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At the weekend, chartered engineer Al Brown can often be found at the motorcycle race track, either racing his 2000 Yamaha R6 600cc (100bhp) at club meetings around the UK or supporting his teenage son Russell as he rides his own bike.
Brown got into the sport after being given a track day from his colleagues as a 40th birthday present. “While we were travelling round the country supporting my son in his racing, it seemed only right that I should have a go as well,” he says.
“I began racing on my R6, and have had the chance to race on most of the UK’s iconic tracks, including Brands Hatch, Cadwell Park and Oulton Park.”
A typical race weekend at motorcycle racing club Thundersport GB involves a day of preparing and testing the motorcycles and qualifying, followed by a day of racing.
“From the minute you arrive at the track until when you leave on the Sunday night, it is all-consuming, and you have little time to think about work or other concerns,” says Brown.
“So despite the physical effort of preparing the bike and racing on track, I always come away completely relaxed. It has also forced me to get fitter, both for riding and for running back and forward to the pit wall when my son is on track.”
Being on the track is a great challenge, says Brown. “There is an amazing buzz from putting in your fastest lap, or having diced with another rider throughout a race, even
if you are both at the back of the
field,” he says.
His son started racing at national level through the Triumph Triple Challenge in 2013 and has developed a business servicing and upgrading suspensions for bikes, despite still being at university.
Their shared hobby means that Brown gets to spend a lot of quality time with his son.
“The best part is having the opportunity to spend a dozen or more weekends each year together with my wife and teenage son, focused on a hobby that we all enjoy – and then chilling out in the motorhome in the evening, getting ready for the next day’s racing,” he says.
Do you have an interesting mechanical engineering-related hobby? Email liz.wells@caspianmedia.com