| Biker Britain - Excerpt
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'When I first stepped into the paddock
there was a small race atmosphere and I felt out of place and
even contemplated getting the early ferry home. I just didn't
know why I was there, wondering around, listening to the race
practise over the intercom, watching people stuff down their
hamburgers and fries. As I wondered around, there were men with
their machines under awnings by camper vans, beside trucks and
tents. The riders themselves were messing about and tinkering.
Older chaps with their Matchless's, younger riders on 125's
and 250's. A 350cc race had just ended and the riders rode back
off the road and into the paddock field when suddenly some woman
came up to me and asked me what I was doing and wondered if
I wanted to meet Robert Dunlop. Interesting. The man was the
brother of Joey but in his own right a legend. Of course I wanted
to meet him. I saw him at the North West 200 and was too bashful
to introduce myself. He was standing by his bike and I went
over and called him Mr Dunlop and coyly asked him for two minutes
of his time. This was a man who in Ireland is a God amongst
racers, part of one of the greatest motorcycle racing dynasties
in the world and just then he was talking to me and I asked
him what he thought about the Skerries?
"It's just a national road race in Ireland, unfortunately
we've lost two national road races in Northern Ireland but in
the south it's booming."
"Did the Skerries differ from the North West 200?"
"Well," he said, "the roads are a lot narrower,
and it's a shorter circuit and it hasn't rained here for 35
years so it makes it a great race day, you know, it makes it
a great race and it's close to Dublin so you get very big crowds
here."
Robert held the conversation well. When you consider how many
people must ask him stupid questions, thinking they own a piece
of his time when in fact they don't, he was remarkably polite.
I didn't know that much about Irish road racing but what little
I'd seen I liked. Did he prepare in a special way for such a
tight circuit, I wondered?
"'Er not particularly no, you have to prepare your bike
to the best of your ability for every race, but it's quite hard,
it's quite bumpy, it's got jumps, it's got wheelies, I like
it I must say, it's one of my favourite road races."
"But what does it take to ride a bike really quickly?"
"Well, you know, I'm a great believer that speed comes
from the mind, pretty much anyone in the paddock could ride
a bike, they just don't have it mentally."
And did he get scared?
"Obviously you've got to have courage, you've got to have
confidence in your machine and yourself….confidence does
play a big part obviously you know, the right rubber you know
and a good bike, it's a combination of things but most of it
comes from the mind, to know that you're the best means that
you've got a psychological advantage on your fellow competitor."
The family history was awesome and I wondered it it was a help
or a burden and he was quite clear about this.
"I race for the Dunlop name not for Robert Dunlop, the
legacy that Joey's left behind, 'erm, that's what I do it for,
I just want to write the Dunlop name in the history books and
hopefully me son's after me will keep it going?"
"How important is it to be ordinary?"
He paused. "I don't find it hard to be ordinary, I come
from a very humble background, never had nothing, financially
me parents were quite poor, which is something I regret actually,
but me dad was a millionaire when it comes to the love for his
children and vice versa."
Everyone thinks of Joey but Robert is utterly a complete rider
strongly outside the shadow of his older brother. A winner on
the TT course at his first attempt, like Joey he hailed from
Ballymoney and won the 1983 Newcomers 350cc Manx Grand Prix.
In 1989 he scored his first TT win in the 125cc Class with a
new lap record at 103.02mph and then a year later repeated his
success in the 125 improving the lap record to 104.09mph. A
year later he scored a double victory and took the 125cc race
for the third year in succession with a record 103.68mph and
a new single lap record of 106.71mph and so it goes on. He won
at the North West when I was there and he was surely going to
win again at the Skerries.'
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