Racer Sets His Sights On Top Place Finish

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Wairarapa Times Age - Saturday, February 9, 2013
Features
A Greytown mans passion for the most dangerous bike race in the world came after a nearfatal bashing, reporter Nathan Crombie learns
CLIFFHANGER: Doug Fairbrother runs through his paces at the Gladstone Cliffhanger event, of which he was a co-founder.
Racer sets his sights

the first bikes he remembers the Norton upon which his uncle, Russell Fairbrother, had himself raced to victory. Back then I was the wild boy from Greytown to all the older racers. I was 16 and had an FJ Holden ute with my motorbike in the back. I didnt give a s**t about anything else. Fairbrother raced sidecars, speedway, scrambles, hill climbs and sealed circuits throughout New Zealand, chalking up an array of regional championship wins in several codes and classes and co-founding the Greytown Racing Team and the Gladstone Cliffhanger event along the way. However, the near fatal bashing forced him to confront the uncertainty of life, he said. He realised youre not living forever, so youve got to do what you want to do before you get too old to do it. In 1989 he spent every cent he had on a brand new Ducati motorcycle, travelling to Italy and pushing the four-valve water-cooled beast off the factory floor himself. From there he journeyed to the Isle of Man and for the first time raced what many consider to be the most dangerous track in the world. As at August last year, 237 people had been killed while racing on the 60km Snaefell Mountain Course. Track speeds
PHOTO/HUGH BARLOW
T WAS the growl of a Norton Commando that first roused motorcycle racer Doug Fairbrother from a six-day coma after a near fatal bashing. Fairbrother had been ambushed from behind and struck on the head with a pool stick while helping a friend in early 1987 at the then Foresters Arms Hotel in his hometown of Greytown. His mate was about to be hit with a bar stool and Fairbrother renowned as much for his camaraderie as his adventures on two wheels had stepped in to help. I went to help someone and the next thing Im in hospital fighting for my life. The engine note of a Norton in the hospital carpark almost a week after the attack dragged him from his coma, he said. He was discharged several weeks later. His attacker was sentenced to nine months in prison while Fairbrother took six months to come right, he said, although for several years afterwards he was compelled to put his back to the wall whenever in a group or a crowd. There was a cop at the time who said thatll be the end of my motorcycle racing. I just couldnt let that happen, he said. An old boy of Kuranui College and mechanic by trade, he had been racing bikes since he was a teenager and today owns one of
I Continued A23
WINNER: Doug Fairbrother (centre) with John Player Norton owner Norman White (left) and former British champion and Isle of Man winner Peter Williams in 2006 when the Greytown racer won an opportunity to ride the 1972 Works John Player Norton 750cc Grand Prix machine. PHOTO/FILE
Wairarapa Times Age - Saturday, February 9, 2013
23
Features
ISLE OF MAN: Veteran Greytown motorcycle racer Doug Fairbrother is mounting his fifth competitive bid at the Isle of Man, where he will in August race the 1971 BSA Rocket, capable of a top speed of more than 250km/h.
PHOTO/
LYNDA FERINGA
on top place finish

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whom he bought the BSA. There will be mates from England who will help him during the bid as well. The straights on the Isle of Man are that long you start drifting off and suddenly you
today can exceed 300km/h and on average more than two competitors die each year; six were killed in 2011 and nine died in 2005. A mechanical fault kept him from finishing his first time out and another fault the next year kept him from qualifying. But in 1998 and 1999 he took finishers awards for completing the twohour race. Fairbrother counts a couple of riders who have excelled on the track as his idols, including 14-time winner Mike Hailwood and Giacomo Agostini, who 10 times took the crown. His greatest admiration though is reserved for the late Joey Dunlop, an Irish champion he once met who won 26 times at the Isle of Man the most ever wins at the track. Fairbrother will celebrate his 62nd birthday during the practice round lead-up to the Isle of Man Manx Grand Prix this year, a few days before he races in the Classic TT Pre-1974 up to 850cc class. He has once again poured every last cent into the coming race, spending about $50,000 on a 1971 BSA Rocket and two motors, a 750cc and 850cc, that he has fully rebuilt. His pit crew will include his teenage apprentice and racing protege, Finn Harman, and racing friends from Christchurch from
Youve got to remember its only a fast road race and dont overdo it.
Doug Fairbrother
start thinking about whats going on underneath you. The hardest thing is to keep your concentration up all the time, he said. Youve got to remember its only a fast road race and dont overdo it. Because you run out of room and cant make a mistake. Then when the trees open up, you just keep it nailed and dont back off, he said. Its like Mt Everest to some riders but others wont race there because its too dangerous. I want to do 100 mile per hour laps and I want to finish. If I can do that, I could end somewhere near the front and I will be walking on water. Today he is at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park near
Hamilton, where he is racing the BSA for the first time. Next weekend he will run the Paeroa Battle of the Streets and seven days later will race at the Powerbuilt Raceway at Ruapuna Park at Christchurch. Also as part of his build-up to the Isle of Man in August, he will compete in the Barry Sheene Memorial Race at the Sydney Motorsport Park from March 15 to 17. Fairbrother said he has just recovered from a serious foot injury he suffered during racing last year but his greatest problem today is not the risk of further injury but the funding of his run at the Isle of Man. His teammates have committed themselves to fundraising and sponsorship and have left Fairbrother to calculate his winning strategy and engineer his ride. In my racing career theres been a broken pelvis, broken vertebra, broken ribs, shoulder, collar bones. But the worst injury Ive had was nothing at all to do with motorcycling, which makes it pretty safe really. Out there Im in charge of it. I stay in control, he said. Ive pumped more into my life than most people because I was almost killed at a pub one night. I could have stayed bitter and twisted but I learned youre lucky just to be here. Practice is over. Its true, thats how it is.
Team happy to help Doug out

By Nathan Crombie [email protected]
The Greytown Racing Team is opening the throttle on sponsorship and fundraising for the 2013 Isle of Man bid of team co-founder Doug Fairbrother. Fairbrother was a cofounder of the group in the early 1970s and his automotive workshop and home in Greytown doubles as GRT headquarters, team captain Brett Harman said. The team has close to 30 paid members with their own motorcycles, he said, and another 40 to 50 supporters who attend regular weekly gatherings at the team HQ. Its somewhere to go on a Friday night to have a few beers without being stung at the bar or beaten up in the carpark. But we need more active members for our working bees and for fundraising. The team together boasts a fleet of more than 100 classic and later model motorcycles, Harman said, most of which are British, European or American makes. However, the present focus of the team is helping fund Fairbrother at the Isle of Man Manx Grand Prix 2013. Harman said at least $11,000 is needed for accommodation and living expenses for Fairbrother and his support crew. Sponsorship deals are to be sought with Wairarapa businesses and fundraisers run in the region, including a site at the upcoming Martinborough Fair. Doug is a proven race winner who is still out there racing at near retirement age and right through his life hes helped a lot of people and families. We believe its time some of that help was given back. I For more information and membership inquiries call 06 304 9049.

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22

Wairarapa Times Age - Saturday, February 9, 2013

Racer sets his sights

Wairarapa Times Age - Saturday, February 9, 2013

on top place finish

Team happy to help Doug out

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