After nearly five years of writing in TWO, Colin's finally signing off and would like to thank all the readers who've followed him over the years...
I can't believe that it's almost five years since I started this column. I'd won the World Superbike championship and had begun to make the move into MotoGP. One of the TWO guys came out to Valencia to do a feature on me testing the Aprilia RS3 and he said it would be pretty cool to see how I would find MotoGP, kinda like a new-boy's report from High-School. I was new to MotoGP and I guess I took you along for the ride.
There have been highs and lows. I've crashed a few times (but not many, hope that stays the same for the rest of my career) I've gotten my balls fried at the Sachsenring when the frickin' Aprilia decided to catch fire at 130mph and even scored a few podiums.
Sure, I want that elusive first win - still do - and I've also wanted to be a regular challenger for the title. I've never wanted anything different and I've never ridden round just to get the pay cheque. I've done okay and could go home and sit on my ass whenever I want to. When Troy Bayliss won last year at Valencia I was happy for him, but I've beaten him and know that a win is inside me, but everything needs to stack up.
That's the way it is. Everything needs to be perfect: tyres, bike, team and you. The man is the most important link in that chain, but the other things effect how the man rides. Look at Stoner: he's happy, content and has been riding awesome as a result.
We've always known he's fast, and in 2007 he got a good package. When the technical package is working like that and your bike is 10mph faster and he's riding his ass off he has the advantage and to beat him it's like shovelling shit uphill. He did it right and he's proved to be a worthy Champion - hats off to Casey, I say. There were other Ducatis out there after all.
Next year I'm alongside James Toseland - congratulations James on winning the World Superbike title. He did what he had to do. He got the points in early when others were having problems and that's how a Championship is won. I'm sure he would have loved to take it with two wins at Magny Cours, but sometimes life isn't like that. He's beaten GP winners such as Biaggi and Bayliss and shown that he's got what it takes to get a shot at MotoGP.
Either way he will be a welcome addition to the MotoGP paddock and I'm looking forward to working with him. I've known him a while and I like Brits. I've got a lot of friends from the UK who I visit regularly, so I think that's why it's been great to work with a British magazine. Hell, I even get your sarcasm shit, I love it! But then most Americans who travel do. It's the ones who stay at home who miss out on that good stuff.
I hope that most of you have found my stories interesting some of the time, or a bit of it interesting all of the time. Didn't Lincoln say something like that? What I want to say to people who sit and criticise bike racers is this: anyone who goes out there and puts their balls on the line deserves respect. Club racers, amateurs, the works. When you look at the MotoGP grid and you laugh at the guy who gets lapped, think on this - he's probably one of the top 50 or so motorcycle racers in the world. He's worked his butt off to be there. I'd say the majority of us love what we do. Hell, we started doing this shit for nothin' and many racers still do it for the love of the sport. I just run round in circles for a living, but it's important to us.
Thanks for reading my shit over the years and if you see me in the paddock somewhere, say hello. You've all been awesome!
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