Exclusive Steve Parrish Interview

Paddock42 attended an ‘Evening with Steve Parrish’ at the Brooklands Museum the other week, it was a great event full of stories of Steve’s career that had us all roaring with laughter and also he gave us a real insight to the world of Moto GP. Steve very kindly agreed to talk with Paddock42 exclusively and here is what he had to say.

You have had an interesting racing career – overall what are your most memorable racing moments?

Falling off at the British GP while leading it thinking I was going to win it, I guess is the most memorable one but my best and most enjoyable race I ever had was at Spa Francorchamps in 1977. I was battling for a podium position with my hero Giacomo Agostini and Johnny Cecotto and Michel Rougerie, it was just one of those terrific races that I thoroughly enjoyed. It was also the first time I passed Agostini who as I said was a real hero of mine and that’s something that really sticks out in my mind and was just one of those races where you were slip streaming a lot, really close racing.

What made you go racing – how did you start?

Literally started because I enjoyed the engineering and the building of the bike, probably more than the riding of it initially, I mean I rode on the road but I did not even consider racing. At that time when I started building my bike up I did not even know where Brands Hatch was, it was supposed to be a fun engineering project but I ended up losing the engineering bit and enjoying the racing side. Also I soon realised that I was a better rider than I was a mechanic so I let other people do it!

What was your very first race bike and what was it like?

A Triton was my first race bike it was a pile of junk that leaked oil, did not go very fast and did not have any brakes, it was just a horrible thing. I must admit that during my first race I was thinking that I am not really enjoying riding this but once I progressed and got onto Yamaha’s then I really got to love the sheer adrenalin of racing at the front. As they say winning is a drug and they say competing is for fun but it is a lot more fun when you start winning. When in my amateur/ BEMSEE club racing days I started winning lots of races, it really inspired me to push and try harder and you make sure your bikes better and it is a whole sequence of events – you work out your quite good so you make sure your equipment is good too. I always found that you if you have good equipment it makes a big difference.

Do you weald the spanners at home? If so what do you regularly tinker with?

I have not done so for a long time but I have just bought an old race bike, a FZ750 Yamaha that I am going to restore with a friend of mine who has a proper workshop. Its a winter project and this bike is the superstock 750 Yamaha that I finished up racing in 1987 and I am really looking forward to getting it finished.

You have ridden a lot of modern GP machinery, obviously very different to the old stuff but old or new what’s your favourite race bike – the one you throw your leg over and think yes I just really connect with this?

I just adore RG500’s as far as race bikes go and I have got my Texaco Heron RG500 from 1979 in my gym at home, it’s a great looking bike and I am just passionate about them. I do like riding the new stuff, the modern day GP bikes are so bloody good.

You are the most successful truck racer ever with multiple British and European championship wins. How did you go from bike racer to truck racer – what made you want to go truck racing?

The truthful answer is staying out of a proper job! Somebody asked me to, I just got the opportunity. At the time I was running a team and my truck racing started whilst I was doing that. It was quite a big decision for me to decide whether or not to continue running the team, which was going very successfully. At that time we had won two championships with Keith Huewen and Terry Rymer and I had also had Rob McElnea riding for me but I loved racing so it was either watching or racing myself. I am pleased I did, as it gave me another 10 years of racing.

Away from the track and business commitments what do you enjoy getting up to? (apart from racing hire cars with Charlie Cox!)

Aviation and flying is a big passion of mine, and I am a petrol head through and through. I don’t have a lot of free time but when I get the chance I love waterskiing and I still ride bikes, going to track days when I can.

Your practical jokes are legendary… do you have a favourite prank of all time?

One of the ones I still love and I still use it now and again; I keep broken windscreen glass at home and when I get a visitor I wind their electric window down and throw glass on the seat and pretend the local yobbos have broken their window. I then lend them a load of polythene and tape and they then go off to the window replacement service only to be told its wound down.

You had great success running the UK Yamaha BSB team, taking titles would you ever consider going back into team management again?

I am not sure, team management is very different now to how it was then. When I was doing it I used to drive the truck and sweep the workshop floor, it was more hands on and nowadays it is vastly different and the team principle seems to stand around watching and over seeing what goes on. Its not something that I would say completely I wouldn’t do but for me to become a team principle I would probably have to start my own team again and I am not sure I have got the time or the inclination to do so.

If you had a dream team which championship and which riders would you have riding for you?

It would have to be Moto GP as it is the premier class and that’s the class to be in and riders well Marc Marquez and Casey Stoner with a pair of Hondas.

Any advice for young up and coming bike racers?

Try to get born into a rich family! Or have a rich Uncle or something, I feel sorry for the kids nowadays its harder now, you have to have so much money behind you initially and that genuinely only comes from relations to start with unless you are lucky enough to bump into somebody who has a business and watches you and wants to support you. It’s very difficult just finding the money the advice is I guess ‘be lucky’ that is often how it comes about, being in the right place at the right time. Putting leaflets through letterboxes never really works its just luck and if your passionate about it never give up on it, just go out there and try. It’s not easy but like any sport these days you need finance behind you.

Can we talk about your plans for 2014 – post BBC GP if we can?

Yes, I am talking to them (BT Sport), I understand that one or two people are signed up with them, Keith Huewen and Julian Ryder are probably involved in it along the line but I don’t know what their terms are but I do have a meeting with them soon. I would like to think that I am going back to the TT again, although that is also up for grabs production wise, I hope that North One TV will keep it and I think I will be working on it along with the NW200. Overall its not the end of the world there is plenty out there to be doing.

We have seen you race at Goodwood Revival, and depending on your commentating commitments, will you get a chance to race anything next season?

If it does not clash with Moto GP almost certainly yes. The one up side if I am not working on the Moto GP will be the fact I am able to race at Goodwood! Its something I have always enjoyed and I have loved doing it – its great to catch up with all your old mates and ride what were proper old bikes.

There is a photo of you having a massive moment on a Yamaha, what happened in the end was it saveable?

No, I crashed. That was a 500cc Yamaha that Kenny Roberts won the World Championship on that had been totally restored by a guy called Chris Wilson. First lap out the carbs flooded up and the fuel went into the belly pan and came out the back, it spat me off, knocked me out and I broke my collarbone. That was only about four years ago…

On the back of your helmet you have an elephant with a knot in its trunk – is there a story behind it?

It comes from when I was a kid at school, I was 12 years old, fat and my nickname was jumbo. Later on I got called Stavros because Barry Sheene saw pictures of me when I was young and being fat with curly hair thought I looked like Stavros in Kojak.