Steve Hislop: In his own words

cbr6dude: Steve, is Sean Emmett your biggest adversary, or mis-fortune?

SteveHislop: Biggest adversary? Yeah I mean the form that Sean had last year, he was there , or thereabouts. He was every bit as good as me and John. But he basically had to play a team role and back John up, and not win. But this year he can go for the wins, so yes he is a strong, strong challenge

Alan: Exactly how pissed off were you with Rutter’s exploits?

SteveHislop: Words can’t describe it. After going through a lean spell for the last two or three races, I suddenly seemed to be on form, and in front of my home crowd, a double win would have been amazing, and I should have extended my lead in the championship but it was robbed from me really, but there ya go.

Bob: Do you think with Emmett’s growing confidence you can hold him off, or do you think he will fade towards the end of the season?

SteveHislop: I think Sean, he was on a role the weekends I was struggling with the new Dunlop high profile tyres. I think I’m back on that case, and back on my game, and I can think I can beat him from here on in, because the next four or five tracks are all among my favourites, and I haven’t got a poor track coming up.

davesv650: How does it feel when you are on the startline of your home track? Is it different from other tracks?

SteveHislop: Not really. I mean I never class Knockhill as my home track, purely because I basically started racing on English circuits.. I never really classed Knockhill as my favourite. But there is a lot of good Scottish support. But it’s no different to any others, I’m as nervous as hell everywhere

Dabbsy: How’s the shoulder?

SteveHislop: Bloody sore! Basically it’s broken right clean through the callous build up where it was broken in September, so the soft boney callous may be healed quicker…fingers crossed. Just painful when you are sleeping really, if you happen to roll over.

Melee: what plans do you have for 2003 season

SteveHislop: Well, the main thing is I’d like to try and complete this one! Try and get the number one plate, and then lay the plate on some bike? But I do intend to race for one more season before retiring.

Geoff: Why do you think Haydon, and now Plater, keep chucking Yamahas down the road, albeit different models?

SteveHislop: It’s not so much the Yamaha, don’t blame them. It’s just the wild riding style of both of them. They’re still on a very big learning curve, even though they’ve raced for a few years. Basically, they ride loose…or maybe I should say their brains are a bit loose…!

Daveb: will winning the title push you towards you goal of financial security

SteveHislop: No, it’ll not make me one bit better off, believe it or not. It may secure some good contracts for next year, but there is no prize for being champion. Except for a number to stick on your bike.

Geoff: What about 2003, will your career be dependant on whether you win or lose the title?

SteveHislop: No, because I think I can still secure a ride without the title, but it would be nice to have the championship and display the number 1, which would make me more valuable for the top teams. As soon as John had the number 1, crescent wanted him straight away. Some teams love having the number 1 on their bike.

Dabbsy: What are MonsterMob’s plans for 2003 WSB or BSB?

SteveHislop: British. There is not the money around in the team to progress to world I think Monstermob as a sponsor still want to be involved, but the outlay to go world racing is collosal.

Dazzie: Empty seat at GSE Racing… interested?! A rumour is around that Walker has signed for Ducati…?

SteveHislop: I’ve not heard anything about Walker. But yeah, if GSE want to speak to me, ok. But I believe I’m probably past my sell-by date for them. I would think that they would probably be interested in a younger rider.

SBA1: What motivates you now?

SteveHislop: I still enjoy the racing… I still enjoy exiting pitlane and coming back into pitlane, the riding part. Some of the rest of racing, the bullshit, does my head in, but I still enjoy the racing, and it keeps me motivated.

Woollen: are you surprised foggy won’t be racing this year?

SteveHislop: No. I somehow felt they would struggle to beat the homollogation deadline. It’s a big task to build a new engine from the drawing board, and the fact that the deadline was the end of June I always felt they would struggle. Which was part of the reason I didn’t want to be involved when they asked. I wanted to compete this year. Because at my age, I can’t afford to be sitting on the sidelines.

Amersham2: Do u think WSB is finished,with only a few quality riders left in it ?

SteveHislop: It’s very mediocre. I think the British superbikes is a far better series. I got my eyes opened at Silverstone during qualifying, when so-called fastish riders were no better than myself, Rutter, Byrne etc. It’s lost direction. It’s no longer the be-all that everyone thinks it is.

MikeyB: If you were trying to explain to someone who Steve Hislop was – how would you describe him?

SteveHislop: Erm… Motorcycle racer, currently riding in the BSB championships. Has competed in the IoM TT with a fair amount of success. As a person… Mature. Quite laid back nowadays. Er, and a bit of a chatterbox!

Woollen: Will you be ok for Thruxton? Looking forward to seeing you race there again. get well soon Steve

SteveHislop: Yeah, hopefully. I have 5 weeks before Thruxton. Last time my collar bone was quite strong within 3 weeks. The bone isn’t displaced this time. It isn’t in five pieces like last year. It’s broken, but basically through the old callous, so it should heal quicker

Psychogirl: if you were to run a team, what series would it be in and who would you choose as your 2 riders?

SteveHislop: Erm, probably a team in BSB purely for the cost, and I think one, I would bank on a young rider, someone like Stuart Easton, who I think has the potential to go on. And some like John Reynolds, for the media type person, and general consistency.

Alanmcgregor: Would you like to see Stuart Easton form a two man Superbike Team with yourself, next season?

SteveHislop: Yes, it would be good…but I think Stuart needs more experience on the 600s. I would love to see him have a go at 600 world series.