I'm also looking forward to having Garry as a team mate – with two Aussies in the team we're both going to want to beat each other so that'll be good for healthy competition both for us and the team. I don't know Garry very well but what I have seen of him he's a great guy – one minute you can be smashing fairings together on the track but when we get off we have a respect for each other's riding ability and can talk about things sensibly - which is not always the case with every rider! But of course, I'd prefer for him to finish behind me!
After the season we spent a week on holiday in Portugal, where I proved useless at both beach soccer and tasting different types of port. Then, after eventually signing up for FPR, we were straight into the action on the FP1.
You very often have to go round in circles to find where you want a new bike's set-up to be but on the third day I really started to feel we were making some headway. I felt very comfortable on the bike and was happy with my times, considering the very different characteristics between the twin cylinder I've been used to riding for four year and the triple cylinder FP1.
After riding flat out for three days without stopping for lunch I decided to stop an hour before the end of the day. We had been through so many things that I'd come to a point where I felt comfortable, so thought it better to leave it there and on a high point.
Then it was back home to Australia for an extended Christmas break. I'm in to old trials bikes. The problem is, I buy and restore all these old bikes and dream about riding them, but they're then either too good to ride once done up, or they break down!
So I ended up buying a Beta and have been out with a couple of grade ‘A' trials riders, Trevor Campbell and Dean Nuttall, who compete over in Europe occasionally.
