You put the questions… here are Walker’s answers

We’ve added the full transcript from yesterday’s live web chat with Chris Walker. If you missed it live, at least you can catch up now.

You’ll find the full transcript by following the ” Chris Walker In His Own Words ” link, right.

And if you’d like to wish Chris good luck for the weekend’s British GP, follow the link for that, also right. You’ll find a posting called ” Good Luck Walker ” in Talk News.

The British star has had a tough season so far in 500s, but he talked openly about the things that have been plaguing him and his hopes for the year ahead to our users.

Amongst the back and forth question and answering, we discovered that James Whitham is the man he’d most like a team-mate, the West Honda girls are the ones he’d most like as brolly girls, and Garry McCoy’s bike is the machine he’d most like to ride.

Walker said: “Whitham is the man I’d like to be team-mates with before the end of time. He’s a top bloke and competitive, so it would do us both good.”

Answering rumours that Honda won’t let him change anything on his NSR500 to suit his style, he said: “That’s 100% true. At the end of the day we’ve got a semi-factory V4, and the factory makes the parts. The parts aren’t made to change it…”

“I’m getting used to the bike slowly, and having to adapt my style rather than adapting the bike to me. I do miss superbikes, you always miss something you’ve been good at, but I do enjoy riding the NSR, just not the falling off and I seem to be doing a fair bit of that.”

He also addressed a question as to why his NSR is always the slowest through the speed traps, and explained: “We don’t know the answer to that one yet. There’s no reason why it should be the slowest one out there. As far as I’m aware they don’t make good and bad NSRs. Maybe we are just missing something along the way.”

And after his low finishes, he said: “Motivation is not a problem, just confidence because of the crashes.”

Who does he like out of the other 500 rider? “They generally keep themselves to themselves, because when they come out of their motorhomes they get mobbed. But I like Capirossi… he’s wild and wacky! Anyone that goes as fast as he does in qualifying has to be bonkers.” He also said he reckons Capirossi has the most potential of any of the riders out there, doing what he does on a year-old bike, and that ex-WSB star Noriyuki Haga is his target to beat at the moment. And more than once he tipped Shane Byrne as a star of the future.

He spoke of his wishes that his team had tested more before the start of the year, and added: “Maybe if we had tested at Suzuka I wouldn’t have broken my shoulder, but we’ll never know. In terms if my riding, has it got better? Well, I’ve got better at crashing… I’m better than ever at that now!”

He admitted to a sneaking desire to ride McCoy’s bike, and said: “When you watch him ride, he rides like I used to rife a four-stroke, so I think it would suit me.”

One fan asked: “The accident at Assen looked catastropic… how do you feel now?” To which Walker replied:”I feel beaten up, like I’ve had a big night out without the lipstick on my collar to prove it.” But he added that Assen had been his favourite foreign track of the year so far.

And he spoke of his old sparring partner Neil Hodgson, and said: “I miss the close racing, definitely. I still follow the BSB series 100%, and reckoned from the start Hislop would be the man to beat. Shane Byrne is really impressing me, doing what he is on an out of date bike.”

Keep your fingers crossed for Chris at the GP. We’ll be bringing you news and updates of his race all weekend. And keep your eyes peeled for more live chats with the names you care most about.