This picture of me sitting on my YDS3 250 Yamaha, reminds me of the very unconventional path I took to achieve my goal in racing. It was the first and only proper road-going motorcycle I ever owned (other than a 50cc "buzz bike"), and it was a brilliant machine which helped me develop the riding skills I needed before progressing to the track. I bought it when I was 21 years old, and besides being my daily transport, I started racing the machine a year after acquiring it. The first events I did were local hill climbs, before progressing to production racing at the Roy Hesketh. It took me another three years to save up enough money to acquire a TD2 Yamaha, so my much anticipated entry into the nationals only began when I was 24. I lost virtually my entire first season when my trailer and racing bike were totaled in a road accident on my way to race in Rhodesia, and then I lost another 14 months due to a serious injury when competing in the 1973 SATT, so, when I finally decided to go over to Europe at the beginning of 1975, I was a 28 year old "veteran" with very limited experience, which was hardly ideal, I think you will agree. Let's be honest, my age, coupled with my South African nationality (anti-apartheid sentiments were at their height at around this time), virtually assured that the factories were going to pass me by, so I understood from the very beginning that I was going to be a one man band. I know it must have appeared a long shot from the perspective of a casual onlooker, but even at that stage, I kind of knew it was going to work out somehow. What a wonderful thing the optimism of youth is, so, if you are young, don't waste a second of it as it is the most valuable asset you will ever have.
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