motorcycle boots and go. You said wear boots every week.
Every week I would be. I would be going with them.
I put I was that do you wear? Your helmet.
Wednesday, No. No.
Wednesday nights has clean on goal.
I put the ball over the net, I think.
I think automatically that gives the other team a goal.
The way they work the rules, if you put the ball over the 3G
pitch, they get a goal. Get them.
No change that kicks it gets. It's just a point.
It's just a goal kick. Like but yeah, they got a goal.
Do three corners penalty? I'm big fan of that.
Yeah, on what? Three corners of penalty.
Is that right? Well it's just an interpretation
of it where like instead of giving a corner and almost take
a corner and five aside, no, if it goes behind for a corner
three times then that team get a penalty.
That's fair enough. Three corners penalty.
Three quarter penalty is quite universally.
Excited I'll try and I'm trying to bring it in.
I'm new in this group so I'm like tip tone and can't really
suggest. Make a statement.
So what's up? So WhatsApp grip as well, It's
not active. I've got loads of grips or so
and this one's not. So I feel like it's a it's a
cool dad grip, you know that? Not really.
Just right, right, right now. Three corners.
I can just say. What about three corners?
I'm. Not Best Buy and then send send
a picture of all your trophies, say hey guys been playing sport
for a while. Three corners of penalty
question mark. Sport.
They don't have been playing football for a while because the
first weeks I was getting loads of service, like oh I'm free and
free. Like Wednesday night, I was
clearly way more free than he was down there and the ball
doesn't come to me. I know the feeling.
I mean that's I mean to there must be a couple of guys there
maybe who like, you know, play as a one off or whatever who
maybe might not know who they're playing against.
But like if I was playing against you, I would be so
scared. No, they're not.
In any way, they're not. Brought up guy down the penalty
box last night badly myself, right, But they're they're
they're. Tough they go for it.
Yeah, that's not my kind of game.
No, I wouldn't say they're aggressed.
They're not slide type, kind of stuff like that.
But they're right, like aggressive, like shoulder bars
and like big ones, Yeah. British Bulldogs sort of stuff
at school, like coming at you, yeah.
I see British Blue logs when people played that at school.
I would I'd just be the adjudicator.
I'd stand with the board. And do I give you your stats
after? That that prepped me for rugby,
right, right. Secondary school, then.
I I played Robbie Touch. Did you exclusively scrum half?
Right. Then I stopped playing because
on Saturdays they played when I think in 3rd year you start
playing Saturday mornings. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I was more across then SO. Right.
What, what is the support like you get from home and has it
like as in from Northern Ireland and has it like was it there at
an early point like when you started in in in the Super bikes
where people really paying attention here and like getting
behind you or did that come after a couple of years?
Yeah, I think I helped because my dad was raced unknown here as
doing all right one on TT. So I wasn't really myself.
I was Johnny Ray's son. Yeah.
And then we're pretty lucky back here because we had like a
monthly magazine. There's a magazine called Irish
Racer. Yeah, I remember.
I remember all these being. In the road race in Ireland and
all that, yeah. So it was really well supported
and we're lucky compared to the the UK that if I do well on a
Sunday, it's Backpage news on a Monday or news line or TV sport,
whatever it with me. I guess it's the same probably
county level in the UK, you know, like the Yorkshire news.
I'll have whoever. Yeah, but so we enjoy that, but
not really. Since I start winning World
Championships, there's been like travel and support where people
would go to like a lot of races and like Super Bike is the
little brother. The Moto GP that would attract
80,000 people will maybe get 2030 thousand people.
Yeah, but more and more recently, like Northern Ireland,
flags and people from home are everywhere.
You know, the far number, far right number, just from a flag
point of view, UK flags or Spanish or Italian, and that's
pretty cool. I, I, I think part of that might
be a, don't you think? But I think part of that might
be we're we're getting better at almost like celebrating
achievement here. Getting better, yeah.
Because we all like we're talking about the underdog
mentality, but I think we also have a mentality of like, if
someone from here is doing well, you know, it's like, let's keep
it to ourselves or I'm not even. In yourself but suppress them
yes like my dad was a bit like that when I was growing up he'd
never like me celebrating like when I was mortal crossing.
I want to do like a big one hander over a jump or whatever.
Yeah, it bollocked me for that. Right where you know, like here.
He's he's really good. Him I he's not too bad.
He's not half good. He's not too.
Bad. Yeah, I mean.
Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.
But you, you had you've, I'm sure you've had countless
opportunities to go to model GP. Not really, I've had loads of
conversation but I've never had a contract to sign.
Right. Which is not not saying it's
strange, like Planet down, but there was a few.
Like, I could have gone there and a few rides, but it was
bikes that finish last, like at the back, you know what I mean?
Yeah. And no matter how good you are,
you put Valentino Rossi on that bike at the back, it's probably
not going to win. Yeah.
So a figure and super bike, if you're going to move there,
you're going to go with the right team and the right
opportunity. I mean, from I'm looking sort of
like Kawasaki, they don't ride more GP.
So all their effort was into us. Yeah, as a factory and.
As opposed to do some teams have like the Moto GP team and.
The team suffer 100% like that but most manufacturers have
both. For Kawasaki, don't say invest a
lot and it's it's all, but it's more business as well.
I went and did a couple of standing races for Casey Stoner,
an Aussie guy. He broke his ankle and they
asked me would I go and replace him in 2012 and I had a 7th and
8th and I thought that's quids in yeah like but nothing.
Right. They beat Valentino Rossi in the
second. In the second round, he finished
behind me. Made my, made my life.
You think like, well, that's it, you know, you're guaranteed.
Well, not really. I was.
I used to write for Honda back then and I thought they had a
stepping stone to go there. But again, it was more
political. Right.
Like the guy the two satellite teams that Honda ran back then.
One was a tally, a Spanish writer, Bautista, that was the
Iris with no, he was there and he was in the podium the week
before and the second round. I was I race with him the whole
race, but the sponsor was there at the Italian race that he was
in the podium. He got all excited.
It's like I have to sign them for next year.
I'll sign a contract with your team, blah, blah, blah.
Yeah, the other kid, he was a German guy at the other Honda
team and that came with a good bit of Honda money influence
from Germany. Yeah.
So there's no real push for me from a like it's it is pretty
political and like everyone can say I should do this, you should
do that. But it's like it's like any and
if anything like you can only do what opportunities you have.
Yeah, yeah. And you want to be the best.
And you want. To be good.
Yeah, exactly. So yeah, if I'm my way I'd pick
like the best bike and more GP and go and have a crack and see
what I could do. But right now it's sort of bike
and I've got a great team, like a Spanish people.
Good, good people. You speak Spanish?
No understand a bit. Book Way.
Poco. I don't even know.
I don't even know Poke. It's like like why?
Oh, right. Or or because.
I thought it meant a little bit. Poco.
Like.
Yeah, see. They're they're Barcelona, so
they're like Catalan. Right, right.
Yeah. It's like French, Italian and
Spanish all like in a washing machine.
And yeah, they say mercy for thanks, Yeah.
But it's. It's yeah, yeah.
Or. And they are strange.
Yeah. And put the that in part, like
people from all of the writers from all over the world.
When you're, you know, in in super bikes like in the pits,
I'm sure that every language in the world is being spoken at
some point. Yeah, but we're so lazy here,
right? Because English is the
international language. So like I wrote for a Dutch team
for six or seven years and they speak better English than.
Yeah, for my family. Where and the Spanish speak
great English, like I think there's only one the team that
has broken English, right? A lot of Italian influence and
sort of bike, but I don't really understand that.
Bonjourno. Bonjourno.
And that's all I can help you with.
I want to ask you two things. One is BBC Sports Personality of
the Year. There was a huge clamour for for
you to get that. It was like a people were up in
arms. Is that the year it was here?
And specifically, I think the year it was here maybe, unless
I'm getting that wrong, not sure.
The year I was running out, yeah, that wasn't it.
Liverpool. OK.
Like do you feel you should have won that because anger?
No. No.
It all started, I think Steven Watson started threatening to
beat people up. He's like he Sports Personality
of the year on Twitter. Winker was getting into it with
people. Everybody thinks Wanker is
Sports Personality year, so all these fans are like wanting his
head. He's under with it.
Yeah, but Wanker's game for it. Like.
But it's a bizarre, it's a bizarre event, nice event.
But it's just the fact that every every year you were when
I. Think I didn't get it because I
knocked them back the year before.
So this is my third championship.
Yeah, that one, I was invited there.
I think it was the year before when was in Belfast, remember?
It's a 16. Or signs about right.
And they invited, they've invited me just just do that.
But it's. Just to go to it.
You mean them? But yeah, right.
And these events are like nice to go to, but it's also nice to
be at home. We're family and have a weekend
with your mates. Yeah.
So for me it was I was like, right, sweet, come, my wife
come. No, it's athletes only one
guess. It's like, not so I can't come.
And then so the year they told me you're nominated though, you
have to go, I was like, all right, can I bring like my wife?
Yeah, you can bring like I think I had Tosh beside me and I had
like 6 minutes, right. And get for friends.
It's a weird event, you know, you see it in TV and you see all
the audience and the guest and the camera pants down.
They're literally like I'm in 2nd row and then they're picking
me up. Tend to move because Torvill and
Dean are coming to sit here. I wouldn't move for Torvill and
Dean and then. I don't respect.
That maybe I'm on the front row and then I'm letting 6 rows
back. It's like every ad so.
It's choreographed. I think award ceremonies are
like. So well the ones I've been to
aren't really pretty much loads of beer and stuck in but that's
meant to load of athletes at the end of their season.
The after party was mental. Right, because you can't blow
off that steam during the season.
I don't know why, it's because you're not like guests and
nobody had wives and girlfriends there, but it's like wide open.
I've never seen in that. Party who have you seen?
Blitzed gives a few names here, like who have you.
Seen really there's one there's one that sort of physical guard
me and it's like AD Lester, I want to say I'm not mention
their name, but. Callum Best.
Was he on Love Island? Yeah, or just remembered he's
not an athlete. So no, not so so D Leicester,
you went straight for what? Sport, not sport.
A Love Island contestant was fallen, like fallen or I never.
I was actually why they're here, because she was nothing to do
with sport. You're not with Diana Weaver.
From Bonnie Scotland, I think kind of, I don't even know her
name. Someone says there's that bird
from Love Island. Look at the theatre.
But Stamen, but I don't know, like the gig did because it was
in Liverpool, so she was in Scotland.
Did she get paid to go there or why was she there?
Just a night out? Yeah.
Instagram pictures or. See, I'm my policy and like
unless I was being honoured, I wouldn't like go to anything.
Like unless I was getting a lifetime achievement or the
Baftas or something, I wouldn't go.
But that's my policy. I'm like, I don't go to awards
things, but I've never been invited.
I've never had the. Decline like night.
So that the BBC thing, I thought so it's nominee so I had to go
anyway, which I was happy to go, but I thought that's a great
night. I just didn't want to be last.
Right. They changed everything when I
got running up the next year. They selected the nominees like
they selected six of them. Yeah, But when I was there was
12, right. And I think, yeah, voting opened
the night, but they changed loads of stuff.
But I thought for there's as long as I'm not last.
Yeah, I'll be like happy enough, but I've imagine getting like
10. Votes.
Yeah, but you Then you came. Run, Rob.
Yeah, More fire. More fire.
Should be more what's he doing? What about for it?
I was not even me all got loaded good votes because he is
connection around and he was calling He's doing a video feed
from somewhere training camp probably no more.
He wasn't even there. He wasn't even there.
Best kids were all climbing over them all in there.
And I should have Jake and Tyler there.
Yeah, yeah. What a good daddy.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But no, I just seen it as a
night out. Good reason for her to get into
a dress and have better food in the BBC and whatnot.
Yeah. And turned out to be.
I just tell her all night. Stop.
She's like boating away.
I know. Texting around.
Fucking not cool. Stop.
Beside Tyson Fury. Here.
Put the phone down. You know what I mean.
Did you get chatting then? No.
He's a big dude in real life. Yeah.
I spoil. You know, it's actually good.
I could you spy with him. Did you actually?
Yeah. No, no, I had that.
You know many. But it does.
BBC Breakfast. Charlie Strait.
Yeah, I had a lot of beer with him, Right?
Good dude. Yeah, yeah.
Because I just see sports people.
So I actually find him just interesting.
So I was asking him loads about his stuff and his gig and then
was on BBC. But that's TV hard work, that.
As. In the other I was back at the
BBC for something breakfast. I'm not going to tell you the
guy's name. I sat in the coach at the
presenter and Holly was there and she was great.
Holly Hamilton. But the guy in the studio to
Trevor McDonald. No Trevor, mate.
Does he even do BBC Breakfast? He's like, all right, so I'm
walking in from all the lights to the sofa.
All right. So he's doing his piece and as
soon as the camera is on his phone and then as soon as he's
like getting as we countdown or whatever, then he's back onto
the camera. And Jonathan Ray sort of.
Am I? Yeah, like just.
You warm someone else pretty. Big deal, I thought.
Just. I know who it is.
Be a bit nicer. I know who it is.
I'm not say yes or no. I know, I think I know.
His first name is Dan. Yeah.
OK, It doesn't matter. Yeah, was there, said the
hammer. Callum.
Callum Best. Have you got something about
Callum Best? No, because that's the thing, me
and Callum have a history. Do you What happened?
No, not at all. Like celebrity football match or
something? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh, he he did one at Windsor Park.
Did he? Yeah, like, but four years ago
and I, I tried to get the plan. That's my next venture.
I want to be invited not to spot it, but to play in a charity
football match. That's me.
What if we what if we just hired Windsor Park?
We'll just just mean you play long ball to each other.
You bring the cones. Yeah, we can actually train
there. I could get Garth that helps me
my training to come down. Like if we asked together we
could get permission for that or just if you guys by yourself?
No, actually you'd be fine. Like we'll March in together.
Yeah, I'd love that. Be cool.
We just had shots and all. Yeah, not.
And let's get to the night, the lights on.
Yes, we'll say the calm best when we just break.
The last thing I want to ask you about is like future plans.
And, you know, you'd want six in a row.
Yeah, the season that's just passed Kim runner up.
And that probably brings a lot of questions about, you know, is
that more motivation to to to go and win it or because you're
someone. You just pulled yourself back
there more motivation. I had a conversation that yes,
so you'll not believe this. I remember this is where your
questions go on I. Don't know yet.
I don't know my guess what's going.
On a guy I work with, he's retired, not work with directly,
but he's ringing me up the time he's retiring.
Great, great. Yesterday.
Still spin about it. Oh, great.
Thanks very much for all your help.
And I wonder about you that I'll be happening soon.
So I'm not sure. This isn't a Turkish boy.
Last year he was flying. You joking me?
You know what I mean? My question is, does that add
more motivation to win your title back?
I think so a little bit, but then but motivation doesn't
change. It's the same.
It's almost I'd say before it was the fear of losing because I
was winning. Yeah, it's automatic, but it's
not like it's not like though I loved your show with Kyle.
Oh yeah, but it's not like boxing where or you like the
character of Conor McGregor who can just mice off and back it up
with his one big UFC fight a year.
Like we're going to get beat way more than we win because you're
racing. Yeah, like 39 * a year.
So you can't be beaten. Yeah, you can't not go on
beaten. Yeah, of course.
So you get used to that. But I think it's the addiction
to 1 to keep one and then you get beat and that just keeps
keeps you coming back. And I think last year was a
good, was a good wake up call more for the team as well.
That's me because I knew how hard it was because I raced
against these guys. But it's tough work.
We need to keep improving. But I think motivation hasn't
changed. I'm not more angry or more not
training anymore or less. Yeah, but.
Could that be dangerous if you did suddenly get more motivated
and you've more adrenaline go on and you have a bit of anger and
you cannot be dangerous to go into a race?
I used to. I used to put like, sorry, music
is it? What, like heavy metal?
No, no, no. I hate heavy metal, like
country, nasty rap music. Oh, on the start line you're
thinking, you know, like you're Eight Mile, Eminem sort of
soundtrack. Yeah.
And you just go and crash in turn one.
Yeah. I mean, it doesn't.
Yeah, music doesn't work for. Me.
What do you listen to? No and yeah, nothing.
Oh, right now that you just. Well, have a wee bit of
background noise I'm getting changed so the.
James bit of Blunt. Blunt.
I'm just very quiet. I hate talking to people in the
grid. Just silence.
Yeah. And go about my work.
But now I think motivation is really good on this.
My last year of a contract. So I think within the next three
or four months I'll know what's happening next year.
Had person not beef but conversation with Tarsh at home
about, you know what's happening, what we're going to
do and because generally I'd spend 100 or plus -100 days away
from home and some conscious of that as well with the kids, but
I don't why is some doing well I want to keep doing like keep at
it. Yeah.
And I don't I want to get out in my own terms as well, which is
really selfish because most almost every racer has not chip
on their shoulder. Sometimes they decide to stop.
Sometimes it's a lack of opportunity.
Sometimes it's an injury that retires them.
So you can never have the perfect ending.
Yeah, but I don't see it right now.
Yeah, I'm fine. I wanted to ask people that had
retired with good insightful for me listen to Carl talk as well
about that. But he he knew it was common.
Yeah, right. I don't feel it's common.
Yeah. I don't know if it's something
that builds up like a train or it's it hits you like a tonne of
bricks. 1 morning you wake up, yeah, but at the minute the fire
is burning hard and barely get stuck in.
That's, I mean, also like to come second, like that's in the
world's championship and people are like me as that disposure.
That's it. Like, you're going to take it
easy, yeah. Put me in a bad mood all day
yesterday. And last question, what's the
coolest free thing you've ever got?
I'm not, I'm not. I'm not necessarily talking most
value. I'm talking about the coolest
free thing at an awards thing, or from a sponsor.
Or I got a travel mug with my own name on it at a Comedy
Festival. That's cool.
Is it cool? Spelt spelt over 3DS but apart
from that it was pretty cool. Find some that Asian fans always
bring you gifts when from food or.
Do you eat that food? Because I once got given food by
someone at a show and I did not eat.
It you know I did in Argentina this year.
I drunk I was thinking how water aren't here like get tested
after I've been contaminated, but it was a beer.
I don't know what the beer was called their local beer in
Argentina. And the guy goes, he had, he had
a. Quilms.
Quilmes.
Yeah, yeah. Blue.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fair play.
I had to come back to part for me after decently.
I didn't even win and I was all gonna have your niece.
There's that. Yeah.
Kind of a beer. Yeah.
It's like sweet beer for me. I like, chug the beer and part
for me. Right.
But it could have been a free thing.
I'd have to think about that. The real coolest.
See what? See what even I've like.
So you're you with, Yeah, Kawasaki, right?
Do what I'd love. What about when you're with them
and they go, we'll send you some some gear, some zip UPS,
T-shirts all up I'd like. I think that was it.
Yeah. Do they go get whatever you want
here? No.
Like how many fleeces you allowed?
Not many. 4. In the season, yeah.
Like your team gear? Yeah.
I get 4 T-shirts, 2 zip, 2 jerseys.
You should be getting so much more than a Colt AG lay one and.
Then they give you trousers by the treasures because the I
think they're made in Holland for Dutchies and I'm really
short ass. So right yeah, clogs.
Yeah, they're massive. No, no clogs team.
Coolest thing, coolest sponsor. I get loads of cool stuff off
his Oakley because they do awesome sunglasses.
Motocross Gargle. It's a perfect brand.
Yeah, like cool casuals and stuff like that.
I'd love to be sponsored by Oakley.
Yeah, when that, when my manager did that, then I say, oh, so
good. Yeah, don't tell them about I've
been paying for stopper years. I've, I had, I remember every in
about 1999, everyone on my street had fake Oakley.
Yeah, all the boys had fake Oakley.
Just back from Tenerife. Just back from Tenerife.
Yeah, getting a sweet deal on the Oakley.
The sports like they're almost like the wrap around ones with
like the multi coloured lenses. They were.
They were unreal. They weren't really.
Don't remember them. Yeah, well, I think it was only
me that had them, to be fair. I'm so impressed that I quomus,
Quomus. It's because they sponsor Baca
Juniors and River Plate in Argentina, the football tops.
Yeah, Yeah, I think. Quilmers Yeah, it's definitely
MERS or yeah, Quilmers So posted that on my Facebook page after
and Lords, Argentinians were like loving the fact that
bigging up their beer. Yeah, I guess it's like somebody
come in here and given a big one for, I don't know, Harp or
Guinness. Yeah.
We we should definitely book out Windsor.
Yeah, for a kick about wait till my.
Although, as we've established, I can still play on it, when
it's broken, set that corner. So I actually bent the end.
Didn't you scored? I floated it in perfectly and
I'll not name a person on this podcast, but should have scored
and that would have been unreal. Imagine the goal he broke his
leg, but he played on. Then he assisted a goal, but I
just hobbled off after that. But as we say, back on the back
on the bike. Not literally though, because
remember also put my rest. So I would definitely not get
back on the bike. Cheers for coming on.
I would I would love to play. I want to join in your five
aside. 7. Seven aside and I really want
you to emphasise three corners ago, no three corners, a
penalty. Start it this week and see how
it goes, but you'll not look. Back they go for beers after.
So I haven't, I haven't yet, but maybe I'll do under AP.
I'm still, I'm too new to suggest stuff like that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I have no idea what I'm
talking about and they know that.
So they'll be like, who's this? Yeah, yeah, it's the old
motorbike prick. Who's this guy showing up a
motorbike boot? He's only been a creative model,
just changing the rules. This guy just halftime.
Just eat 6 tomatoes. Johnny, cheers for coming on.
Really appreciate it. And I was going to say to see
you on the track, but I don't know why I would say.
They can come to race. I would love to.
Come to Donington. Can I jump on Can you?
Jump on, I sure why not. Where's Donington?
I want to say July. Yeah, I'd love that.
July. I would love that, yeah.
Can I have a lanyard? You got a lanyard?
Can I keep the lanyard? Yeah, can I have a Julie?
Yeah, a pair of Oakley. You could ask the team.
My team are very, very, very good at giving stuff out.
Brilliant. I genuinely got good.
Merchandise still, because yeah, everybody that comes gets nice
sweet goodies. Do you want the tea with me,
mug? I.
Will give you all right. Cheers, Johnny.
Appreciate it. Cheers about it.