by Gary Inman

British Superbike star and 2012 Northwest 200 Superstock win, the Northern Irish rider is one of Dainese’s newest signings.

ALASTAIR SEELEY

Date of Birth
4 October 1979

Team
Tyco Suzuki by TAS Racing

Married
No.

Children
Yes, Lewis, he’s five.

If you weren’t racing, what would you be doing?
I’d like to be a rally driver. I enjoy go-karting, so if it wasn’t two wheels it would be racing on four wheels.

What’s your favourite corner?
Probably Station Corner at the Northwest 200. On a Supersport 600 it’s flat-out in top here. On a Superbike you roll the throttle a bit. You carry so much speed into it there’s no room for error. It’s a right-hander before the big, long straight into Coleraine. It’s out in the countryside, with trees and fields around.

What’s the best thing about being a professional racer?
The best thing is it gives me a lot of time to spend with my son. I train in the morning and it frees me up be with my wee fella.

The worst?
There is no worst thing. It’s a dream come true. Every rider wants to be paid to do what he loves and I’m lucky enough to be in that position at the moment.

Finish this sentence: Winning is…
a priority.

Pain is...
temporary, glory lasts forever.

If you could race in any era, when would it be?
Probably Kevin Schwantz’s era. Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Rainey, Randy Mamola, all those guys. Kevin Schwantz is a hero of mine, I ride with his number, 34. Those guys were riding bikes with no traction control, no gizmos, no gadgets, and the throttle was like an on-off switch. They went from no power to all power. Those guys really knew how to ride a motorbike. I’d love to ride a 500 two-stroke GP bike.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
To be able to fly.

Do you have a motto you live your life by?
Take life as easy as you can get it. I like to chill out a lot. I don’t over stress my body.

Finally, what’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
My dad told me to use my head when I was on the bike. It’s stopped me from crashing sometimes. Head for thinking, feet for dancing.

Alastair Seeley kept his cool to win the 2011 British Supersport title for his TAS Suzuki team at the very last race, and performances like that saw him be voted the Irish Motorcyclist of the Year in January 2012. For this season, The Wee Wizard has moved back into the British Superbike class after a year on 600s and is scoring podiums on the Tyco GSX-R1000.
He is also the man to beat at the famous Northwest 200 International Road Races, in his home country, where he competes against (and regularly beats) his team-mates Conor Cummins and Guy Martin, plus the rest of the world’s best real roads specialists. Seeley already has five NW200 wins under his belt going into the 2012 race.

http://www.alastairseeleyracing.co.uk
http://tyco-suzuki.co.uk/

by Gary Inman

Weekend 1

The Cookstown 100 road races in Northern Ireland are the traditional season opener for the real road racing year. This is a National Irish race, on a tight, bumpy, dangerous circuit that still attracts big name TT riders. Dainese's Guy Martin lines up next to Ryan Farquhar, Michael Dunlop and other top riders. He’s racing both his 1000cc Superbike and 600cc Supersport Suzukis. It's a good start to the day for Guy as he takes a win in the first of the day’s Superbike races on his Tyco TAS Suzuki GSX-R1000.
In Superbike race two he is battling for the lead with Farquhar, the most dominant Irish road racer of all-time, when the Kawasaki rider forces Guy off the track as the pair battle for the lead.
Guy leaves Cookstown full of confidence. ‘It’s the first time I’ve ridden the Superbike in eight months, I got a win and set the fastest lap. The team and those other boys know I mean business.’
 

Weekend 2

What does professional road racer Guy Martin do on a spare weekend? Race a motorcycle, for fun, of course. The weekend after Cookstown, Guy was at a cold and wet Cadwell Park in his home county of Lincolnshire. He was there to race a classic Suzuki XR69, a replica of the great-great-grandfather of his current race bike, the Suzuki GSX-R1000. This is racing for fun, not money. He sits in the back of a rusty van, talking to his friends and family and drinking tea, as he waits for his race to be called.
It’s May, but colder than Christmas Day. Guy’s first race is delayed by a hail storm. When it is finally time to go out, Guy wins both his races in style. ‘There are plenty of other things I could be doing today, but nothing I’d rather be doing,’ he explains, as he wraps his hands around a mug of tea to warm up.

Photo credit: TAS Suzuki; www.KineticImages.co.uk

by Gary Inman

The Isle of Man TT racer is a different breed from most professional riders and one of the most entertaining men on two wheels

GUY MARTIN

Date of Birth
4 November 1981

Team
Tyco Suzuki by TAS Racing

Married
No.

Children
No.

If you weren’t racing, what would you be doing?
I’d be fixing trucks. I’m very lucky to have a job I enjoy. I’d always have a variety of physical challenges I’d be doing. I might be racing mountain bikes, but I’d never be doing just one thing, If I wasn’t mountain biking, I’d be mountain climbing.

What’s your favourite corner?
Coming out of the 13th Milestone at the Isle of Man. It’s a left-hander and when you get it right it’s brilliant. The 13th is a section of corners, not one single bend. The first is a right-hander, then you go down the hill and into a really long left-hander that takes you to the straight that leads to Kirkmichael. You enter the corner with something like 20% throttle, but you’re on 100% throttle on the way out of it in fourth gear, so about 140mph (225kmh). If you time it right, tip in just right, at the correct speed, you’ve got a great run for the next mile. If you don’t get it perfect, you’ve ruined the next section. That’s my favourite at the moment, but it changes from time-to-time.

What’s the best thing about being a professional racer?
It gives me the opportunity to go and race at places I love, like the Isle of Man TT and the Southern 100.

The worst?
The loss of anonymity.

Finish this sentence: Winning is…
another box ticked.

If you could race in any era, when would it be?
The ’60s, no question. Look at the bikes: the Honda six-cylinder 250/297; the four-cylinder 125cc Yamaha… Fascinating stuff. I’d love it for the machinery, but I also think I’d get less attention, because I’d stand out less. I stand out now, because I’m different, but back in the 1960s everyone was doing the same things I do. I’d also love to be in 1993 so I could race John Britten’s own Britten around Wanganui, New Zealand.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
To be able to turn water into wine.

Do you have a motto you live your life by?
Go big or go home.

Finally, what’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Measure twice, cut once. You can apply that to everything in life.

Guy Martin is one of racing’s true mavericks and a true cult hero. He works as a truck mechanic during the week, and has also presented TV shows in the UK. The series, ‘The Boat That Guy Built’ is now shown in schools to teach pupils about the Industrial Revolution.
Guy has won some of the biggest real road races in the UK and Ireland, but hasn’t climbed the top step at the TT. He’s led, finished on the podium many times, secured lap records – once with a Honda CBR600 he tuned himself - but the win remains tantalisingly beyond reach.
He currently lives in a bus.

http://www.leonhaslam.com/
http://www.guymartinracing.co.uk/
http://tyco-suzuki.co.uk/