Courte interview de Dan Sayle dans le "Fingal Independent"
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SIDE CAR :: Tourist Trophy :: TT 2012
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Courte interview de Dan Sayle dans le "Fingal Independent"
Daring Dan Sayles close to the wind
By JACK CORRY
Tuesday December 06 2011
THE Isle of Man, full of mystical names like The Highlander, Glen Helen, Kerramoor and Sulby Glen, is regarded as the toughest Road Race in the world, and the legends that have made their names around this gruelling and dangerous course are ones that deserve that tag - Legends. Dan Sayle is one of those greats, probably one of the greatest ever Sidecar passengers. With seven wins to his credit, he also has the accolade of two victories as a rider in the Manx Grand Prix over the same course. Dan was born to race, as his bedroom overlooked one of the fastest parts of the TT course the Sulby straight, and his home the Sulby Glen Hotel. The Sulby is roughly half-way around the TT course, and its natural sleeping beauty is thrown into disarray twice a year for the TT and Manx Grand Prix. Growing up, Dan dabbled in both trials and Moto X, but he was like any teenager with both these branches of the sport - bored. Dan spent a lot of his time working with Brian Neill who was racing 250s, and there was another man involved with the team, Terry Gilmore. It was not all success for the young Manx man, though, as after working late into the night on bikes, sleeping in a van, it was then off to work. The relationship with both Brian and Terry has paid huge dividends since those early days for Dan, and his respect for the two is admirable. Brian's dad Paul was running a sidecar outfit in the forgotten era class, and one day while tricking around with the outfit, Dan was told to get his leathers, got to passenger at a meeting, and as the story goes, the rest is history. Well, almost. Palling around with Darren Hope, who passengered Nick Crowe, another Manx great, was another draw into sidecar racing. The friendship between Darren and Dan saw the pair go testing with Nick, and when Nick was joining with Glynn Jones, an opening came for the young Manx man. Dan was riding solos and in 2000 he won a race school in Jurby. With the 2001 TT being abandoned owing to foot and mouth, Dan made his TT debut with Glynn Jones in the 2002 event, and while he didn't light up the event - a DNF in the first race followed by a 15th place in the second - it finally got the ball running for Dan. Dan parted company with Glynn after the event, and teamed up with Greg Lambert for the Southern 100. Arriving for sign-on with Greg, he got a shock when Greg told Dan: 'I have to see the race organisers as I have been banned by them, and I have to appeal.' Dan couldn't believe this, but Nick Crowe thought this was great craic. Finishing his first Southern, Greg asked Dan to go to the TT in 2003, and he accepted. Competing on an ex Dave Molenaux chassis with a Honda engine, they failed to finish in the first race, but despite spinning the outfit at Quaterbridge, they finished third in the second race. 'I was messing around on a Mini Moto before the race and I fell off and hurt my ankle, and it was only after the race that we realised that it was broken. Greg has problems at times with his sight, and on the last lap of the race he looked at his pit board and thought it read 13th, and when they came into the pit lane, he couldn't believe that they had finished third. What a crazy day.' After a few wins at Scarborough, Dan was asked by another TT great and fellow Manx man Dave Molenaux to passenger with him for the 2004 season. At the same time Dan was planning another milestone in his life, and married his sweetheart Hayley. During the winter Dan realised that the challenge that he had set himself passengering 'Molly' was going to be a tough one, as Molly was the fastest-ever sidecar driver on the Island. A tough training regime to get into shape was something that Dan knew was so important, as his fastest ever lap was 109, and he knew that Molly was going to be quicker than that, and his work as a passenger was going to be a tough one. Armed with a new fuel-injected engine and chassis, Molly and Dan went to the Jurby race and smashed the lap record, and when they went to the TT the success came when they won both races and had the fastest lap of 115mph. For 2005 they kept the same bike, and made some important modifications, including a new fairing, exhaust and some finetuning that turned the bike into a 'pure missile'. 'Molly approached Baergarrow like he always did, flat out, but this time flat out was a lot quicker, and he realised it was too quick and shut it off. We went back to the paddock and changed the gearing, and we still did a lap of 116.' In race one the bearing collapsed in the swinging arm, but in race two Molly and Dan became the first sidecar crew to complete a race in less than one hour and achieved the first sub 20-minute lap to win in fine style. The summer of 2005 saw Dan compete in a number of European races, but a row with Molly saw him miss the 2006 TT. Drastic action was required, but drastic could be a mild word. Selling a coveted TT trophy and borrowing money, Dan purchased a 125 Honda on ebay - yes, ebay! 'The bike was pure s*** and it took most of the season to get it right, yet I still won the Jurby Championship and took the lap record,' said Dan. The Manx was the plan, but despite winning three sidecar races Dan still had to compete in a newcomers race. Despite all his best plans to win his first solo race, a late entry from a young Michael Dunlop saw the Ballymoney rider blast to his first success on the Mountain course. This year was the one where Molly flipped his outfit over the top of Rhencullen 2 and his season was over. Helping out close friend Nick Crowe at the Southern, Dan decided the outfit needed a bit more power, and he promptly 'borrowed' the exhaust and injectors from Molly's wrecked bike and stuck them onto Nick's outfit for the Southern, and Nick went out with Darren Hope and promptly won the two races. For the Centenary year in 2007, Nick Crowe bought a new LCR and asked Dan to go with him to test out the bike, and Dan ended up partnering Nick for the TT. Andy Faragher from A&J Groundworks was now on board as a sponsor, and the team had factory Honda backing, and were members of the official Honda team. This was to be a bad year for the lads, as in the first race the bike stuck in second gear, and they rode from Ballaugh to Sulby flat out in second gear, where it eventually cried enough. In race 2 a new engine was placed into the chassis, but again the gremlins struck when the engine expired at Ballahutchin, after breaking the lap record. For the rest of the season they could do no wrong, and won both races at the Southern and indeed races wherever they competed. For the Manx, Dan got a Robert Dunlop 125 Honda from Crossans, which was very quick, and despite a cracked cylinder head he finished sixth. Sorting out his differences with Molly for the 2008 TT, Dan agreed that he would not ride any solo bikes until after the TT. Again, the gremlins struck in race 1 with a DNF, but an excellent second behind his great friend Nick Crowe in race two was one of the best-ever sidecar races around the mountain course. Armed with a new 125 from Crossans for the Manx, Dan was smiling, but the bike blew up in practice. 'Adrian Fagan was in China, and I couldn't get him, and ended up with a loan of a 250, and it turned out to be one of the best races, when I won, beating Neil Kent and Brian Spooner,' said a delighted Dan. Molly and Dan did a deal with Andy Faragher and the new outfit was ready for the TT, and in race one they won it, but race two was stopped when Nick Crowe crashed flat out, having hit a hare approaching Ballaugh. 'We were behind Nick, and what we saw was terrible, and we had to go through the blazing mess. It was like a bomb had gone off. There were some nasty rumours after that race and I decided it was going to be my last race, as Nick was so poor.' Dan decided to race a 250 at the Manx, and just before his race, Nick was released from hospital, and he promptly came to the grandstand. 'Having Nick there was great for me mentally, and he told me to go for it and blitz them. I had another great race with Neil Kent, and won. I really love the section from the top to the bottom of Baergarrow, and also from Handley's to Douglas road corner. It is beautiful on a 250.' Tim Reeves contacted Dan and asked him to consider coming out of retirement, and race with him. Dan saw no news of a bike
coming along, as Reeves was very much involved with the World Championship, so he decided that was that. Again it was Mr fix it Andy Farragher who rang Dan and asked him, would he help out Swiss world champion Klaus Klaffenbock in the pit, and he said that he would. Andy being Andy, there was a catch, and Dan had to pack his bags and go to Germany the next day. Not knowing what to expect, and Dan being Dan, he packed a suspension and various bike bits and went. He was collected at the airport and taken to see Klaffi. Dan's suspicion was right and he was asked to go out with Klaffi on the new LCR to see how it was. On arrival back in the pits, Dan told him straight: 'It's a piece of s***.' Klaffi wasn't impressed, less so when Dan set about taking parts off the outfit and either replacing them or throwing them away. When they went out again they were four seconds quicker. That weekend they won their two races, but Dan wasn't impressed with the set-up. To his amazement Klaus said to Dan: 'You race with me at the TT, Andy said it would be ok' - and that is how the new partnership came about. Dan's eldest son Jake keeps Dan's winning hats and loved showing them off to his schoolmates, but Dan told Jake he wouldn't get any this year as this 'foreign' rider was not going to win. On arrival at the TT the team gear had arrived early, and everything was there except new helmets. A deal was done with sponsor Manx Gas, that if they did two 110mph laps that they would buy two matching helmets. 'I was never so scared on my first lap as I was with Klaffi. He hit the ditches in a few places, and he hit the kerb, and he was up on the footpath at Governor's Bridge. 'We did two 112mph laps, but when I got him back to the team truck, I gave it to him, left right and centre. Klaffi thought he was good, but I told him he had some of the worst lines I've ever seen, and he would have to sort it out.' They spent all day Sunday doing laps, and Klaffi wanted to change engines for Monday practice, but Dan was having none of it. The start of their nowfamous body language started Monday evening, and Dan would squeeze Klaffi's leg when he was to change gear and so on. The competition that week in practice was intense, and Molly was only faster in one session, something he didn't like, as their friendship had faltered again. By the end of practice week, Klaffi was agreeing with Dan, and by race day they were confident that they were going to do well. Race one saw Klaffi take his first ever win over the Mountain course, and he was first to give credit to Dan for his incredible work in helping him win the race. This was race win number five for Dan, and win number six came in race two when they again won, after coming from a 12-second deficit on the last lap to beat John Holden by two seconds. Their hard work had paid off and they returned to the Southern 100 and promptly won the two races. Dan also rode in the 125 race where he seized the 125, and finished third in the 250 race on Terry Gilmore's bike. The plans for the 2011 TT were thrashed out at the Southern, and again Dan had to give up riding his solo machines until the TT was over. At the Manx, Dan was leading the Junior and going for a 120mph lap when he fell off at signpost corner, allowing Micko Sweeney in to win. Another crash in the 250 race was much worse and Dan ended up in hospital with a broken coccyx bone. Despite this he still started the Senior race after being passed fit to race. The pain was too much, yet he still finished fifth. 'I was winding Sweeney up, he was out to win the race, and I was messing his head up, it was great craic,' said Dan. The winter was spent with Klaffi and former sidecar great Rolf Biland, along with Louis Christian, and they came up with a totally different chassis design. 'We took the rear end out to make room for a F3 car racing wheel which was hard work to get right. We had to check the rules to see that we were not doing anything wrong. This hard work saw the bike handle much better as we had more of the tyre on the road.' After winning a few German Championship races, their confidence was up, and they went to a private track in Hungary to do more testing. It was there that disaster nearly struck. 'We were testing tyre pressures all day, and we had the track to ourselves for the evening. There were no houses for miles or any people or medical on the track. We came in to do some modifications, and we went out again. 'Going flat out over a blind hill, we saw a van in the middle of the track and a workman with a jack hammer breaking up the kerbing with ear muffs on him, he didn't even hear us, and was still hammering away, when Klaffi approached at over 140mph. 'Klaffi had to take to the grass and the poor workman nearly passed out with the shock, as well as me,' laughed Dan. Once again they were back on the Island for the TT, and in race one they again continued their winning ways, but in race two a water leak forced them to retire. Back at the Southern, Dan competed in all solo and sidecar races, but had a big off at the bomb hole and was lucky to escape serious injury. The next day he went out with a swollen ankle which was so bad he had to leave the race boot on all day - but still won the race. Dan was being pestered by Michael Dunlop to go sidecar racing with him, and this happened at the Jurby Airfield course, when Michael took a Nick Crowe outfit out, and they couldn't believe how fast Michael was and how easy that he took to the controls of the outfit. 'I would love to race with Michael next year, if he is allowed to by his sponsors, but I know that he would be great at the TT, and he really wants to break with family tradition.' Dan is waiting to see what Michael will do, and when I asked him why he wouldn't take up driving himself, he said: 'Klaffi wants me to go driving and he is prepared to set me up with a deal, but I would have to get a good passenger, and I know that would be a problem!' Dan Sayle is a Road Racer at heart, and loves nothing better than racing the way he wants. The 30-year-old father of two still has the drive to go on and win. Klaffi has retired as he feels that he has nothing to prove, but Dan is a different man altogether. I have interviewed many riders and sidecar crews over the years, but Dan is probably the craziest I have ever come across - crazy in a nice way, though. He is funny, sometimes mad, but when his wife Hayley joins the interview, it really gets funny to the extent that some of the stories are unprintable - well, here anyway. We spent a long day together, but it was one of the best days I have ever spent with one of the greatest sidecar passengers of our times. A true TT legend. Keep 'er lit. THE Isle of Man, full of mystical names like The Highlander, Glen Helen, Kerramoor and Sulby Glen, is regarded as the toughest Road Race in the world, and the legends that have made their names around this gruelling and dangerous course are ones that deserve that tag - Legends. Dan Sayle is one of those greats, probably one of the greatest ever Sidecar passengers. With seven wins to his credit, he also has the accolade of two victories as a rider in the Manx Grand Prix over the same course. Dan was born to race, as his bedroom overlooked one of the fastest parts of the TT course the Sulby straight, and his home the Sulby Glen Hotel. The Sulby is roughly half-way around the TT course, and its natural sleeping beauty is thrown into disarray twice a year for the TT and Manx Grand Prix. Growing up, Dan dabbled in both trials and Moto X, but he was like any teenager with both these branches of the sport - bored. Dan spent a lot of his time working with Brian Neill who was racing 250s, and there was another man involved with the team, Terry Gilmore. It was not all success for the young Manx man, though, as after working late into the night on bikes, sleeping in a van, it was then off to work. The relationship with both Brian and Terry has paid huge dividends since those early days for Dan, and his respect for the two is admirable. Brian's dad Paul was running a sidecar outfit in the forgotten era class, and one day while tricking around with the outfit, Dan was told to get his leathers, got to passenger at a meeting, and as the story goes, the rest is history. Well, almost. Palling around with Darren Hope, who passengered Nick Crowe, another Manx great, was another draw into sidecar racing. The friendship between Darren and Dan saw the pair go testing with Nick, and when Nick was joining with Glynn Jones, an opening came for the young Manx man. Dan was riding solos and in 2000 he won a race school in Jurby. With the 2001 TT being abandoned owing to foot and mouth, Dan made his TT debut with Glynn Jones in the 2002 event, and while he didn't light up the event - a DNF in the first race followed by a 15th place in the second - it finally got the ball running for Dan. Dan parted company with Glynn after the event, and teamed up with Greg Lambert for the Southern 100. Arriving for sign-on with Greg, he got a shock when Greg told Dan: 'I have to see the race organisers as I have been banned by them, and I have to appeal.' Dan couldn't believe this, but Nick Crowe thought this was great craic. Finishing his first Southern, Greg asked Dan to go to the TT in 2003, and he accepted. Competing on an ex Dave Molenaux chassis with a Honda engine, they failed to finish in the first race, but despite spinning the outfit at Quaterbridge, they finished third in the second race. 'I was messing around on a Mini Moto before the race and I fell off and hurt my ankle, and it was only after the race that we realised that it was broken. Greg has problems at times with his sight, and on the last lap of the race he looked at his pit board and thought it read 13th, and when they came into the pit lane, he couldn't believe that they had finished third. What a crazy day.' After a few wins at Scarborough, Dan was asked by another TT great and fellow Manx man Dave Molenaux to passenger with him for the 2004 season. At the same time Dan was planning another milestone in his life, and married his sweetheart Hayley. During the winter Dan realised that the challenge that he had set himself passengering 'Molly' was going to be a tough one, as Molly was the fastest-ever sidecar driver on the Island. A tough training regime to get into shape was something that Dan knew was so important, as his fastest ever lap was 109, and he knew that Molly was going to be quicker than that, and his work as a passenger was going to be a tough one. Armed with a new fuel-injected engine and chassis, Molly and Dan went to the Jurby race and smashed the lap record, and when they went to the TT the success came when they won both races and had the fastest lap of 115mph. For 2005 they kept the same bike, and made some important modifications, including a new fairing, exhaust and some finetuning that turned the bike into a 'pure missile'. 'Molly approached Baergarrow like he always did, flat out, but this time flat out was a lot quicker, and he realised it was too quick and shut it off. We went back to the paddock and changed the gearing, and we still did a lap of 116.' In race one the bearing collapsed in the swinging arm, but in race two Molly and Dan became the first sidecar crew to complete a race in less than one hour and achieved the first sub 20-minute lap to win in fine style. The summer of 2005 saw Dan compete in a number of European races, but a row with Molly saw him miss the 2006 TT. Drastic action was required, but drastic could be a mild word. Selling a coveted TT trophy and borrowing money, Dan purchased a 125 Honda on ebay - yes, ebay! 'The bike was pure s*** and it took most of the season to get it right, yet I still won the Jurby Championship and took the lap record,' said Dan. The Manx was the plan, but despite winning three sidecar races Dan still had to compete in a newcomers race. Despite all his best plans to win his first solo race, a late entry from a young Michael Dunlop saw the Ballymoney rider blast to his first success on the Mountain course. This year was the one where Molly flipped his outfit over the top of Rhencullen 2 and his season was over. Helping out close friend Nick Crowe at the Southern, Dan decided the outfit needed a bit more power, and he promptly 'borrowed' the exhaust and injectors from Molly's wrecked bike and stuck them onto Nick's outfit for the Southern, and Nick went out with Darren Hope and promptly won the two races. For the Centenary year in 2007, Nick Crowe bought a new LCR and asked Dan to go with him to test out the bike, and Dan ended up partnering Nick for the TT. Andy Faragher from A&J Groundworks was now on board as a sponsor, and the team had factory Honda backing, and were members of the official Honda team. This was to be a bad year for the lads, as in the first race the bike stuck in second gear, and they rode from Ballaugh to Sulby flat out in second gear, where it eventually cried enough. In race 2 a new engine was placed into the chassis, but again the gremlins struck when the engine expired at Ballahutchin, after breaking the lap record. For the rest of the season they could do no wrong, and won both races at the Southern and indeed races wherever they competed. For the Manx, Dan got a Robert Dunlop 125 Honda from Crossans, which was very quick, and despite a cracked cylinder head he finished sixth. Sorting out his differences with Molly for the 2008 TT, Dan agreed that he would not ride any solo bikes until after the TT. Again, the gremlins struck in race 1 with a DNF, but an excellent second behind his great friend Nick Crowe in race two was one of the best-ever sidecar races around the mountain course. Armed with a new 125 from Crossans for the Manx, Dan was smiling, but the bike blew up in practice. 'Adrian Fagan was in China, and I couldn't get him, and ended up with a loan of a 250, and it turned out to be one of the best races, when I won, beating Neil Kent and Brian Spooner,' said a delighted Dan. Molly and Dan did a deal with Andy Faragher and the new outfit was ready for the TT, and in race one they won it, but race two was stopped when Nick Crowe crashed flat out, having hit a hare approaching Ballaugh. 'We were behind Nick, and what we saw was terrible, and we had to go through the blazing mess. It was like a bomb had gone off. There were some nasty rumours after that race and I decided it was going to be my last race, as Nick was so poor.' Dan decided to race a 250 at the Manx, and just before his race, Nick was released from hospital, and he promptly came to the grandstand. 'Having Nick there was great for me mentally, and he told me to go for it and blitz them. I had another great race with Neil Kent, and won. I really love the section from the top to the bottom of Baergarrow, and also from Handley's to Douglas road corner. It is beautiful on a 250.' Tim Reeves contacted Dan and asked him to consider coming out of retirement, and race with him. Dan saw no news of a bike
coming along, as Reeves was very much involved with the World Championship, so he decided that was that. Again it was Mr fix it Andy Farragher who rang Dan and asked him, would he help out Swiss world champion Klaus Klaffenbock in the pit, and he said that he would. Andy being Andy, there was a catch, and Dan had to pack his bags and go to Germany the next day. Not knowing what to expect, and Dan being Dan, he packed a suspension and various bike bits and went. He was collected at the airport and taken to see Klaffi. Dan's suspicion was right and he was asked to go out with Klaffi on the new LCR to see how it was. On arrival back in the pits, Dan told him straight: 'It's a piece of s***.' Klaffi wasn't impressed, less so when Dan set about taking parts off the outfit and either replacing them or throwing them away. When they went out again they were four seconds quicker. That weekend they won their two races, but Dan wasn't impressed with the set-up. To his amazement Klaus said to Dan: 'You race with me at the TT, Andy said it would be ok' - and that is how the new partnership came about. Dan's eldest son Jake keeps Dan's winning hats and loved showing them off to his schoolmates, but Dan told Jake he wouldn't get any this year as this 'foreign' rider was not going to win. On arrival at the TT the team gear had arrived early, and everything was there except new helmets. A deal was done with sponsor Manx Gas, that if they did two 110mph laps that they would buy two matching helmets. 'I was never so scared on my first lap as I was with Klaffi. He hit the ditches in a few places, and he hit the kerb, and he was up on the footpath at Governor's Bridge. 'We did two 112mph laps, but when I got him back to the team truck, I gave it to him, left right and centre. Klaffi thought he was good, but I told him he had some of the worst lines I've ever seen, and he would have to sort it out.' They spent all day Sunday doing laps, and Klaffi wanted to change engines for Monday practice, but Dan was having none of it. The start of their nowfamous body language started Monday evening, and Dan would squeeze Klaffi's leg when he was to change gear and so on. The competition that week in practice was intense, and Molly was only faster in one session, something he didn't like, as their friendship had faltered again. By the end of practice week, Klaffi was agreeing with Dan, and by race day they were confident that they were going to do well. Race one saw Klaffi take his first ever win over the Mountain course, and he was first to give credit to Dan for his incredible work in helping him win the race. This was race win number five for Dan, and win number six came in race two when they again won, after coming from a 12-second deficit on the last lap to beat John Holden by two seconds. Their hard work had paid off and they returned to the Southern 100 and promptly won the two races. Dan also rode in the 125 race where he seized the 125, and finished third in the 250 race on Terry Gilmore's bike. The plans for the 2011 TT were thrashed out at the Southern, and again Dan had to give up riding his solo machines until the TT was over. At the Manx, Dan was leading the Junior and going for a 120mph lap when he fell off at signpost corner, allowing Micko Sweeney in to win. Another crash in the 250 race was much worse and Dan ended up in hospital with a broken coccyx bone. Despite this he still started the Senior race after being passed fit to race. The pain was too much, yet he still finished fifth. 'I was winding Sweeney up, he was out to win the race, and I was messing his head up, it was great craic,' said Dan. The winter was spent with Klaffi and former sidecar great Rolf Biland, along with Louis Christian, and they came up with a totally different chassis design. 'We took the rear end out to make room for a F3 car racing wheel which was hard work to get right. We had to check the rules to see that we were not doing anything wrong. This hard work saw the bike handle much better as we had more of the tyre on the road.' After winning a few German Championship races, their confidence was up, and they went to a private track in Hungary to do more testing. It was there that disaster nearly struck. 'We were testing tyre pressures all day, and we had the track to ourselves for the evening. There were no houses for miles or any people or medical on the track. We came in to do some modifications, and we went out again. 'Going flat out over a blind hill, we saw a van in the middle of the track and a workman with a jack hammer breaking up the kerbing with ear muffs on him, he didn't even hear us, and was still hammering away, when Klaffi approached at over 140mph. 'Klaffi had to take to the grass and the poor workman nearly passed out with the shock, as well as me,' laughed Dan. Once again they were back on the Island for the TT, and in race one they again continued their winning ways, but in race two a water leak forced them to retire. Back at the Southern, Dan competed in all solo and sidecar races, but had a big off at the bomb hole and was lucky to escape serious injury. The next day he went out with a swollen ankle which was so bad he had to leave the race boot on all day - but still won the race. Dan was being pestered by Michael Dunlop to go sidecar racing with him, and this happened at the Jurby Airfield course, when Michael took a Nick Crowe outfit out, and they couldn't believe how fast Michael was and how easy that he took to the controls of the outfit. 'I would love to race with Michael next year, if he is allowed to by his sponsors, but I know that he would be great at the TT, and he really wants to break with family tradition.' Dan is waiting to see what Michael will do, and when I asked him why he wouldn't take up driving himself, he said: 'Klaffi wants me to go driving and he is prepared to set me up with a deal, but I would have to get a good passenger, and I know that would be a problem!' Dan Sayle is a Road Racer at heart, and loves nothing better than racing the way he wants. The 30-year-old father of two still has the drive to go on and win. Klaffi has retired as he feels that he has nothing to prove, but Dan is a different man altogether. I have interviewed many riders and sidecar crews over the years, but Dan is probably the craziest I have ever come across - crazy in a nice way, though. He is funny, sometimes mad, but when his wife Hayley joins the interview, it really gets funny to the extent that some of the stories are unprintable - well, here anyway. We spent a long day together, but it was one of the best days I have ever spent with one of the greatest sidecar passengers of our times. A true TT legend. Keep 'er lit.
- JACK CORRY
By JACK CORRY
Tuesday December 06 2011
THE Isle of Man, full of mystical names like The Highlander, Glen Helen, Kerramoor and Sulby Glen, is regarded as the toughest Road Race in the world, and the legends that have made their names around this gruelling and dangerous course are ones that deserve that tag - Legends. Dan Sayle is one of those greats, probably one of the greatest ever Sidecar passengers. With seven wins to his credit, he also has the accolade of two victories as a rider in the Manx Grand Prix over the same course. Dan was born to race, as his bedroom overlooked one of the fastest parts of the TT course the Sulby straight, and his home the Sulby Glen Hotel. The Sulby is roughly half-way around the TT course, and its natural sleeping beauty is thrown into disarray twice a year for the TT and Manx Grand Prix. Growing up, Dan dabbled in both trials and Moto X, but he was like any teenager with both these branches of the sport - bored. Dan spent a lot of his time working with Brian Neill who was racing 250s, and there was another man involved with the team, Terry Gilmore. It was not all success for the young Manx man, though, as after working late into the night on bikes, sleeping in a van, it was then off to work. The relationship with both Brian and Terry has paid huge dividends since those early days for Dan, and his respect for the two is admirable. Brian's dad Paul was running a sidecar outfit in the forgotten era class, and one day while tricking around with the outfit, Dan was told to get his leathers, got to passenger at a meeting, and as the story goes, the rest is history. Well, almost. Palling around with Darren Hope, who passengered Nick Crowe, another Manx great, was another draw into sidecar racing. The friendship between Darren and Dan saw the pair go testing with Nick, and when Nick was joining with Glynn Jones, an opening came for the young Manx man. Dan was riding solos and in 2000 he won a race school in Jurby. With the 2001 TT being abandoned owing to foot and mouth, Dan made his TT debut with Glynn Jones in the 2002 event, and while he didn't light up the event - a DNF in the first race followed by a 15th place in the second - it finally got the ball running for Dan. Dan parted company with Glynn after the event, and teamed up with Greg Lambert for the Southern 100. Arriving for sign-on with Greg, he got a shock when Greg told Dan: 'I have to see the race organisers as I have been banned by them, and I have to appeal.' Dan couldn't believe this, but Nick Crowe thought this was great craic. Finishing his first Southern, Greg asked Dan to go to the TT in 2003, and he accepted. Competing on an ex Dave Molenaux chassis with a Honda engine, they failed to finish in the first race, but despite spinning the outfit at Quaterbridge, they finished third in the second race. 'I was messing around on a Mini Moto before the race and I fell off and hurt my ankle, and it was only after the race that we realised that it was broken. Greg has problems at times with his sight, and on the last lap of the race he looked at his pit board and thought it read 13th, and when they came into the pit lane, he couldn't believe that they had finished third. What a crazy day.' After a few wins at Scarborough, Dan was asked by another TT great and fellow Manx man Dave Molenaux to passenger with him for the 2004 season. At the same time Dan was planning another milestone in his life, and married his sweetheart Hayley. During the winter Dan realised that the challenge that he had set himself passengering 'Molly' was going to be a tough one, as Molly was the fastest-ever sidecar driver on the Island. A tough training regime to get into shape was something that Dan knew was so important, as his fastest ever lap was 109, and he knew that Molly was going to be quicker than that, and his work as a passenger was going to be a tough one. Armed with a new fuel-injected engine and chassis, Molly and Dan went to the Jurby race and smashed the lap record, and when they went to the TT the success came when they won both races and had the fastest lap of 115mph. For 2005 they kept the same bike, and made some important modifications, including a new fairing, exhaust and some finetuning that turned the bike into a 'pure missile'. 'Molly approached Baergarrow like he always did, flat out, but this time flat out was a lot quicker, and he realised it was too quick and shut it off. We went back to the paddock and changed the gearing, and we still did a lap of 116.' In race one the bearing collapsed in the swinging arm, but in race two Molly and Dan became the first sidecar crew to complete a race in less than one hour and achieved the first sub 20-minute lap to win in fine style. The summer of 2005 saw Dan compete in a number of European races, but a row with Molly saw him miss the 2006 TT. Drastic action was required, but drastic could be a mild word. Selling a coveted TT trophy and borrowing money, Dan purchased a 125 Honda on ebay - yes, ebay! 'The bike was pure s*** and it took most of the season to get it right, yet I still won the Jurby Championship and took the lap record,' said Dan. The Manx was the plan, but despite winning three sidecar races Dan still had to compete in a newcomers race. Despite all his best plans to win his first solo race, a late entry from a young Michael Dunlop saw the Ballymoney rider blast to his first success on the Mountain course. This year was the one where Molly flipped his outfit over the top of Rhencullen 2 and his season was over. Helping out close friend Nick Crowe at the Southern, Dan decided the outfit needed a bit more power, and he promptly 'borrowed' the exhaust and injectors from Molly's wrecked bike and stuck them onto Nick's outfit for the Southern, and Nick went out with Darren Hope and promptly won the two races. For the Centenary year in 2007, Nick Crowe bought a new LCR and asked Dan to go with him to test out the bike, and Dan ended up partnering Nick for the TT. Andy Faragher from A&J Groundworks was now on board as a sponsor, and the team had factory Honda backing, and were members of the official Honda team. This was to be a bad year for the lads, as in the first race the bike stuck in second gear, and they rode from Ballaugh to Sulby flat out in second gear, where it eventually cried enough. In race 2 a new engine was placed into the chassis, but again the gremlins struck when the engine expired at Ballahutchin, after breaking the lap record. For the rest of the season they could do no wrong, and won both races at the Southern and indeed races wherever they competed. For the Manx, Dan got a Robert Dunlop 125 Honda from Crossans, which was very quick, and despite a cracked cylinder head he finished sixth. Sorting out his differences with Molly for the 2008 TT, Dan agreed that he would not ride any solo bikes until after the TT. Again, the gremlins struck in race 1 with a DNF, but an excellent second behind his great friend Nick Crowe in race two was one of the best-ever sidecar races around the mountain course. Armed with a new 125 from Crossans for the Manx, Dan was smiling, but the bike blew up in practice. 'Adrian Fagan was in China, and I couldn't get him, and ended up with a loan of a 250, and it turned out to be one of the best races, when I won, beating Neil Kent and Brian Spooner,' said a delighted Dan. Molly and Dan did a deal with Andy Faragher and the new outfit was ready for the TT, and in race one they won it, but race two was stopped when Nick Crowe crashed flat out, having hit a hare approaching Ballaugh. 'We were behind Nick, and what we saw was terrible, and we had to go through the blazing mess. It was like a bomb had gone off. There were some nasty rumours after that race and I decided it was going to be my last race, as Nick was so poor.' Dan decided to race a 250 at the Manx, and just before his race, Nick was released from hospital, and he promptly came to the grandstand. 'Having Nick there was great for me mentally, and he told me to go for it and blitz them. I had another great race with Neil Kent, and won. I really love the section from the top to the bottom of Baergarrow, and also from Handley's to Douglas road corner. It is beautiful on a 250.' Tim Reeves contacted Dan and asked him to consider coming out of retirement, and race with him. Dan saw no news of a bike
coming along, as Reeves was very much involved with the World Championship, so he decided that was that. Again it was Mr fix it Andy Farragher who rang Dan and asked him, would he help out Swiss world champion Klaus Klaffenbock in the pit, and he said that he would. Andy being Andy, there was a catch, and Dan had to pack his bags and go to Germany the next day. Not knowing what to expect, and Dan being Dan, he packed a suspension and various bike bits and went. He was collected at the airport and taken to see Klaffi. Dan's suspicion was right and he was asked to go out with Klaffi on the new LCR to see how it was. On arrival back in the pits, Dan told him straight: 'It's a piece of s***.' Klaffi wasn't impressed, less so when Dan set about taking parts off the outfit and either replacing them or throwing them away. When they went out again they were four seconds quicker. That weekend they won their two races, but Dan wasn't impressed with the set-up. To his amazement Klaus said to Dan: 'You race with me at the TT, Andy said it would be ok' - and that is how the new partnership came about. Dan's eldest son Jake keeps Dan's winning hats and loved showing them off to his schoolmates, but Dan told Jake he wouldn't get any this year as this 'foreign' rider was not going to win. On arrival at the TT the team gear had arrived early, and everything was there except new helmets. A deal was done with sponsor Manx Gas, that if they did two 110mph laps that they would buy two matching helmets. 'I was never so scared on my first lap as I was with Klaffi. He hit the ditches in a few places, and he hit the kerb, and he was up on the footpath at Governor's Bridge. 'We did two 112mph laps, but when I got him back to the team truck, I gave it to him, left right and centre. Klaffi thought he was good, but I told him he had some of the worst lines I've ever seen, and he would have to sort it out.' They spent all day Sunday doing laps, and Klaffi wanted to change engines for Monday practice, but Dan was having none of it. The start of their nowfamous body language started Monday evening, and Dan would squeeze Klaffi's leg when he was to change gear and so on. The competition that week in practice was intense, and Molly was only faster in one session, something he didn't like, as their friendship had faltered again. By the end of practice week, Klaffi was agreeing with Dan, and by race day they were confident that they were going to do well. Race one saw Klaffi take his first ever win over the Mountain course, and he was first to give credit to Dan for his incredible work in helping him win the race. This was race win number five for Dan, and win number six came in race two when they again won, after coming from a 12-second deficit on the last lap to beat John Holden by two seconds. Their hard work had paid off and they returned to the Southern 100 and promptly won the two races. Dan also rode in the 125 race where he seized the 125, and finished third in the 250 race on Terry Gilmore's bike. The plans for the 2011 TT were thrashed out at the Southern, and again Dan had to give up riding his solo machines until the TT was over. At the Manx, Dan was leading the Junior and going for a 120mph lap when he fell off at signpost corner, allowing Micko Sweeney in to win. Another crash in the 250 race was much worse and Dan ended up in hospital with a broken coccyx bone. Despite this he still started the Senior race after being passed fit to race. The pain was too much, yet he still finished fifth. 'I was winding Sweeney up, he was out to win the race, and I was messing his head up, it was great craic,' said Dan. The winter was spent with Klaffi and former sidecar great Rolf Biland, along with Louis Christian, and they came up with a totally different chassis design. 'We took the rear end out to make room for a F3 car racing wheel which was hard work to get right. We had to check the rules to see that we were not doing anything wrong. This hard work saw the bike handle much better as we had more of the tyre on the road.' After winning a few German Championship races, their confidence was up, and they went to a private track in Hungary to do more testing. It was there that disaster nearly struck. 'We were testing tyre pressures all day, and we had the track to ourselves for the evening. There were no houses for miles or any people or medical on the track. We came in to do some modifications, and we went out again. 'Going flat out over a blind hill, we saw a van in the middle of the track and a workman with a jack hammer breaking up the kerbing with ear muffs on him, he didn't even hear us, and was still hammering away, when Klaffi approached at over 140mph. 'Klaffi had to take to the grass and the poor workman nearly passed out with the shock, as well as me,' laughed Dan. Once again they were back on the Island for the TT, and in race one they again continued their winning ways, but in race two a water leak forced them to retire. Back at the Southern, Dan competed in all solo and sidecar races, but had a big off at the bomb hole and was lucky to escape serious injury. The next day he went out with a swollen ankle which was so bad he had to leave the race boot on all day - but still won the race. Dan was being pestered by Michael Dunlop to go sidecar racing with him, and this happened at the Jurby Airfield course, when Michael took a Nick Crowe outfit out, and they couldn't believe how fast Michael was and how easy that he took to the controls of the outfit. 'I would love to race with Michael next year, if he is allowed to by his sponsors, but I know that he would be great at the TT, and he really wants to break with family tradition.' Dan is waiting to see what Michael will do, and when I asked him why he wouldn't take up driving himself, he said: 'Klaffi wants me to go driving and he is prepared to set me up with a deal, but I would have to get a good passenger, and I know that would be a problem!' Dan Sayle is a Road Racer at heart, and loves nothing better than racing the way he wants. The 30-year-old father of two still has the drive to go on and win. Klaffi has retired as he feels that he has nothing to prove, but Dan is a different man altogether. I have interviewed many riders and sidecar crews over the years, but Dan is probably the craziest I have ever come across - crazy in a nice way, though. He is funny, sometimes mad, but when his wife Hayley joins the interview, it really gets funny to the extent that some of the stories are unprintable - well, here anyway. We spent a long day together, but it was one of the best days I have ever spent with one of the greatest sidecar passengers of our times. A true TT legend. Keep 'er lit. THE Isle of Man, full of mystical names like The Highlander, Glen Helen, Kerramoor and Sulby Glen, is regarded as the toughest Road Race in the world, and the legends that have made their names around this gruelling and dangerous course are ones that deserve that tag - Legends. Dan Sayle is one of those greats, probably one of the greatest ever Sidecar passengers. With seven wins to his credit, he also has the accolade of two victories as a rider in the Manx Grand Prix over the same course. Dan was born to race, as his bedroom overlooked one of the fastest parts of the TT course the Sulby straight, and his home the Sulby Glen Hotel. The Sulby is roughly half-way around the TT course, and its natural sleeping beauty is thrown into disarray twice a year for the TT and Manx Grand Prix. Growing up, Dan dabbled in both trials and Moto X, but he was like any teenager with both these branches of the sport - bored. Dan spent a lot of his time working with Brian Neill who was racing 250s, and there was another man involved with the team, Terry Gilmore. It was not all success for the young Manx man, though, as after working late into the night on bikes, sleeping in a van, it was then off to work. The relationship with both Brian and Terry has paid huge dividends since those early days for Dan, and his respect for the two is admirable. Brian's dad Paul was running a sidecar outfit in the forgotten era class, and one day while tricking around with the outfit, Dan was told to get his leathers, got to passenger at a meeting, and as the story goes, the rest is history. Well, almost. Palling around with Darren Hope, who passengered Nick Crowe, another Manx great, was another draw into sidecar racing. The friendship between Darren and Dan saw the pair go testing with Nick, and when Nick was joining with Glynn Jones, an opening came for the young Manx man. Dan was riding solos and in 2000 he won a race school in Jurby. With the 2001 TT being abandoned owing to foot and mouth, Dan made his TT debut with Glynn Jones in the 2002 event, and while he didn't light up the event - a DNF in the first race followed by a 15th place in the second - it finally got the ball running for Dan. Dan parted company with Glynn after the event, and teamed up with Greg Lambert for the Southern 100. Arriving for sign-on with Greg, he got a shock when Greg told Dan: 'I have to see the race organisers as I have been banned by them, and I have to appeal.' Dan couldn't believe this, but Nick Crowe thought this was great craic. Finishing his first Southern, Greg asked Dan to go to the TT in 2003, and he accepted. Competing on an ex Dave Molenaux chassis with a Honda engine, they failed to finish in the first race, but despite spinning the outfit at Quaterbridge, they finished third in the second race. 'I was messing around on a Mini Moto before the race and I fell off and hurt my ankle, and it was only after the race that we realised that it was broken. Greg has problems at times with his sight, and on the last lap of the race he looked at his pit board and thought it read 13th, and when they came into the pit lane, he couldn't believe that they had finished third. What a crazy day.' After a few wins at Scarborough, Dan was asked by another TT great and fellow Manx man Dave Molenaux to passenger with him for the 2004 season. At the same time Dan was planning another milestone in his life, and married his sweetheart Hayley. During the winter Dan realised that the challenge that he had set himself passengering 'Molly' was going to be a tough one, as Molly was the fastest-ever sidecar driver on the Island. A tough training regime to get into shape was something that Dan knew was so important, as his fastest ever lap was 109, and he knew that Molly was going to be quicker than that, and his work as a passenger was going to be a tough one. Armed with a new fuel-injected engine and chassis, Molly and Dan went to the Jurby race and smashed the lap record, and when they went to the TT the success came when they won both races and had the fastest lap of 115mph. For 2005 they kept the same bike, and made some important modifications, including a new fairing, exhaust and some finetuning that turned the bike into a 'pure missile'. 'Molly approached Baergarrow like he always did, flat out, but this time flat out was a lot quicker, and he realised it was too quick and shut it off. We went back to the paddock and changed the gearing, and we still did a lap of 116.' In race one the bearing collapsed in the swinging arm, but in race two Molly and Dan became the first sidecar crew to complete a race in less than one hour and achieved the first sub 20-minute lap to win in fine style. The summer of 2005 saw Dan compete in a number of European races, but a row with Molly saw him miss the 2006 TT. Drastic action was required, but drastic could be a mild word. Selling a coveted TT trophy and borrowing money, Dan purchased a 125 Honda on ebay - yes, ebay! 'The bike was pure s*** and it took most of the season to get it right, yet I still won the Jurby Championship and took the lap record,' said Dan. The Manx was the plan, but despite winning three sidecar races Dan still had to compete in a newcomers race. Despite all his best plans to win his first solo race, a late entry from a young Michael Dunlop saw the Ballymoney rider blast to his first success on the Mountain course. This year was the one where Molly flipped his outfit over the top of Rhencullen 2 and his season was over. Helping out close friend Nick Crowe at the Southern, Dan decided the outfit needed a bit more power, and he promptly 'borrowed' the exhaust and injectors from Molly's wrecked bike and stuck them onto Nick's outfit for the Southern, and Nick went out with Darren Hope and promptly won the two races. For the Centenary year in 2007, Nick Crowe bought a new LCR and asked Dan to go with him to test out the bike, and Dan ended up partnering Nick for the TT. Andy Faragher from A&J Groundworks was now on board as a sponsor, and the team had factory Honda backing, and were members of the official Honda team. This was to be a bad year for the lads, as in the first race the bike stuck in second gear, and they rode from Ballaugh to Sulby flat out in second gear, where it eventually cried enough. In race 2 a new engine was placed into the chassis, but again the gremlins struck when the engine expired at Ballahutchin, after breaking the lap record. For the rest of the season they could do no wrong, and won both races at the Southern and indeed races wherever they competed. For the Manx, Dan got a Robert Dunlop 125 Honda from Crossans, which was very quick, and despite a cracked cylinder head he finished sixth. Sorting out his differences with Molly for the 2008 TT, Dan agreed that he would not ride any solo bikes until after the TT. Again, the gremlins struck in race 1 with a DNF, but an excellent second behind his great friend Nick Crowe in race two was one of the best-ever sidecar races around the mountain course. Armed with a new 125 from Crossans for the Manx, Dan was smiling, but the bike blew up in practice. 'Adrian Fagan was in China, and I couldn't get him, and ended up with a loan of a 250, and it turned out to be one of the best races, when I won, beating Neil Kent and Brian Spooner,' said a delighted Dan. Molly and Dan did a deal with Andy Faragher and the new outfit was ready for the TT, and in race one they won it, but race two was stopped when Nick Crowe crashed flat out, having hit a hare approaching Ballaugh. 'We were behind Nick, and what we saw was terrible, and we had to go through the blazing mess. It was like a bomb had gone off. There were some nasty rumours after that race and I decided it was going to be my last race, as Nick was so poor.' Dan decided to race a 250 at the Manx, and just before his race, Nick was released from hospital, and he promptly came to the grandstand. 'Having Nick there was great for me mentally, and he told me to go for it and blitz them. I had another great race with Neil Kent, and won. I really love the section from the top to the bottom of Baergarrow, and also from Handley's to Douglas road corner. It is beautiful on a 250.' Tim Reeves contacted Dan and asked him to consider coming out of retirement, and race with him. Dan saw no news of a bike
coming along, as Reeves was very much involved with the World Championship, so he decided that was that. Again it was Mr fix it Andy Farragher who rang Dan and asked him, would he help out Swiss world champion Klaus Klaffenbock in the pit, and he said that he would. Andy being Andy, there was a catch, and Dan had to pack his bags and go to Germany the next day. Not knowing what to expect, and Dan being Dan, he packed a suspension and various bike bits and went. He was collected at the airport and taken to see Klaffi. Dan's suspicion was right and he was asked to go out with Klaffi on the new LCR to see how it was. On arrival back in the pits, Dan told him straight: 'It's a piece of s***.' Klaffi wasn't impressed, less so when Dan set about taking parts off the outfit and either replacing them or throwing them away. When they went out again they were four seconds quicker. That weekend they won their two races, but Dan wasn't impressed with the set-up. To his amazement Klaus said to Dan: 'You race with me at the TT, Andy said it would be ok' - and that is how the new partnership came about. Dan's eldest son Jake keeps Dan's winning hats and loved showing them off to his schoolmates, but Dan told Jake he wouldn't get any this year as this 'foreign' rider was not going to win. On arrival at the TT the team gear had arrived early, and everything was there except new helmets. A deal was done with sponsor Manx Gas, that if they did two 110mph laps that they would buy two matching helmets. 'I was never so scared on my first lap as I was with Klaffi. He hit the ditches in a few places, and he hit the kerb, and he was up on the footpath at Governor's Bridge. 'We did two 112mph laps, but when I got him back to the team truck, I gave it to him, left right and centre. Klaffi thought he was good, but I told him he had some of the worst lines I've ever seen, and he would have to sort it out.' They spent all day Sunday doing laps, and Klaffi wanted to change engines for Monday practice, but Dan was having none of it. The start of their nowfamous body language started Monday evening, and Dan would squeeze Klaffi's leg when he was to change gear and so on. The competition that week in practice was intense, and Molly was only faster in one session, something he didn't like, as their friendship had faltered again. By the end of practice week, Klaffi was agreeing with Dan, and by race day they were confident that they were going to do well. Race one saw Klaffi take his first ever win over the Mountain course, and he was first to give credit to Dan for his incredible work in helping him win the race. This was race win number five for Dan, and win number six came in race two when they again won, after coming from a 12-second deficit on the last lap to beat John Holden by two seconds. Their hard work had paid off and they returned to the Southern 100 and promptly won the two races. Dan also rode in the 125 race where he seized the 125, and finished third in the 250 race on Terry Gilmore's bike. The plans for the 2011 TT were thrashed out at the Southern, and again Dan had to give up riding his solo machines until the TT was over. At the Manx, Dan was leading the Junior and going for a 120mph lap when he fell off at signpost corner, allowing Micko Sweeney in to win. Another crash in the 250 race was much worse and Dan ended up in hospital with a broken coccyx bone. Despite this he still started the Senior race after being passed fit to race. The pain was too much, yet he still finished fifth. 'I was winding Sweeney up, he was out to win the race, and I was messing his head up, it was great craic,' said Dan. The winter was spent with Klaffi and former sidecar great Rolf Biland, along with Louis Christian, and they came up with a totally different chassis design. 'We took the rear end out to make room for a F3 car racing wheel which was hard work to get right. We had to check the rules to see that we were not doing anything wrong. This hard work saw the bike handle much better as we had more of the tyre on the road.' After winning a few German Championship races, their confidence was up, and they went to a private track in Hungary to do more testing. It was there that disaster nearly struck. 'We were testing tyre pressures all day, and we had the track to ourselves for the evening. There were no houses for miles or any people or medical on the track. We came in to do some modifications, and we went out again. 'Going flat out over a blind hill, we saw a van in the middle of the track and a workman with a jack hammer breaking up the kerbing with ear muffs on him, he didn't even hear us, and was still hammering away, when Klaffi approached at over 140mph. 'Klaffi had to take to the grass and the poor workman nearly passed out with the shock, as well as me,' laughed Dan. Once again they were back on the Island for the TT, and in race one they again continued their winning ways, but in race two a water leak forced them to retire. Back at the Southern, Dan competed in all solo and sidecar races, but had a big off at the bomb hole and was lucky to escape serious injury. The next day he went out with a swollen ankle which was so bad he had to leave the race boot on all day - but still won the race. Dan was being pestered by Michael Dunlop to go sidecar racing with him, and this happened at the Jurby Airfield course, when Michael took a Nick Crowe outfit out, and they couldn't believe how fast Michael was and how easy that he took to the controls of the outfit. 'I would love to race with Michael next year, if he is allowed to by his sponsors, but I know that he would be great at the TT, and he really wants to break with family tradition.' Dan is waiting to see what Michael will do, and when I asked him why he wouldn't take up driving himself, he said: 'Klaffi wants me to go driving and he is prepared to set me up with a deal, but I would have to get a good passenger, and I know that would be a problem!' Dan Sayle is a Road Racer at heart, and loves nothing better than racing the way he wants. The 30-year-old father of two still has the drive to go on and win. Klaffi has retired as he feels that he has nothing to prove, but Dan is a different man altogether. I have interviewed many riders and sidecar crews over the years, but Dan is probably the craziest I have ever come across - crazy in a nice way, though. He is funny, sometimes mad, but when his wife Hayley joins the interview, it really gets funny to the extent that some of the stories are unprintable - well, here anyway. We spent a long day together, but it was one of the best days I have ever spent with one of the greatest sidecar passengers of our times. A true TT legend. Keep 'er lit.
- JACK CORRY
_________________
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Fanch- Journaliste officiel TT
- Nombre de messages : 5998
Localisation : Bretagne
Date d'inscription : 03/08/2006
Re: Courte interview de Dan Sayle dans le "Fingal Independent"
c'est vrais que c'est tres tres succinct il aurait quand meme beaucoup plus détailler
jhonguy- Prix d'Excellence à la participation
- Nombre de messages : 1949
Age : 69
Localisation : muflin
Date d'inscription : 23/08/2006
Re: Courte interview de Dan Sayle dans le "Fingal Independent"
Sorry, but that's too much for my so bad English language...
un ti punch pour me remettre !
un ti punch pour me remettre !
charliegrouniache- Prix d'Excellence à la participation
- Nombre de messages : 1594
Age : 73
Localisation : ouest parisien
Date d'inscription : 31/01/2009
Re: Courte interview de Dan Sayle dans le "Fingal Independent"
Heu .... Y'a pas une édition auvergnate ??
Re: Courte interview de Dan Sayle dans le "Fingal Independent"
en patois Normand !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jef 64- Membre Super Super Actif
- Nombre de messages : 192
Localisation : Pays Basque
Date d'inscription : 08/07/2010
Re: Courte interview de Dan Sayle dans le "Fingal Independent"
ben moi , je vais le lire ta l heure ... apres l apero, hein
R.C- Membre Actif
- Nombre de messages : 55
Age : 45
Localisation : venise verte
Date d'inscription : 03/12/2009
Re: Courte interview de Dan Sayle dans le "Fingal Independent"
putain j'ai mal a la tete
en patois gascon n'existe pas!!!!!
en patois gascon n'existe pas!!!!!
christian 33- Prix d'Excellence à la participation
- Nombre de messages : 417
Age : 68
Localisation : sud gironde
Date d'inscription : 15/08/2009
Re: Courte interview de Dan Sayle dans le "Fingal Independent"
moi j'ai mis ça sur ma table de chevet et je lis un petit peu tous les soirs avant d'aller me coucher,je suis a la quatrieme ligne,ça va pas vite mais j'ai aussi le dictinnaire des langues a regarder en même temps,on va y arrivé
Re: Courte interview de Dan Sayle dans le "Fingal Independent"
et si ils l'avaient écrit en gaélique c'était rupture d'anévrisme assuré
jhonguy- Prix d'Excellence à la participation
- Nombre de messages : 1949
Age : 69
Localisation : muflin
Date d'inscription : 23/08/2006
Re: Courte interview de Dan Sayle dans le "Fingal Independent"
NOUVEAU MATRIX,,,,,,,??
cdl- Prix d'Excellence à la participation
- Nombre de messages : 1322
Date d'inscription : 03/09/2007
Re: Courte interview de Dan Sayle dans le "Fingal Independent"
t'es pas mal en anglais François mias fais gaffe a la conjugaison par moment c'est pas top !!!!!
TEAM MERLIN- Membre
- Nombre de messages : 5
Date d'inscription : 15/11/2011
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