Читать книгу Foggy: The Championship Years - Carl Fogarty - Страница 15
ОглавлениеThis is late on in the race, when we were leading. I had changed leathers to let my Kawasaki set dry out. The bike was always bottoming out, as can be seen from the scratches on the fairing.
This was my first 24-hour race so I was a bit wet behind the ears. My team-mates were Terry Rymer and a Belgian, Michel Simeon. My first mistake was forgetting to hit the start button after sprinting across the track for the start, so I was left for dead. But I managed to claw my way back to second, behind the other Kawasaki France team of Alex Vieira in the first 50-minute session. The next mistake was tucking into the hospitality food during my breaks, so I felt sick throughout the race. And the third error was to fall asleep, which left me feeling crap when a mechanic woke me up with the warning that it would be my turn in 10 laps. I have a lazy eye at the best of times but, just waking up, it was even worse and I nearly fell off twice in the first couple of laps.
The other Kawasaki team had snapped a cam-chain and broken down and our bosses were worried that the same might happen to us. So our mechanics incited the crowd to invade the track as there was an hour still remaining and the officials had no option but to call an early end to the race.
Me, Simeon and Rymer (right) being mobbed by our mechanics. It was fantastic to have won my first 24-hour race
