Neil tells 2onT what its like to ride Laguna, and how much damage a Gixer does when it lands on your chest

Anyone who has seen the MRO Powerbike tour over the last couple of years will have noticed Neil Faulkner on his R1. He's hard to miss, being about 6'4" and large in frame, his shaved head makes him stand out in a crowd even more. But on a bike, you will have noticed him challenging at the front or running away with it, as he did at Brands mid-season last year. Neil regularly runs to within a second of all-comers lap record pace - Chris Martin beat his MRO lap record at Brands Indy of 47.86 by 0.04 secs during their epic battle there last October. The bike was a beauty, with ex-Virgin Yamaha factory engine and Motec engine management system. He still wasn't happy with it, however, and he says the bike for 05 will be a much better tool for the job.

"Its got an 05 factory engine, Powercommander and Quickshifter, Ohlins rear shock and K-Tech front cartridge system. It should develop about 190 bhp, which will be a big improvement on 157 bhp last years bike was putting out". Not only did the 'weedy' engine put him at a serious disadvantage to some of his direct competitors, he also points out he has ditched the Motec system, which cost him in the reliability stakes. "These hi-tech systems are fine, as long as you have the budget and the technicians to look after them."

Another problem he hopes is behind him is the chronic arm-pump he suffered from. The operation he had last year to correct the compartment syndrome is still very much at the forefront of his mind, unsurprisingly so, seeing as everytime he looks down he sees two long scars on the front and back of his right forearm. The problem reached its height in a British Superstock race at Donington, where he lead the early laps. But the symptoms of arm-pump is not pain, but paralysis of the hand, which got so bad that day that he had to pull in, physically unable to operate brake and throttle anymore.

Neil does have another, more welcome problem to overcome if he is to win the Powerbike tour this year. He is now working full-time as race technician and head of the Motorcycle Division of Performance Friction Europe. This primarily involves servicing Performance Friction brake pads, which he describes as "the best kept secret in British Motorcycle Racing". This post is going to make serious demands on his time, seeing as he will be in attendance at all BSB meetings in the Virgin Yamaha pit, and at some WSB and MotoGP meetings as well. It will be amazing if he gets away to race himself at all.

Neil started out in 4-wheel sport, but switched to 2-wheels about 6 years ago. His big break came in 2002, when he was offered a ride on a GSXR1000. But things did not go to plan. He explains;

" My sponsor for the previous year Grafters initially to supply and pay for two full spec GSXR1000 Superbikes with the intention of doing BSB in 2002 as a privateer. However during the off season, the organisers decided that there would be no privateers and that everyone would be have to be part of two rider teams. We were approached by Micky G, Paul Young's manager, who I had known for some time, and asked if we wanted to join forces for a bigger assault on the Championship. We agreed and that's how the Team started. However Paul's sponsor pulled out a month or so later, so it was left to my sponsor to pick up the bill for the whole Team!. I didnt really have much say in what was going on, which in hindsight was a mistake. Before the season began Paul had agreed that we would be the development Team and only Team running Pirelli Slicks and at the same time developing new Penski Suspension. I had some major reservations but was talked into it by the rest of the Team.

I didnt realise at the time but that decision would cost me, not only my only chance of making a name for myself in BSB, but also some major injuries. The season opener for me was the Brands Hatch club race followed by the first MRO round the next day. I won all of the club races by some way, but was still not happy with the handling of the bike on the Pirelli slicks. The next day we made some major changes and the handling felt better. Unfortunately on the third lap of qualifying I highsided coming out of Clearways with absolutely no warning. I broke my foot, dislocated one of my fingers and aggravated my previous back injury.

That was just the start, of our problems. The team had so many crashes (Paul in the first BSB round, breaking his arm) that it was costing us a fortune in both repairs and injuries. I dont think I was fully fit, from the start of the season onwards (following the Brands crash). The bikes were a real problem, the handling appeared to change every time we put a different tyre on, and they never handled well. I had a better result in an extremely wet Donington second race when Pirelli managed to supply a half decent wet tyre (they had previously been no better than a road tyre!)While testing at Mallory, the team had taken out the kit gearboxes, because Youngy believed the gear ratios were better in the standard box. The problem with this was the standard boxes were not very strong and needed a 'firm prod' to make sure the gears were selected. This was to be my downfall. Having headed out of the pits I did a couple of laps to warm up then headed up to Gerards for my first quick lap. Unfortunately, as I changed down and tipped in, the gear jumped out. The next thing I knew was I heard the rattle for a split second and then it jumped back in again, causing a huge high side at well over a hundred miles per hour. The bike also bounced high in the air as it tumbled and unluckily for me came down on my chest. This resulted in me breaking both collarbones, ten ribs, a punctured lung and broken elbow. That was the end of my BSB season! The Team obviously didnt learn from it though because, the standard gearboxes were to cause crashes from both of the stand in riders before the end of the year."

This is far from the only serious accident he's been involved in. He broke his back in 2001, testing at Cadwell. Incredibly it took him only 8 weeks to recover from what could have been another horrendous crash. I ask him if the memories of this kind of calamity ever haunts him when he's racing nowadays. " Absolutely not" he replies. I then ask if he saw that terrible crash at Brands last year, which took the life of Darren Mitchell and injured so many others. It turns out he was waiting to go out in the next race (Superstock Cup), and didn't see it. But he is adamant the race organisers were entirely blameless, and that it was a freak accident. It seems what happened was Mark Heckles aquaplaned as he headed down the hill, went down and the pile up was inevitable.

Neil is now one of the elder statesmen of the Powerbike Tour, and readily gives help and advice to the younger riders. There's not many people riding at MRO level who can tell you the best line to take through the infamous Corkscrew (should you ever need to know it !). He went to Laguna to do the California Superbike School instructors' course, with Keith Code instructing the instructors. He describes it as more spectacular and radical to ride than it appears from the sidelines. He describes what happened;

"I was invited for an instructor assessment at Lydden in January, where we had to first clear the ice off the track!. We then had to act as students for some of the other instructors and then have a go ourselves in the afternoon. It seemed to go well, although at the time I think they were only looking at our attitude and how we communicated.

Then it was out to California, for the instructor course under the watchful eye of Keith and his team. We were split into two groups with one group going out before the other and doing a different selection of tracks. I was in the second group, but due to my late appointment was travelling out alone. This was actually a good thing, because I had to learn "Twist of the Wrist 2" and theory books on the scientology methods of teaching on the way! The first track we travelled to was Laguna Seca, and I have to say from what I had seen on the TV, I was a little nervous. The reality was that it was to become my favourite track in the world. The famous corkscrew is even steeper in reality and is the most fantastic corner to get right but very easy to get wrong. Even the run up to it is intimidating, the first you see is black tyre marks across the whole width of the track where guys have left it a bit late to brake (mostly cars though) the track then turns sharp right and then a split second later sharp left and your down into the corkscrew. Your track position and timing have to be spot on as the whole section is blind and happens extremely quickly! The rest of the track is also awesome but you always seem to be waiting to get round to the corkscrew again. The whole trip was a bit of a blur really, we spent a couple of days there, one day off track practising on the slide bike, an unbelievable bit of kit that is about the most fun you can have on two wheels (well four if you count the dolly wheels!) and guaranteed to elevate your heart rate. In fact just watching, waiting you think your heart is going to jump out of your chest! From there it was on to Willow Springs, which was ok, but a bit of a let down in comparison, but hey, anything would have been. There, we were instructing students for real, so they must have been happy with our progress.

Overall I would say it was an experience of a lifetime and very intense. Keith has a reputation for expecting the best from all of his instructors and is not shy in saying when he is not pleased. Fortunately we all escaped without an ear bending. Back in the UK it was straight into the first schools starting in March!"

Neil spent about three years with the California Superbike School, and puts down his success in racing since to a large degree to his time there. I end by asking Neil what he thinks of some of his competitors in Powerbike. He says much the same about all of them. " He's naturally talented and a quick guy, but he doesn't understand bike set up well enough to get to the top". So it seems there are three things you need to break into the Pro game - the talent, the bike and knowing how to set it up. No doubt Neil will be willing to help.


Neil Faulkner is sponsored by Moto2, SDC Performance, Performance Friction, BST Wheels, Bikestop Stevenage, Daytona Boots, Lazer Helmets.



Pete Morrison