MARK COVERDALE one of racing’s stalwart sponsors –

why does he do it?

My dad had a bike, a Honda Cub C50, and as a small boy in the ‘60s I was a regular passenger in my anorak and mittens – I remember it as a friendly and happy part of my life. By the time we moved to Cambridgeshire in 1974 the Cub was long gone, I was fourteen and spent time with my mates, faces pressed against showroom windows, working out which bike we could get – our dream machines were the Yamaha FS1-E, Suzuki AP50 and Honda SS50 as well as the exotic Italian Malagutis, Fantics and Garellis.

Bikes had become an obsession and I urgently started saving from paper rounds, fruit picking and other holiday jobs. When sixteen finally hit, I found that all I could afford was a Batavus Compact, a tiny step-through, more gadget than motorcycle. It wasn’t my first choice, but I was straight onto the road on my 16th birthday. This was mid-winter, and ice and snow combined with 16-year-old over-confidence saw me falling off all over the place. I convinced my father that the problem was the Compact’s tiny wheels, and was able to trade it in for a yellow Honda SS50. Now my life changed, clocking up hundreds of miles each weekend and surprisingly I never fell off the thing.

Come the spring, I ventured out to a local motorcycle club meet. Seeing this nervous boy, one senior member asked if he could have a go on my little Honda. The quid pro quo was a pillion ride on his Laverda 750.... The acceleration literally took my breath away as I clung on. He didn’t hold back, using all the road and scraping a peg at every bend. I had never known anything like it and I got off exhilarated, shaking...and totally hooked.

At 17 I had a Honda CB250 G5, soon swapped for an early Norton Commando when I passed my test, which brought a repeating cycle of toil, joy and explosion – it quickly became my second bike, though the exhausts did glow yellow when it ran.

The Racing Bug

I only got involved in road racing more recently. I had done loads of things with bikes – advanced instructor, done a bit of motocross and made up the numbers in club racing (I was enthusiastic but rubbish). Riding had brought its knocks and scrapes but my worst injury came after slipping on wet grass when putting a hosepipe away! My ankle, according to my friend working the X-ray that day, had exploded, and for a long time was neither use nor ornament. For the first time since I was fourteen, I was without a bike.

I started watching bike videos, which reignited an obsession with the Isle of Man TT. As I started to move about with sticks, getting back on a bike became a priority, and I even thought about doing a bit of racing myself – the MZ series looked inviting. When I finally felt fit enough to get back on the road, I bought a ’99 Hayabusa, and felt human again.

The TT obsession hadn’t gone away, but with an insurance business to look after I found it impossible to spend a week or two on the Island. Then in 2013 I heard it was possible to buy Platinum hospitality tickets, resulting in me and a couple of my sons having a day trip to the TT, flying from Birmingham –expensive, but cheaper than a fortnight. The Platinum tickets gave access to the VIP pavilion, food and drink, a lap in a course car and a TT legend as host for the day – in our case, it was Mick Grant. Most of the Platinum ticket holders were corporate so not really there for the bikes and soon wandered off, but we really hit it off with Mick, who looked after us really well. The course car was fantastic, averaging 90mph round the course, and at one point we found ourselves sitting on a garden wall having tea and cake on Bray Hill as the bikes flew past at 180mph, inches away.

It was intoxicating and addictive, so we went back in 2014, again hosted by Mick. I got chatting to a lovely bloke called Keith who was sponsoring a bike – he turned out to be Keith Flint! We were back again the following year, this time with Ian Lougher looking after us. Ian and I got on really well and just before we left, I asked if he knew of a team I could sponsor – the result was that I started supporting Team ILR in BSB. In 2016 we were back at the TT with Ian riding the 500cc two-stroke Suter!

Building a Stable

Two years later I had become the ideal sponsor for Team ILR, sending them money, making no demands and rarely showing my face – when I did turn up to help, we all worked hard and got on like a house on fire. In fact, it was a really good team. As well as being one of the nicest, most humble people you could hope to meet, Ian is a ten-times TT winner who is brilliant at setting a bike up – to this day, we don’t use datalogging. His wife Asa helps in the pits, does trackboards and produces three delicious meals a day while chief mechanic Michael ‘Jacko’ Jackson is a fantastic mechanic, hard working and happy – also a demon off-road rider. We are all team mates but also very close friends. Then four years ago when I joined Ian and Asa on a visit to Japan, I met Keiko, who was President of WIMA Japan – she is now my fiancée!

For the 2017 TT, we planned for Ian to ride the Suter again, until Suter said they were sorry but they were overstretched and couldn’t come. Ian was obviously very disappointed and after a few drinks in the hospitality marquee, I offered to buy a Suter for next year. Next morning (now sober), Ian called and asked if I was serious about buying a bike. Of course I was, but Ian suggested that for the same money as a Suter, we could buy a couple of Patons instead.

They’ve done so well that my race bike stable now consists of four Patons, as well as a Yamaha R6, Honda CBR600RR, BMW R1000S and Kawasaki ZX10. We have done some BSBs to give riders some track time but are really focused on the road events,

Left: Paton has proved an affordable and effective racer

Right: Mark with the CBr600rr

Below: Patonmounted team iLr riders are causing a stir with Paton wins at the NW200 (with Joe Loughlin) and the Manx (Francesco Curinga). This year we are targeting the NW200, the TT, Southern 100, Manx GP as well as Oliver’s Mount and a few Irish road races. (Plans were made before Irish racing was cancelled). A win at the TT is still our goal, though we did achieve a surprise podium in 2019, when Ian rode the electric Mirai to third place behind the two Hondas. I was overjoyed with that result, so proud of Ian, Yoshihiro (of Mirai) and the team – it’s for those moments that you do it. I also sponsored the Mirai at Pikes Peak, which was a real experience – 12.4 miles climbing to a 14,110ft summit through 156 bends, mostly hairpins with sheer drops, so it’s a huge technical and physical challenge. The altitude took its toll on us and we had to take the occasional puff of oxygen.

Why We Do It

I still ride on the road. Keiko and I have a couple of AJS scooters to get around the Isle of Man, and I still have my Hayabusa, which like my other bikes has an adapted gear shift for my duff ankle, as well as an old blue RD400 and my faithful Suzuki Burgman 650. Jacko and I restore bikes as well – every type of Honda CB from the ‘70s, Suzuki GTs, Kawasaki KH250 to Z900. Most recent was an FS1-E – we were like a dog with two tails, bombing around the trading estate on that. When we visit the workshops in North Yorkshire, we have a couple of Beta Alps for trail riding, 200cc bikes which are perfect for an easy day’s off-roading. The views round there are jaw dropping.

The economics of motorcycle racing are baffling compared to other sports. The prize money is pitiful and competitors have to pay to get there, so sponsorship money is crucial, but it is a challenge which draws people from all over the world. I do it to keep the sport going and because I love it so much. The excitement, the camaraderie of the team and the paddock, and the pure undiluted joy of a good result make it all worthwhile. We have a big challenge this year and we hope to see more success, but if nothing else, we will ensure that our riders have the best chance to do their best.