I rode my first bike, a PW50 when I was 4 years old on Leysdown Beach. From then on I was hooked, my parents got me a YZ50 when I was 5 then moved on to a CR60 when I was 6 and started to race.

When I was 8 years old I had a bad crash (still haven't got the hang of crashing yet!!!) and was forced to stop racing.

From then on I had a few more motor x bikes, CR125, KX250 and YZ125 but just rode them for pleasure.

In 2003 I decided to give road riding a go. I passed my test and got a SRAD 600, however that didn't last long. I then moved on to a R6. Not long after getting the R6 I got done for speeding which lead to a ban!!! (155mph down the A20).

Once I got my license back a friend invited me to do a track day at Mallory Park. I loved it so much that not long after I booked another one at Brands Hatch then Lydden Hill. I met a lot of people doing these 3 track days and they all said I should consider racing due to my lap times.

I gave it some thought, done my ACU license then decided to give the Rookie 600 (BEMSEE) a go. I decided to convert my road R6 into a race bike to it went off to Phil Seton for some work.

My first weekend racing was at Brands. I was hoping for a mid pack finish so you can imagine how happy I was when I won all 4 races of the weekend.

After that I had a very up and down season. I had more wins but also more crashes and breakdowns. In total I had:

- 8 wins

- 10 second places

- 4 third places

- 3 forth places

- 1 fifth place

- 1 sixth place

- 3 sevenths places

- 1 eighth place

- 1 ninth place

- 3 Non starters

- 6 crashes (one being a clubman race)

- Total races missed 9.

I also gave MRO a go this season. I qualified for both that I entered and finished 20th at Pembrey and 19th at Brands.

I took two lap records.

- Croix en Ternois (France) 56.45

- Silverstone 1.07.14

Even though I had 2 bad crashes resulting in broken ribs and ankle which led to me missing a quarter of the season, I still managed to finish second in the Bemsee Rookie 600 championship. This was a very close championship and it was very hard holding on to second place.

After such a successful season I thought I'd give the Supersports class a go the following year (2005).

However, on the 1st February 2005 I was diagnosed with cancer at Farnborough Hospital, Kent.

All my race results are available at www.bemsee.net


Terry Oliphant

Next - being diagnosed with cancer....