“I went into the year right excited about the new Honda. I thought it would be great straight away and so did the team. I soon realised that it needed a lot of developing and it will be great but it needs time and I’ve got loads of other projects going on, that Id rather use that time for. I didn’t get involved to develop a bike over months and years, I was told I’d have a bike capable of winning straight away and that’s why I couldn’t turn down the opportunity. “TT was a bloody disaster, aside from walking the dog and racing the Mugen, I didn’t enjoy it. It was clear even before that we were going to struggle and then it turned into me really being a test rider, which I did but after we did more testing at Cadwell a few weeks back, I said to the team the bike won’t be competitive at the Ulster Grand Prix and they decided to withdraw me from the event, although they didn’t tell me, which is OK as the decision was made for me. “So I’ve not given up on racing or road racing, there’s no unfinished business and I want to race classics and oddball stuff. All I’ve been thinking about recently is Pikes Peak and any spare time my brain has had is about Pikes Peak on 4 wheels. That job is down to me and if it doesn’t work, it’s my fault and I like that.
