TORQ MOTO

Torq in Tour - VMXdN Foxhill part 2

Torq in Tour - VMXdN Foxhill part 1

This week’s Torq Moto Podcast Show sees part two of the Stephen Sword interview. In episode one ‘Swordy’ opened up on his illustrious MX racing career and looked back in great detail, from where it all started, living near Lockerbie, Scotland and being a Team Green youth rider through to his best years racing the 125cc and MX2 world motocross championship where he held the red plate until bad luck and injuries ended his quest for a world title, before moving into MX1. In this episode, Stephen talks about how his racing career came to a close and what he did once it all stopped to where he is now as a riding coach. He also discusses the current state of the sport, the modern-day crop of riders, and racing in the Evo scene with hosts DocWob and Jeffro Perrett. In particular, Farleigh Castle and what it’s like riding a CR500 when the throttle sticks wide open! Throughout both interviews, we see an informative, relaxed and enthusiastic Swordy, arguably a side of his personality not many people got to see in his racing heyday. It’s all good stuff from a man who kept his cards close to his chest during his racing career. Don't forget to like and subscribe, as the Torq Moto team will be out in force at VMXDN Foxhill filming four live podcast shows over the event - coming to a screen near you soon! 

This week’s Torq Moto Podcast Show driven by Talon welcomes back Honda HRC’s senior team advisor Roger Harvey to continue the conversation about his life in motocross. Following on from episode one of the Roger Harvey interview, hosts ‘Doc Wobs’ and ‘Jeffro’ Perrett fire questions Roger’s way regarding his time in the sport post once his racing career came to an end. As always with ‘Harv’ it’s a great conversation with plenty of interesting insight on the industry and of course, more fascinating and funny stories from a man who has seen pretty much everything there is to see in the sport from both sides of the fence. The trio discuss how and why Roger decided to call it a day on his racing to then start focusing on training schools, to great effect, which then led to managing motocross programs in the U.K. for Yamaha, Kawasaki and ultimately Honda where he still plays a huge part in their success but now more on a global scale. They also discuss the future development of off-road motorcycles, the electric movement and where Roger sees it all going. Not only from his point of view but also from where Honda’s future intentions may lie. And of course, Wobs and Jeffro couldn’t let him leave without talking about Honda HRC’s current stars, Tim Gajser and the Lawrence Brothers. Part two of the Roger Harvey interview on the Torq Moto Podcast Show driven by Talon will air this Thursday evening on Torq Moto’s YouTube channel as well as Spotify and Apple. 

‘Put to the Sword’  The Torq Moto Podcast Show driven by Talon welcomes former multiple British champion and GP winner Stephen Sword to the sofa for a catch up this week. ‘Swordy’ was one of the UK’s top pro racers throughout the mid to late 90’s and most of the noughties and was one of the most popular riders in the British paddock with a smooth style and quiet demeanour but an obvious grit and determination when the helmet went on. In this first of two episodes hosts ‘Jeffro’ Perrett and ‘Doc Wobs’ put questions to Swordy about the earlier part of his career and how it all started from his dad’s love of the sport and putting in the miles from their home in Lockerbie, Scotland. Steven soon found himself winning all over the country and picked up a ride with Team Green and from there quickly established himself as one of the U.K’s hot prospects and at a young age he left his family home and his parent behind to move south to Marshfield, South Gloucester to race for the Holt JCB Kawasaki team. Swordy talks with great affection about his time living with and riding for the Church family and how they not only helped him become a better rider with a clear focus but taught him important life lessons. Getting into the thick of it with the best years of his career the trio discuss the teams and his significant and most memorable races from his time riding for Dave Thorpe’s CAT Finning Honda team through to the best years of his GP career with Factory Kawasaki and of course they had to discuss his rivalry with fellow Scot Billy Mackenzie and their relationship down the years! For someone who didn’t really say too much in his racing days, Swordy certainly has plenty to say in this podcast and it’s a good insight into the career of one of Britain’s best. 

The Torq Moto Podcast Show driven by Talon has another cracker for this week’s episode brought to you by Docbright.

Hosts ‘DocWobs' and ‘Jeffro’ Perrett are joined by one of the industry's biggest players, Honda HRC’s senior team adviser, Roger Harvey.

Roger has played an integral part in bringing the glory days back to HRC; the trio discusses Roger’s career as a British and World Motocross championship racer and how his journey in the motocross world began. As always with ‘Rog’, there are some brilliant stories, industry insight and plenty of laughs. As with many riders of his generation, there are golden stories of hustling to work up the ladder in British and World motocross and classic road trip stories in a time when it was harder but in many ways easier to tour the continent. In this episode, Roger talks about how he worked his way up to become a British MX 125cc champion and a front runner in the 125cc World Championship and how life was on the road getting to GP’s and continental international meetings, even on his own with no mechanic! He also looks back fondly on some of his long-standing friendships with the likes of David Thorpe, Bob Wright and Alec Wright, to name but a few. More bizarrely, there’s even a discussion on the significance of the decor of Roger’s toilet! 

Don't forget to like and subscribe so you don't miss part two, which is coming soon! 

This week’s episode of the Torq Moto Podcast Show, driven by Talon, welcomes back motocross legend Kurt Nicoll to talk more about his prolific MX career in the sport, both on and off the bike. 

Following on from episode one a month back, where host ‘Jeffro’ Perrett and Rob 'DocWob’ Walters sat down with Kurt to talk about how his career started as a son of a former GP racer Dave Nicoll, through to his early years in the British adult motocross, the 500cc World championship and his part as ‘Captain Kurt’ in the last British winning MX of Nations team of 1994. 

Episode two delves more into the latter part of Kurt’s career and his life since retiring from racing. The trio discuss the beginning of the end of Kurt's career, a successful sortie in SuperMoto and falling into team management in a big way as KTM’s motocross race director. A job that would lead him to America, where he now resides, and ultimately ended up working with Travis Pastrana as a lead figure behind the scenes of Nitro Circus before starting his own business in ‘Champion MX California Vacations’. There is no doubt about it: Kurt is having more fun and enjoying the sport now than ever, which comes across in both episodes of Torq Moto. And, man, can he still go fast on a MX bike?  

If you haven't already watched episode one, do it now and don't forget to like and subscribe. 

Rob Andrews ‘torqs’ the inside line and moreThe Torq Moto Podcast Show driven by Talon welcomes former 500cc Grand Prix and British championship racer Rob Andrews to the couch for this week’s episode to talk about his racing career throughout the 70’s and 80’s. Rob had a fantastic career, which he put down in words in his acclaimed book ‘The Inside Line’. Here Rob chats with hosts Doc Wob and ‘Jeffro’ Perrett about some of the incredible stories in his book and how it all came about. From the early days of racing starting out at Severn Valley Schoolboy Scramble club in 1977 onto switching to a 500cc bike and chasing that GP dream and becoming a factory racer for Kawasaki. The trio also discuss the strength of the British championship scene in the 80’s and the comparisons and differences between that generation to the current, from riding techniques to track designs.Rob also tells a pretty gruesome story of a near life threatening accident in his local Tesco’s that nearly prevented him from racing Stateside at the eleventh hour, but he was determined to get there and race the US and Canadian GP. There’s also some good banter and reminiscing between Rob and Doc Wob as the latter used to spin the spanners for Andrews when he was starting as a mechanic. This first episode of a two-part interview with Rob Andrews on the Torq Moto Podcast Show driven by Talon is available to view on the Torq Moto YouTube channel from Thursday 23rd May at 7 pm and available to download and listen on Apple and Spotify. 

King David returns for more ‘Torq’

Following on from the first episode of the Dave Thorpe interview on the Torq Moto Podcast Show driven by Talon, it’s now time for part two with Britain’s most successful motocross racer. With so much to cover in his amazing MX career and just like his world titles, one simply wasn’t enough! 

In the second instalment of the interview Dave follows on with hosts ‘Jeffro’ Perrett and DocWob from where we parked up the first interview talking about what it was like to win his first 500cc world championship. A further two world championships followed (well, four actually, if you include his world vets championship!) and as Dave explains they were much tougher to come by. He also looks back on the latter years of his career and reflects on when it was to call time on his racing and his life in the sport after all that awesome run as world class athlete in a golden generation.

Not only is DT’s career incredibly successful, but it’s also fascinating. In this episode Dave delves into what it’s like being a team manager and the steep learning curve involved with that, like how each rider is different and particular to him. He also talks about his current signing and British champion Conrad Mewse and gives his opinion of where Conrad is at in his career.

Of course, all being patriotic Brits we couldn’t let the opportunity slip by without taking about his role as Team GB’s MXDN team manager and that brilliant win at Roggenburg, Switzerland in 1994 that sent shock waves through World Motocross by putting an end to Team USA’s 13-year win streak.

With such an amazing career in the sport and being a genuine idol for an entire generation it’s an interview you don’t want to miss. 

Make sure you catch part one before diving into part two!