Four years ago, Peter Hickman was a mid-pack British Superbike rider whose career was looking for a spark. He found that spark at the Isle of Man TT. Fast-forward to current time, and Peter Hickman has already established his road racing credentials prior to this year’s Isle of Man TT.
With victories at the Ulster Grand Prix and Macau Grand Prix, Hickman had shown that he has the speed, but five podiums at this year’s TT has cemented his reputation as a front-runner on the roads.
Success hasn’t come easy to the three-time British Superbike race-winner though, and after claiming a second place finish in this year’s Senior TT race, he made it clear how much this TT had meant to him.
“There’s a lot of time and effort and money and blood, sweat and tears that go into weeks like this,” said Hickman.
“To be able to turn up and finish on the podium every single race that you start is absolutely brilliant. Full credit to my teams for this week because they’ve been mega. It’s been a real good week for us. I couldn’t ask for any more, really.”
It would have been nice to have a win, but you know what? I turned up here without any podiums at all, so to walk away with five is absolutely mega.”
Having been expected to be a front-runner in the Stock and Superbike classes, his rostrum finishes on the Lightweight and Supersport machinery came as a surprise to everyone.
“I’m nearly six-foot-two, and I’ve not really ridden the small bikes very much at all in my entire career. I’ve been riding big bikes since 2004, so it’s very, very different to ride them.”
“Especially here at the TT, because you end up being flat out for a long time, and being a big guy on a small bike, you end up losing out on the big straights. To be able to actually sit on the podium on the supersport and also the lightweight was fantastic.”
“It’s very difficult to move from the big bikes to the small bikes and even more difficult this week. I only did two laps on the lightweight before we actually raced it! I only did two or three laps on the supersport before we actually raced it, because of the lack of time that we’ve had with the weather.”
“So, that made things even harder because I was still trying to learn. Two laps just isn’t enough. We need five or six at least to be able to even understand where you want to be. Obviously, as you speed up the course changes and you have to do things differently. I was learning during the races.”
“There’s so much that changes lap to lap. It’s difficult for the rider. You’ve got to really kind of judge where you are and what you’re doing. You’ve got to remember from the lap before. That’s difficult. You’re going so fast.”
“You’ve got so many corners and bumps and gear changes, braking points to think about, and the track does evolve. Lap on lap it changes. As you get faster the course changes. It’s so, so hard to try and work out exactly where you are. You have to be really mindful of what you’re doing all the time.”
By standing on the rostrum, Hickman was able to show once again that short-circuit riders can cut it on the roads. While he said that he could see other BSB riders taking the plunge and racing on the roads he also made clear that “they should do it for the right reasons.”
Those reasons are a love of road racing, but also a keen respect for the dangers and challenges that the Isle of Man presents.
“I did that much homework before coming here that I felt that I understood the course straight away. I was fast and I felt like I could have been faster, if I really wanted to be. If I really tried I’m sure I could have done even more in my first year.”
“But the point is, it’s such a massive task that you’re taking on to come here, and you’ve really just got to build into it and use your head. That’s what I’ve been doing the last three years and even this year.”
“I’ve been steady on the first laps, and everyone knows about that, but that’s simply because I’m not willing to push at the start. I want to make sure everything’s right first and then I’ll go.”
The homework that goes into learning the course involves countless hours of studying on board laps and videos. It means taking trips to the island to drive around in a rental car. It means putting all of your resources and energy into preparing for one of the biggest tests imaginable.
It’s an examination that every road racer sits at some point, but as a professional racer Hickman felt that he had some advantages not to be burdened with a 9-5 job like most TT rookies.
“It definitely helps for sure because I can focus on the job at hand. I’ve been there and done that and done the stupid hours a week to try and go racing. Right at the start in fact for a lot of my career I’ve been kind of racing and having a full-time job,” said Hickman.
“It’s very, very difficult. I’ve been fortunate enough in the last few years, two or three years, to actually be able to earn a little bit of money out of it. That meant that I could concentrate on training and understanding what I’m going into all the time, and really concentrate on my racing.”
“That just improves. When you’ve got people like we have in the British Superbike Championship, and you’re racing against the professionals that are week in and week out concentrating on bikes and things, it’s hard to beat them and race them when you’ve got work in the morning and you’re working ridiculous hour days.”
“It makes a big difference. When I came here I could really kind of learn it as much as possible,” he added.
Now as a five-time TT podium man, Hickman is sure to be in demand. It’s a somewhat new feeling for the 30-year-old, who can remember a time when doors didn’t open easily for him.
“I got to a point in my career in the British Superbike Championship where I was finishing top ten still, and I couldn’t get a ride unless I had a big cheque book. Coming to the TT seemed to change that for some reason. I don’t really know why.”
“After my first year, I jumped onto a good bike and a decent team and we ended up winning a race that year and then suddenly everything started changing. People were more interested, and my profile really raised after going to be the fastest newcomer here at the TT. After that I’ve not really looked back.”
“There is an expectation for me to start winning; but again, it’s still early days, and you’ve just got to us your head. You’ve got to let this place come to you. If you chase it, that’s when you start hurting yourself. I’ll use my head and we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
“It’s a year away yet and we’ve only just finished this year. I need to obviously go back and understand what we’re going to do for next year, and how we’re going to go about it and all the rest of it.”
Photos: © 2017 Steve English – All Rights Reserved
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