DANGEROUS BRUCE

Brucie (Tea) Boy is gearing up for the battle ahead but you just wonder how some people manage to scrape through life at times….

Words: Bruce Wilson
Pictures: Kev & Teresa Green

This is my last column before the first round of BSB, and already it feels like the butterflies have inhabited my stomach. Ironically by the time you have read this you will be fully aware of how the first round has gone for me, whereas I can only guess and hope as I write this.

I’ve noticed a change in myself over recent times, that desire to win everything I do is thriving more than ever! Whether it’s over a game of chess or a sprint to the finish line in a training session, I want it, and I’m going out there to get it! The extent it’s got to is actually getting out of hand! Driving through Boston a couple of weeks back I dived into a parking space that was being fought over by a couple of cars from the other side of the road. Neither driver was very happy, but thankfully they directed their anger at each other rather than me.

My training has really helped me to focus over winter, so I’m sad to say it’s finally got the better of me. A repetitive knee ligament injury has put paid to my running and in turn, my proposed shoplifting career! It’s not all bad though, the nights are getting lighter and I’m hoping to start the forty mile round trip to work and back on my push bike shortly.
Outside of racing and training I’ve been keeping myself busy with a variety of activities. Rat hunting has to be the most abstract. My best mate and his brother-in-law often take to the farmyard, rifle in hand searching for the rodents and recently I had the chance to go and join them. The reality of it is I didn’t come close to hitting a rat, but I did manage to shoot a glass bottle from a good 40 metres. Result!

I’ve really been clocking up the miles in the van recently, so much so the thought of opening up a bike transportation company has crossed my mind. The other day, my Dad and I went on a road trip with a difference. Armed with little more than a map, we set off on what would turn out to be a 17-hour journey around the country. Waking up at 3.30am was quite a challenge, as I’m not the best at early rises, but with the incentive I had that day, I’d have gone without sleep if it had been the case. A new GSXR 600 K8 was waiting for me, all of 400 miles from home at GT Motorcycles in Plymouth. The route wasn’t quite that straight-forward though, and a diversion to Brighton to pick up my K7 from the Focused Events depot was first on the cards.

From there it was pedal to the metal in our beast, arriving four hours later at the very impressive new showrooms of GT Motorcycles. Mike Grainger was there to greet us with a new factory fresh baby Gixxer. I was worse than a child on Christmas Day, stood aside my new toy, I couldn’t wait to have a sit on it. GT Motorcycles have kindly sponsored me with the bike, so I’ve a lot to be grateful for and I’m hoping Mike is going to help me out with my race starts too! He’s a legend in his own right in the sprinting world, and if anyone can get a bike off the line, then it’s him!

After tea and a scone in the upstairs Legends Café, we were back on the road returning to deepest darkest Lincolnshire. The 700 mile journey was one hell of a challenge, but as if that wasn’t enough punishment for one day, shortly after going to bed I was up again at 5.30am for a test at Snetterton.
We’ve just bought Ben Wilson’s truck and set-up from last year. A complete refit has been going on, and I’d love to tell you all about how I’ve been measuring angles, and nailing this and that, but the truth of it is my team manager, Andy Pulling, doesn’t even trust me with a brush, let alone a hammer! My tea-boy trade has really paid dividends though, keeping the lads hydrated is no easy job, but someone’s got to do it! The truck is coming on great! Andy has got his son Dan locked up in it, and is refusing to let him out until it’s finished. A little harsh some might say, but it’s a good way of making sure it’s ready to roll in time for the new season!

My team always joke about how I need to be under constant supervision, and I’ve always treated it as a bit of a joke, but I have to admit that following a recent test day at Cadwell Park, it showed me just how dependant I really am on them! For the first time I was unaccompanied by any of the team, and in effect mechanic-less. The bikes ready, I’m ready and literally moments before I’m due to go out, I see that I’ve over filled the oil level to the extent that it’s above the sight glass window. In my haste I opted to drain a bit out of the sump to bring the level back down. Prepared with a bottle to collect the excess, I loosened the bolt and out it shot into the bottle along with 4 litres of oil!

Like an idiot and rather annoyed with myself I threw the oil bottle into the nearest bin, only to realise seconds later the sump bolt was still in the bottle with the oil. In a tramp like mannerism, I hop into the bin and go in search for the bolt. Thankfully I found it and after a brief phone call, chief technician Neil turned up and set the job right, so all I had to do was live down the dozens of sets of eyes that had watched me act like a nutter!
The moral of the story is never leave children unsupervised!


Dangerous Bruce

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