MY PATH INTOroad racing is probably a little different
to most. AsakidIraceddirttrackonthesmallbikes–it
was kind of a hobby sport – and I would race about four
times a year.Itwasn’tlikeIwasdedicatedandgetting
out there every weekend.
When I was12,mydadtookmetoWintonandI
tried the track for the first time on a Honda CBR250.
Ever since I first hopped on a roadbike, it was like a
new game for me; I was really passionate about it and
excited aboutridingontheroad.
After five months training in Queensland with
Bernie Hatton, I went to Valencia and did a test,
ending up withacontractfor2016.Somy
very first yearofracingwasinSpainona
Moto3 bike!
It was quite ner ve-w racking.
Everyone over there was asking,
“So how many times have you
won in Australia, what’s your
background?” and I’m saying,
“I’ve never raced in Australia!”
It was quitefunnybecausealot
of Aussies go over there as national
championsandI’mprobablythe
first one without any sort of a racing
background.
I had no ideahowtoracearoadbike,
let alone how things worked on a full-spec
Moto3 machineanditwasquiteachallenge
for people todealwithme–theydidn’tknowwhat
to expect from me as a racer, whether I would go really
well or not improve at all.
When I firstwentoverthereIwas13secondsoffthe
pace in myfirstrace,thenlastyearIwastwoseconds
off... so in two years I’ve gained 11 seconds, which is a
huge improvementandtheteamwashappy.
My weightwasabitofadisadvantageinMoto3.
I’m a biggishkidanditwasverydifficulttotrytolose
weight. I’m64kgbutalotoftheotherridersare58kg.I’mstillonly17,turning18thisyear,and I actually
dropped out of school last year. Study-wise, I finished
Year11,butitwasjusttooharddoingtheonline
schoolingwiththedifferenttimezones.
WhenIfirstwenttoSpainIwas16andliving in an
apartmentwitharoommate.Ihadtolearn how to do
everythingformyself–howtocookandclean; all the
things that as a kid your parents would normally do.
It got hard sometimes. I was over there once for three
months straight by myself and it did get lonely, but
whenIcamehometoseefamilyandfriends it was
such a great feeling.
Sonowwe’rehoppingonaSupersport
bike in 2018 with PromoRacing in the
Spanish championship. We’ve been
testing at Albury, Broadford and
Phillip Island and I’ve already got
a good feeling with the bike, the
tyresandthepower.It suits my
ridingstylealotmore– really
aggressive at the front and heavy
on the brakes, then power out.
I’ve been training at Albury with
Chas Hern and the track up there is
awesome to both learn on and ride.
I’mtrainingwithheaps of Spanish
ridersandalsoEricBernado, who is
fromBrazil.It’sfunnytraining with them
because you learn a bit of Spanish and a bit of
Portuguese.I’vegotafewItalianfriends who travel
aroundabitandwhenIgotoFranceorPortugal I know
a few of the locals and they just love the Aussie riders,
and the British.
TherearetwomoreplannedAustralianpractice days
–withPhillipIslandbeingoneofthem–before I head
backtoBarcelonaon30Januarytostartofficial testing
on the new 2017 Yamaha YZF-R6 with Raül Jara and the
team at PromoRacing.
AndIcan’twait!NAME RODNEY
FAGGOTTER
AGE 41
EVENT DAKAR RALLY
CLASS MOTORCYCLE
SUPER PRODUCTION
Queenslander Rod Faggotter
has emerged from a gruelling
2018 Dakar as the highest-
placed Yamaha rider, fi nishing
16th in the overall standings.
To add extra credit to his
achievement, Faggotter was
the Yamaha support rider,
which meant his main role
was to help the other Yamaha
factory riders whenever they
struck trouble. Despite this, he
was regularly in the top 20 and
eventually fi nished 3h58m16s
behind KTM’s victorious
M a t t h i a s Wa l k n e r. Fa g g o t t e r,
a Yamaha dealer, has now
completed the rally four times- twice racing for the offi cial
Yamaha factory team.
Revolving Racer
CHANDLER COOPER
The road less travelled
Performance of the issue
Shout out!
I had no
idea how to
race a roadbike,
let alone a
full-spec Moto3
machine