I HAVE always thought that motorcycle racers must be mad. Let's face it, anyone who takes a bend virtually horizontal to the tarmac and risks having their kneecaps reshaped at the same time must be bonkers, with MPH standing for mad person hovering!

And yet there are hundreds of race-riders prepared to put life and limb on the line, not only for their own thrills but spectators too.

One is Chris Gregg, from Orpington, who already in his fairly short racing career has catelogued some hair-raising and, sometimes, amusing moments to tell his grandchild-ren (assuming he's around long enough to tell them!).

Frivolities over, let's get down to the real story of a bike star in the making.

The 31-year-old first became interested in motorcycling six years ago when, due to poor public transport links, a bike became a necessity to get him to and from work.

Chris said: "I had my eyes set on a big sports bike, and just an hour after passing my test a friend lent me his FZR600 and I was off blasting around Kent! (I told you that motorcyclists are mad).

"Insurance prices were high, so I had to be content with a lesser-powered trail-bike for a while until I tasted true performance on a CBR600, and I knew then that I just had to have one.

"As riding on the road got faster and faster (do you still need convincing that motorcyclists are mad?) one of my friends started club racing and was soon doing very well.

"But it was about three years before I caught the bug, but I remember my first track day very vividly and had a few bruises to show for it, when another rider collided with me and I nose-dived to the floor.

"As for my bike, that ended up a wrecked heap in the gravel trap. That was my introduction to circuit riding!"

Chris added: "It didn't get much better for my first-ever race at Cadwell Park.

"To my astonishment, I managed to move up to second place. But it all got the better of me and I got carried away, falling about halfway through the race for a muddy and not a very glorious ending." (Muddy marvellous as they say, Chris!).

Undeterred by those minor setbacks, Chris started racing in his first full season last year on an older bike a CBR600 and he soon made progress towards the front rows of the grid.

Chris added: "I finished off the season with a couple of wins. My championship places last year were 10th in the Clubman's category and 11th in the Rookie 600 series.

"This year, I decided that I needed a more competitive bike and swapped my Honda for a Yamaha R6.

"Mark Rivett is a friend of mine and runs a firm called VR Frozen Foods. He lets me borrow one of his vans to carry my bike and other equipment, which is a great help as it avoids me having to hire one each time I race."

Chris added: "This year also started with a setback, when my rebuilt engine blew up on the eve of the first race of the new season.

"A friend kindly offered me the use of his bike and, quite incredibly, I set my personal best on it!

"The next round was just a week later and my engine could not be rebuilt in time. So I had to borrow another bike but came second in one race, which was very pleasing considering the atrocious conditions.

"My best day this year was definitely at Lydden Hill, when I had two wins and two seconds, as I had also entered the Supersport 600 Series in addition to the Clubman's 600 series I normally race in.

"I also had the distinction, not to mention satisfaction,

of winning the Rider of the Day' award and was presented with an enormous trophy. I came home from Lydden laden with trophies and happy in the knowledge that I lapped very close to the track record."

Chris did not know it at the time, but his season was about to go pear-shaped.

"My success continued until the Brands Hatch round in May. I had won the first race and in the second was sitting closely behind the leader," he added.

"We were racing through one of the corners on the last lap when a backmarker caused me to lose a couple of bike-lengths on the leader and, as I surged into the final corner, I opened the throttle too soon and too much and I was hurtled over the handlebars at about 100 mph (You remember mad person hovering?).

"I hit the floor and bounced like a ball before finally stopping just short of the tyre-wall. The medics were with me immediately, and as the adrenalin gave way to pain I was moved to the medical centre.

"It was obvious that I had broken my right wrist and I was taken to Queen Mary's Hospital, in Sidcup.

"A couple of X-rays later I was diagnosed with having a scaiphoid perrilunate dislocation. It needed immediate surgery and at about 9.30pm I was wheeled (not on your bike, presumably, Chris?) into the operating theatre.

"I woke up the next morning to be told it had all gone well and that I could go home.

"Go home, not bloody likely, It was straight back to Brands to watch that day's racing (I told you motorcycle racers are mad!).

"I went from leading the National Championship by 50 points to missing a couple of rounds and dropping to second place, 50 points behind the leader."

Chris returned to race action, still in plaster, at Snetterton two weeks ago. He takes up the story: "I arrived in time for the afternoon's practice sessions and I got on the bike for the first time since the accident. I was slowly pulling out of pit-lane, checking that all was well with the bike and getting myself as comfortable as possible.

"Then wham... this other rider just careered into me from behind doing about 40mph faster than I was going.

"He whacked into my left leg taking it off the peg and he ended up in the adjacent potato field. (Spud-he-didn't-like, presumably, Chris?). But I managed to survive the weekend without further injury or damage to my bike.

"On the Saturday in the first race I finished 13th and was very disappointed, but we made a few adjustments to the bike, which made it more comfortable, and I came seventh in race two.

"On Sunday in the first race, I managed sixth and then seventh in race two, which was not a bad weekend's work with a damaged wrist."

Chris concluded: "The plaster's off now and I have a special brace on my wrist and it's getting better.

"This weekend I'm off to France to race at the Croix en Ternois racetrack before returning to do my utmost to catch up the leader and win that championship."

Now you know I said motorcycle racers are mad. Well, from my experience of the French, they use the left, right and middle of the road, not to mention the odd bit of pavement and grass verge too. As I said, mad people hovering!

* Chris Gregg races as a privateer and would welcome ay help with sponsorship. Call him on 07957 591929 if you are interested in backing someone who is literally going flat out for that championship win.

July 9, 2002 10:00