About
My family's history goes back to 1930 in the Manx Grand Prix. Wilf Harding, a factory Velocette rider, first contested the Mountain Course where he finished 2nd in the Junior Manx Grand Prix. He competed in the Manx Grand Prix for two years before moving up to the TT in 1932. Wilf would have been my Great Great Uncle on my Mum’s side of the family.
My Papa (my Mum’s Dad) was big into the off road scene competing in trials but was also involved in the Manx Grand Prix in a different role. Ken Harding was the Chief Scrutineer of the Manx Grand Prix and also Head of the Manx Motorcycle Club.
Fast forward to 1999, I was then born with a firm love for motorbikes embedded in my genes. My Dad was a keen sponsor of Roy Richardson’s and Roy stayed at our house while he competed at the Manx Grand Prix/TT. Then in 2004, my Dad decided it was his turn to start racing and got his licence racing at Jurby on the Isle of Man. He then raced in the Manx Grand Prix from 2006-2012 with a best lap of a 113mph. Not bad for someone who had never rode or raced a bike until they were 38 years old. He also competed at the Pre TT, Southern 100, Jurby Road and the Ulster Grand Prix.
My Dad was due to race the TT in 2013 but unfortunately, never made a lap at the TT due to his cancer returning at the time of the event and then died 6 months later in January 2014.
I have rode motorbikes around the garden and friends fields since I was 3 or 4 years old. Like most, I started with a Yamaha PW50 and then moved up to higher capacity motorbikes. I never actually raced motorbikes as a kid in any form as my main hobby was cycling and bmx where I competed at a national level on both. I then left the Island for 5 years while I went to school in the UK and riding my bikes around fields, Rushen or Laxey mines was something I did from time to time when I was home.
I then came back to the Isle of Man in 2014 and started riding at Laxey mines a lot more and then I decided in 2017 to enter my first MX race. I had no idea what I was doing as I had never rode sand before but I found my way around. Then in 2018, I decided it was time to do what I always really wanted to do which was race on the tarmac. I bought a Yamaha R6 and a bike trailer for my Ford Fiesta (there was a reason I didn’t have a van but let’s ignore that) and headed up to Jurby for my first track day. I loved it from the get go and then got my race licence and started racing the following year
In 2019, I raced at Jurby and Anglesey competing in two rounds of each championship and won my first race in a wet Novice/Clubman race at my second round of Jurby. I then won my first race in the UK in the Junior Open. I was then due to contest the full Thundersport championship in 2020 but Covid struck so another short season meant I began 2021 still as a novice.
In 2021, I got my first big bike as I knew that’s what I wanted to be on and won the local Clubman championship at jurby on that. I went to the UK during 2021 to obtain my national licence 12 months before the Manx Grand Prix but unfortunately got turned down due to lack of experience on the roads.
2022 was my first year racing on the roads and what a fantastic introduction it was. I went to Northern Ireland and Ireland in my sprinter van with an R6 and got the bug. I started to get handy enough at it winning my first race at Skerries and won at other events. I still hold the support class lap record at Armoy. I also competed at the Pre TT where I finished 3rd in the Junior Superbike race on a Ducati against the quicker 250s. I also raced at Billown at the Southern 100 where as an event newcomer, finished inside the top 10 on both the 600 and 1000cc machines.
In 2023, I was due to compete at the TT as a newcomer but unfortunately following an accident at the Cookstown 100, was ruled as unfit and forced to sit it out. This meant I went to the Manx Grand Prix instead. On the run up to the Manx Grand Prix, I won my first national road race at Olivers Mount in the Supertwin class and raced at Armoy. Then at the Manx Grand Prix, I exceeded all ambitions and finished 2nd in the Senior Manx Grand Prix and 5th in the Junior Manx Grand Prix. I also joined the Tommy Club for lapping over 120mph.
In 2024, I moved up to the “big leagues” and started racing at the Northwest 200, TT and the Macau Grand Prix. 2024 was a very challenging year but a lot of lessons were learnt a hard way. Thankfully without a lot of injuries but a few of my 9 lives were certainly used. Despite such a challenging year, I won at Olivers Mount - again in the Supertwin race, finished 4th in the Bob Smith Spring Cup, 12th in the RST Superbike race lapping at 125.9mph, 11th at the Northwest 200 in a Supersport race as a newcomer and 5th in the Armoy Race of Legends coming back from a big crash at the Isle of Man TT. I then went to Macau and qualified for the race but unfortunately that never happened
