Gary Inman




INMAN UPDATE
Gary Inman
#13R
UK dirt tracker

It's taken a long time to update my 2013 race progress because 
I spend too many hours looking at the screen, but I've raced a 
few times in the FTWCo-supported UK DTRA races. 

I missed the first round, due to work, then at the second race, 
at Rye House, I was mid pack in the 12-man heats. The 
Thunderbike class, for framers, is now 20-24-strong at most 
UK rounds, so there's an A final for the top 12 points scorers 
in the three heats and a B-Final. I just missed out on 
qualifying for the A Final (squeezed out by someone running 
an illegal speedway tyre), but got first pick of the grid 
positions in the B Final. I got the holeshot and led every lap.

Writing this reminds me that my racing isn't about results. 
I'm not troubling the podium any longer because the UK scene 
is growing and growing with great bikes and great guys turning 
up as novices every year. 

I go to the races with my 10-year-old, leaving early in the 
morning, meet a bunch of friends at the track, race, then drive 
home. I have work the next day. I race hard without putting mine 
or anyone else's collarbones at risk. I'm too much of a gentleman 
to be willing to take one place by racing like a dicl. And I'm not 
as skilled as some of the other guys. 

I don't lack bravery, I lack talent. But I always 
go home happy.

I own my dream flat tracker, a twin-shock Wood Rotax, 
and compete in just about the only level of motorcycle 
racing I can afford to be involved with. 

Perhaps me saying it's not bout the results is self-fulfilling 
prophecy. I get a little bit quicker every year, but because 
of the influx of new racers I'm either treading water int he 
results or going backwards. No problem. Just set different targets. 
I know I'm not Sammy Halbert. 

My racing, and that of my closest friends in the UK scene, 
has never been a results based business. It's as much about 
the social side. 

I'm also the editor of Sideburn magazine, which has commissioned 
a bunch of artists to create posters to help promote the UK scene 
to different people, in an effort to raise its profile. Hopefully 
there's room for the posters below.

Big thanks to FTWCo, the DTRA, all its racers and sponsors.