Moments before a race begins a racer will slide on their helmet, it's purpose is protection, to protect our most valuable asset in the event of an accident but it also acts like a mask, it hides the expressions and emotions experienced by every racer. It is a very personal experience, where people speak about their experiences of inward meditation these moments for a racer a very similar. I think most motorcycle racers brains a wired differently to the general population,in these moments a racer will be focused on the race ahead, visualizing every corner, every braking point and every bump when you finished visualizing you take a few deep breaths to re-focus your mind in the moment and most importantly to clear your mind, for some this is certainly easier after all they are motorcycle racers,there cant be very much ratling around up there.
The process is simple have a taught, acknowledge it and clear it for the next one., this starts with the simple stuff "are the tyre warmers on" or "did we fuel up correctly" often this is the end of the trail but sometimes the image of a loved one will come into mind and the process changes to acknowledge the taught and embrace it. These taughts can't really be cleared because they are a part of us, then it's time to race and these images and taughts go with us in the back of our minds and we focus on the task at hand again.
I've personally only actually spoken while i was racing once, i had been overtaken three corners in a row and shouted "get your shit together" inside the helmet, i didn't get it together i actually scared it out of myself, i had a "who's in here with me" moment on the straight in Bishopscourt Race Circuit in 2015. Every racer is different some talk alot and others don't, the helmet is a mask and spectators only really see how you ride a bike,
That same weekend was the last time i saw William Dunlop racing, i had only met him a handful of times and he came across as a very quite taughtfull kind of person, I had been racing in the supersport B race and decided to go and watch the supersport race to see if i could learn something. William won the race by 2.7 seconds over a star studded field and i didn't learn a single thing, i was awe struck and immediately in admiration of the way he raced, it seemed so silky smooth and massively aggressive at the same time i wondered to myself is shouting "ride smooth" to himself? In race 2 he won by 3.3 seconds and made it same effortless led from the start and nearly every lap was within 0.2 of a second of each other.
From Bishopscourt we went onto Kirkistown on easter Monday, it wasn't ideal for me as the zx6r need an engine rebuild on Sunday, it was my first visit to Kirkistown and on running a lap two words were in my mind, fast and bumpy. Again i decided to learn what i could from the best only to see the best slide out in the chicane in race 1, William redeemed himself in race 2 with a win having led all but 1 lap. I remember thinking to myself at the time that it would be amazing to see this guy race in Moto2 but i think his passion in racing was always on the roads.
This weekend saw a sport that we love and is laced with passion and romanticism show once again that it has a cruel side when it extinguished one of the brightest lights in Irish Racing, i think most people would have known William the way i did as an awe struck spectator and for us the day has dulled, but for a select few who knew the man behind the helmet and who would have been those embraced images these days must seem like night.
RIP William Dunlop
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