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.