Suzi Perry's Queens of the Road


Suzi Perry's Queens of the Road

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Transcript


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I'm just outside the small town of Cookstown, Northern Ireland,

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50 miles to the west of Belfast.

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It's a quiet and peaceful rural scene,

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as you'd expect when you venture into the Irish countryside,

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but this weekend that peace and quiet is going to be well and truly

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shattered.

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On any other day, these roads would be used by normal traffic.

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As you can see, they are lined with walls, trees and hedges,

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all kinds of obstacles - road furniture, as they call it.

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But for the next two days,

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these roads will be closed for road racing as 200 road racers push

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themselves and their machines to the absolute limits as they compete on

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this circuit. Mostly men, but also some incredible women.

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The week before a race, a minute before a race, it's the adrenaline,

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the buzz. It is like a drug.

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If you start worrying about getting hurt all the time,

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where are you going with that? There's no point in doing that.

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You have to push on and prepare as best you can.

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It's on the same level, you know, your love, your friends,

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and your passion for racing.

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I'm happy that it's like that.

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So incredible!

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By its very nature, road racing is an extremely dangerous motorsport,

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with riders reaching speeds here of 180mph.

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Morning.

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But it's also a sport full of tradition,

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with a strong family atmosphere.

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I've never seen so many characters in one small space.

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Hi!

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-Nice to meet you.

-Thank you.

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Pleasure, absolute pleasure.

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Well, this is so friendly it's incredible.

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You know what, it actually reminds me a little bit of when I used to go

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and watch British superbikes, about 25 years ago.

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It is bringing back that overwhelming family feeling,

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and just that feeling of a grassroots motorsport.

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There's not television cameras everywhere,

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it's just very much racing at its basic level.

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This race, the Cookstown 100, is in its 95th year,

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and apart from the machinery,

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I doubt that it's changed very much over that time.

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But one thing has definitely changed since racing began here.

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In today's paddock, you can find some women road racers.

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I think Melissa's in here.

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Hiya.

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Here she is. Hello.

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How are you?

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-Nice to meet you.

-You too. The first time I was ever on the bike,

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I kept falling off it, I couldn't work the gears,

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couldn't work the clutch, I was like, "I don't want to do this,

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"I don't want to do this." But Dad kept at me and now look at me.

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I'm still here, 14 years on.

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So what was the point then where you stopped thinking,

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"I don't want to do it", and you thought, "I only want to do this"?

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Yeah, there have been times where it has been quite hard,

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because I am in a man's sport and

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it's...for a girl, it's hard.

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I just think I'm immortal, I just think that I'm not going to get

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hurt, that it's not going to happen to me.

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And it's the fact that it's something I love so much,

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I can't get away from it, I really can't.

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Like, people that don't know me,

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I would say to them, "I race motorbikes,"

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and they look at me as if I've two heads.

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It's just disbelief, I guess, because I am a girl, obviously,

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and the fact that I'm so small, too, draws attention.

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My poor mum, bless her, like, I know

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she doesn't particularly like me doing it.

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She won't even watch me.

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She can't, she just can't bring herself to watch me,

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which I don't blame her. That's the way she copes with it.

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Lavinia, you're Melissa's mum and some might say that you've got the

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-hardest job of all.

-It's hard.

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You know, my stomach was churning and your heart's going as well

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before she goes out.

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And I'll always give her a hug, kiss her and say I love her,

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and away off she goes, so.

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And then I just sit and wait.

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Sit and wait, with my fingers crossed.

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It's hard not to feel for Melissa's mum,

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to have brought a daughter into this world and see her commit at such a

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young age to this sport that could take her away at any time.

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Lavinia may not want to be here but she's here for Melissa.

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I've worked in motorsport for 22 years and I think this is the most

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dangerous motorsport that I've ever seen, and I'm sort of slightly

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polarised by it, because it's incredible watching

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it and another part of me is like your mum -

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-I'm absolutely terrified...

-I know, yeah.

-..for you being out there.

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I know it's not nice for her, but

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when I come back in and I am thoughtful of her, like,

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having her here is probably the biggest support I have.

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Because everybody needs their mum.

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That's very true.

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I like road racing because maybe I'm too crazy for normal life.

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I don't know, really, but I have road racing in my heart,

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and it's like how I said - it's like a passion.

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So I need maybe the adrenaline and all the atmosphere,

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or something like that, and everything.

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And bikes is my life.

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I'm not too much thinking about the dangers.

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If something will happen, it will happen, and...

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it could happen, you know, anywhere,

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you know? It can't be only at the road racing, you know?

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For Veronika Hankocyova,

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taking part in Irish road racing is a huge commitment.

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I can see Veronika up there.

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Along with her fiance and fellow racer Michal, or Indy as she calls

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him, she drives from her home in the

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Czech Republic just to race on these roads.

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-Hi, I'm Suzy.

-Yeah, nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

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Michal's out there now. That's why you're here. Is he?

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Is Michal on track right now?

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Yeah, he's there right now because he's on a 600 but doing

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-1,000 class on that bike, you know, so I'm just watching him.

-OK.

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I have problems watching the races, it's so fast, you know,

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I can't believe it. But if I'm there it's completely different.

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I always say to Indy,

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"Yeah, you have to go, just, you know, have a nice ride."

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It's not about racing, I have to say,

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it's about a very nice, fast ride, safe as much as possible.

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OK.

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Well, we'll be watching you and wishing you all the luck, of course.

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Have you seen him? Is he back in?

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I think he's not here. I have to go to the tent to see him.

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-Go on.

-Perfect.

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It's astonishing, isn't it?

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Everything that she said, really,

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and the fact that she's standing here and she's more nervous about

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waiting for her boyfriend to come in than she is when she's actually out

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there racing. I kind of understand that, as well, a little bit.

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Yeah, it's quite a lot to take in.

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I'm fascinated by Veronika and Indy,

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a couple committed to each other but also to competing in this sport.

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In fact, it's the danger of road racing that drew them even closer

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together, six years ago...

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..when Indy was badly injured here at the Cookstown 100.

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I had a big crash at Cookstown.

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I broke my back in many places.

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And after that, I was lying in hospital and I came out of the

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hospital and I asked her if she would marry me because I realised

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afterwards that life is too short. Now we are ten years together, we

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got engaged six years ago, and we have never had time to get

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-the marriage done.

-Come on, Indy!

-Yeah, I know!

-Come on, sort it out!

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Yeah, we spend all our money on bikes, everything, so...

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-And travelling.

-Travelling, you know.

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Veronika was telling me she's a little bit nervous about going out

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-on the 600 cos it's...

-Yeah, she is actually, sort of,

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her first year on a 600, really,

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on the roads, so that is going to be a big premiere for her.

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Of course, you know, she's getting used to the speed and, you know...

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and I'm getting more nervous than her, I think, you know,

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because you know when your partner is out there,

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you know how tricky it is sometimes.

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So I hope she's going to do well and she's going to enjoy it.

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She was saying exactly the same thing about you

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-while you were out there, too.

-I know.

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My first love was horses and showjumping.

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Motorbikes just didn't figure at all.

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Then, about 2004, I found myself on my own.

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That was basically the end of the marriage.

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And I'd been married for 24 years.

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That's been a long time being with somebody all the time,

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and all of a sudden you're on your own,

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and it's very daunting, as well,

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but for me, it was the start of a new life.

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There is no doubt that Yvonne Montgomery is a road racer with a

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difference. It's not just that she's a woman,

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but a woman who began racing in such exceptional circumstances.

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From learning to ride a motorbike to actually racing was only a year.

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Do your licence and get a wee motorbike and have a bit of

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independence, so that's actually what I did do.

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I didn't go looking for motorbikes. I didn't go looking to start racing,

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it just all started to fall into place

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and I went along the road that it led me.

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It led me to motorbike racing, road racing,

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and I've got such a good life now.

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I enjoy my life so much.

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It's a good time for me.

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Hi. Has there been a birthday recently?

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No, there's a birthday at the end of August.

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-It's coming up, is it?

-The last day of August.

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-Oh, yeah.

-60.

-It's a big one.

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Well, sure, I don't know.

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It's just a number, isn't it?

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Yeah, it is. You're in this for racing.

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You love the racing. You like overtaking. You're not just...

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I like catching them and passing them.

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That's what racing's about,

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to get past whatever's in front of you and go on.

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When you're on that grid with your lid on, visor down,

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-you're racing out there.

-Oh, yeah.

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You're not just going out there to have a good time?

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Of course not. It's far too expensive.

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If you want to go out and just piddle around,

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there's other things you can do a lot less expensive and dangerous as

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racing. No, I'm out there to compete.

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Whatever I earn goes straight into the bike.

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The girls talk about getting their nails done, their gel nails.

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It's £25. I think, "That's a jerrycan of fuel for me!"

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THEY LAUGH

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We're away now.

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Yvonne springing into action.

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I don't think that racing gets any more raw than this.

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You don't just see and hear it, you can also feel it.

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It's such an immersive and overwhelming experience.

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-How you doing? You good?

-What?

-Are you good?

-Yeah, good to go.

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-Feeling good.

-What Yvonne, Veronika and Melissa have in common,

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like all the racers here, is a total commitment to this sport.

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Their goal is the same, to go out,

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race as hard as they can and beat some fellas along the way.

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They look like they're talking about the track, and Indy is giving her

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some pointers on his experience from just being out there.

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I don't speak Czech but I can tell by the body language.

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I was wondering whether she was visualising the track

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before she went out there.

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It's so extraordinary standing here with them waiting to go out,

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even though it's only for a practice, but on a road,

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on a country lane, it feels so weird.

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When you're there, like she's sitting on her bike now, waiting to

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-go, there must be so much going through your head.

-Oh, yeah, it is.

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What are you thinking? Are you visualising the track?

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-How do you work?

-You are trying to visualise how it was last year,

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"How shall I go this way?"

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Not to concentrate on cameras, not concentrate on anything.

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-Just be you...

-100% focus on what you're going to do.

-Yeah.

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Shut the gate, health and safety.

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At least she's taking it easy.

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-Yeah, she's taking it easy.

-She's taking it easy?!

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My mum would be having kittens about me being here, watching this,

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in case something happens, let alone being on there actually racing.

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I can't really imagine how he's feeling.

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It's clear to me that you can't take part in this sport

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if you don't love it.

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It's too expensive.

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It's too dangerous to just be some casual pastime, but for Melissa,

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like everyone else on the grid,

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there's a price to pay for that love.

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I've just spoken to all of her family and they have...

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..a massive amount of pride and admiration,

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but they're all incredibly nervous for the unknown, really.

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This is racing how it used to be,

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a kind of racing in which the riders have to take on the road as well as

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their fellow competitors.

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And the rest of us will never know just how exhilarating that must be.

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Only the riders can know that.

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It looked like she got a good start.

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She's so tiny, you know, against guys that are

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twice the size of her and probably three times as strong as her,

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and there she is, away.

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Seventh?

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Leading that second pack.

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Seventh. She qualified ninth, so it's all good so far.

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I felt a little bit torn there, because half of me just wanted her

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to come back and be safe and the other half knows how much she wants

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to do well, and I desperately wanted her to get a top ten finish.

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There's a competitive side to you and then there's the human side that

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just thinks, "Just come back."

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Anyway, she's coming back.

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-Hi.

-Hi.

-How are you doing?

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-Sweet.

-Yeah?

-Went good, yeah. It was good.

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Good. I think there's going to be a little huddle of people that are

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-very happy to see you back here.

-Yes, I think so. Bless them.

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Any more relaxed at all this weekend with all the races going on,

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-or normal?

-We're just normal.

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Just a bit before she goes out, you know.

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But I'm relieved now it's finished and she's back safe and sound,

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that's the main thing. Yeah.

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All good.

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Before I came here, people said to me, "Oh, road racing is mad,"

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but I don't think the racers are mad.

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They're skilful, and also measured and calculating.

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They have to be to put themselves on this grid,

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to make their lives work around the thing that they love,

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because everything in their lives leads to this, to being here.

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They're addicted, they're obsessed,

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however you want to describe it,

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because they have to be here and they will do anything to get here.

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And for me, that's not madness, that's passion.

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That's making my heart bang so much, you can feel it,

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it's like thunder going through your body.

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Incredible. The second wave.

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If it is so extraordinary, such a physical sensation,

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to just stand by the roadside and watch,

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what must it feel like for riders like Veronika

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as they race between the hedges?

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It must, I guess, be some kind of euphoria.

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Well done.

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I thought you did really well.

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I guess OK, I'm in one piece.

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-That's the main thing.

-It is.

-And a top ten finish to boot.

-Yeah.

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-Does the job.

-Indy's out there now. Am I stopping you going to see him?

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-Do you want to go and have a look?

-Yeah, I'll go there.

-Yeah, OK.

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-Thanks a lot.

-Great.

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Cool as a cucumber, isn't she?

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I don't think I'd be able to speak if I'd just got off that bike.

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It's just amazing.

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They're all incredible.

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In some ways, perhaps the most incredible of all is Yvonne.

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She's so warm and softly-spoken, but a woman with such a strong

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can-do attitude.

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How would you describe yourself?

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Because there's not many people that would start riding a bike at the age

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of 47, let alone racing a bike at 47.

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I like to try things

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and my whole thing is, try it and see.

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If you don't like it, don't do it again, but if you do like it,

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look what you would've missed

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if you hadn't tried it in the first place.

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Don't limit yourself, do it now.

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Do it, live every day and enjoy every day and plan for the future.

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And don't let your age stop you doing...?

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Don't even think about your age.

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If you start thinking about your age, you'd sit and do nothing.

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You just have to... The only thing age does

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is makes you more determined to get that done, because in ten years,

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you mightn't have the opportunity.

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In ten years I'll be 70, I'll not be racing then.

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I've spoken to a lot of people in this paddock that are retired,

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they've come back, they're semiretired, they've come back.

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They describe it as an addiction.

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-Oh, it is.

-A drug. It is?

-It is absolutely an addiction.

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You can get treatment for every other addiction,

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but there's no treatment for motorbike racing.

0:21:420:21:45

Yvonne's addiction to racing is inspirational.

0:21:480:21:51

To me, and I'm sure to many other women, as well.

0:21:540:21:56

We all want to do things and then talk ourselves out of them.

0:21:580:22:02

But Yvonne talks herself into doing things.

0:22:020:22:04

And she's not prepared to let any setbacks get her down.

0:22:060:22:10

Not even an engine blowing up during the warm-up for her race.

0:22:100:22:15

Do you know what? It's good to see that you're still smiling when

0:22:150:22:17

you've put all this effort in, to come in,

0:22:170:22:19

and what track time have you had this weekend? About 15 minutes?

0:22:190:22:22

That's life, you know. What about it?

0:22:220:22:24

The bikes haven't given trouble,

0:22:240:22:26

this is the first time, actually...

0:22:260:22:28

I've raced for about six years that I've had to pull in

0:22:280:22:30

-with engine failure.

-Oh, is that right?

-Yeah. So it just happens.

0:22:300:22:35

I can't wait to get home to get the sump off that

0:22:350:22:39

to see how many pieces fall out when I take the sump off!

0:22:390:22:43

The addiction continues.

0:22:430:22:45

-"Come on, I've got to sort the bikes out now."

-Absolutely, yeah.

0:22:450:22:48

She's still smiling and she's put all that effort into coming here.

0:22:510:22:55

She goes out and she has a problem with the second bike.

0:22:550:22:58

All that money she's put in and she just can't wait to fix the bike.

0:22:580:23:02

Amazing.

0:23:040:23:06

Being at a road race is like being on a knife edge.

0:23:080:23:12

It's exciting and compelling,

0:23:120:23:15

but you never quite escape the fear that something awful could happen at

0:23:150:23:19

any moment.

0:23:190:23:21

Maybe the racers get used to that or learn to filter it out.

0:23:220:23:26

But they can't avoid it.

0:23:270:23:30

It's a reality that Veronika has to confront once again, as news reaches

0:23:300:23:35

the paddock that her fiance, Indy, has had another heavy crash.

0:23:350:23:40

High sider, big high sider.

0:23:420:23:45

Carried to the hospital, so...

0:23:450:23:48

I need to dress me up and just go and get his ID card and his

0:23:480:23:52

papers and go there just to be sure of what's going on.

0:23:520:23:57

-Are you OK?

-Yeah, yeah, I'm all right.

0:23:570:24:00

Did you actually see him? Have you spoken to him?

0:24:000:24:03

Yeah, I spoke with him and he wasn't in pain.

0:24:030:24:06

So he was...he didn't too much realise the reality because he was

0:24:060:24:10

on that, you know, some morphine or something.

0:24:100:24:15

-OK.

-So he was just talking something, you know, but he was

0:24:170:24:19

-completely...

-Not talking any sense?

-Yeah, yeah.

0:24:190:24:22

Everybody is like, you know, "Oh!"

0:24:240:24:26

And I don't know nothing, they don't know nothing.

0:24:270:24:29

It's much worse for me because I need to be strong because of him.

0:24:290:24:35

You know, I can't go there and just cry and see what's going on.

0:24:350:24:40

There's no point, you know.

0:24:400:24:42

So I have to be strong, and if I see he is all right,

0:24:420:24:46

you know, that's the main thing.

0:24:460:24:49

Yeah. Give him our love.

0:24:490:24:51

Yeah. Thanks a lot, Suzi.

0:24:510:24:54

You're great, you're great.

0:24:540:24:56

OK, you get going, we won't hold you up.

0:24:560:24:58

-I will cry later, don't worry!

-SUZI LAUGHS

0:24:580:25:02

I thought Veronika was so strong walking back here,

0:25:020:25:05

talking complete sense and being

0:25:050:25:08

very matter-of-fact about everything and I wasn't expecting her to kind

0:25:080:25:13

of hug me at the end, but she, you know, clearly needed a little bit of

0:25:130:25:18

humanity to get her through the next hour or so, getting to the

0:25:180:25:21

hospital, but I can't imagine what that must be like for her.

0:25:210:25:24

That's road racing, and they know that.

0:25:270:25:30

They all know that here. All these people get it.

0:25:300:25:32

It's us on the outside that don't, but today, having spent the day

0:25:330:25:37

here, I kind of get it a bit more now.

0:25:370:25:40

As he returns from hospital,

0:25:410:25:44

a badly shaken Indy faces a long and difficult journey home to the Czech

0:25:440:25:47

Republic. But there seems little doubt that he and Veronika

0:25:470:25:52

will soon be racing on the roads once again.

0:25:520:25:56

Would you describe road racing as an addiction?

0:25:560:25:58

What it is...

0:25:590:26:02

for me...

0:26:020:26:04

It's a very hard question just now, because after all the troubles

0:26:060:26:09

we've had these two weekends,

0:26:090:26:12

maybe I'm a bit negative now, you know, but no, road racing,

0:26:120:26:16

it's like a passion for me and we are like a big family.

0:26:160:26:19

Is it maybe about a feeling... where you come to a race,

0:26:230:26:27

do you sometimes feel right about it and then do you sometimes

0:26:270:26:30

feel wrong? Do you sometimes feel hesitant about going out?

0:26:300:26:34

Yes, my very old friend, he was a mechanic in the '60s years,

0:26:340:26:40

he said to me that a great racer is an old racer,

0:26:400:26:44

so... And I now realise what he means, you know, by that.

0:26:440:26:49

Most of your friends are in this paddock now, then?

0:26:540:26:57

There's a lot of friends in the paddock, yeah.

0:26:570:26:59

It's just like a big extended family.

0:26:590:27:02

It really, genuinely is like a big extended family.

0:27:020:27:05

It's like all your cousins and all your friends that you have at some

0:27:050:27:08

christening or wedding or something, you see them all then.

0:27:080:27:11

This is like having this extended family every race meeting.

0:27:110:27:16

There are sportsmen out there, but they don't face what you face.

0:27:210:27:25

-No.

-All motorsports are dangerous.

0:27:250:27:27

We're aware of that, but this is right on the line, isn't it?

0:27:270:27:31

Everybody knows the drill.

0:27:310:27:33

Like, it's understandable for people who are in this environment,

0:27:340:27:39

but for people outside, they wouldn't get...they don't get it.

0:27:390:27:43

They don't get it.

0:27:430:27:45

What these women do, what all these racers do, is extreme,

0:27:460:27:51

because there is nothing more extreme than loving something that

0:27:510:27:55

could cost you your life, but these

0:27:550:27:58

are people who move mountains to do what they want to do.

0:27:580:28:01

That's also extreme, and it is extraordinary.

0:28:010:28:05

I've had such a great time here and I've learned so much,

0:28:070:28:09

and it's really been a privilege to meet the girls and just to see their

0:28:090:28:13

dedication and determination to get

0:28:130:28:16

their bikes out here and to race on roads.

0:28:160:28:18

They're wired differently to me.

0:28:180:28:20

I couldn't do it, I still don't know quite why they do it,

0:28:200:28:23

but I have such a respect for them

0:28:230:28:25

and I can't wait to come back to another road race.

0:28:250:28:28

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