Hizzy: The Final Interview 16 | 06 | 2013

    IT'S 10 YEARS since Steve Hislop was tragically killed in a helicopter crash, and his memory is marked in this weekend's round of the British Superbike Championship at Knockhill.

    Twenty-four hours before he died, Steve gave what was to be his final interview to Jim McGill. In it he spoke about spending time with his two boys; his new racing deal; being reunited with his old bike; and his target of winning a third BSB title.

    To mark Steve's memory this weekend, we're printing the interview which was first published on August 3, 2003.

    "Y'know, despite all the crap that's happened this year, what with the deal at Yamaha not working out anywhere near as good as it had been talked up to be and the results being non-existent, life's pretty good at the moment.

    "The two boys are so much fun and I've got a wonderful woman at my side. It doesn't get much better than this."

    When Steve Hislop, Scotland's most successful motorcycle racer, told me this during a lengthy telephone conversation last Tuesday, no-one could have foreseen the tragedy which unfolded in the swirling drizzle which shrouded the Borders hills near Hawick less than 24 hours later.

    The fact that Hizzy, whose cheeky smile disguised his 41 years, was more upbeat than I had heard him for months only heightens the true waste of his life. For all his 11 Isle of Man TT victories and British 250cc and two British Superbike championships, Hislop was a quiet, at times almost too thoughtful man who lived for his two sons, Aaron and Connor. Racing was important, but it was his boys who came first.

    As we chatted, he spoke not only of looking forward to the end of the season so he could spend time with his sons back home on the Isle of Man, but also to being reunited with his championship-winning Ducati 998 from last year in next Sunday's BSB round at Oulton Park.

    No sooner had Hislop walked away from Virgin Yamaha three weeks ago than he had signed for Dalbeattie-based ETI Ducati Racing, and had been promised his old bike back.

    "I don't know how, but they've managed to buy the very Ducati 998 bike that I rode last year," Hislop said, "and I just know, that with a couple of wee tweaks here and there I'm going to be right on the pace at Oulton Park next weekend. In fact I'd go as far as to say I'll be disappointed if I don't finish on the podium. Quite honestly, having seen the pace of the leading guys this year, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of winning. And if not next weekend, then certainly at the next round at Cadwell."

    Andrew Flanagan and his ETI team were due to officially unveil Hislop in his all-new leathers, and with the bike in its new livery, at the Leicestershire track tomorrow. Yesterday Flanagan confirmed he would now hold Hislop's old bike as a memorial to his career.

    "I can't let anyone else ride Steve's bike," the ETI Ducati boss said.

    "There are far too many terrific memories tied up in that bike to allow anyone else to ride it. In the next few weeks I'll have it re-done in Steve's MonsterMob Ducati colours from last year with his No 2 plate on the front. That's how people remember it and that's how it will stay."

    The sad thing is, despite people talking Hislop down and arguing he was past it, he was actually talking of not only continuing to race next year but of winning a third British title to equal his friend Niall Mackenzie who called Hislop "the most immaculate bike rider I have ever seen".

    "Niall's got three, so why shouldn't I try and get a third?" Hislop laughed.

    "I know there are guys out there who think I'm way, way past it, but the reason I've been off the pace this year is because the Yamaha bike I've ridden has been crap. Simple as that. That's why I left the Virgin Yamaha team because we were just going backwards. There wasn't enough investment being put into the team or the bikes. It became a joke. They didn't want to race. They just wanted the Virgin name in the spotlight."

    Hislop, who many people, including four-time World Superbike champion Carl Fogarty, believed was, on his day, the best motorcycle rider in the world (remember last year he lapped Donington faster than MotoGP wunderkid and world champion Valentino Rossi), admitted he still felt bad at being dumped by MonsterMob last year.

    "Yeh, that still riles," he said. "I hated watching the World Superbikes at Brands (Hatch) on Sunday and seeing Shakey (Shane Byrne, who replaced Hislop in the MonsterMob team) win both races on what was essentially the bike I developed and set up. In many ways I watched it knowing it could, and should, have been me and that if it was then I'd have won by a bigger gap."

    There is no denying Hislop could, at times, be the most complex and insular of men. But those occasions only materialised when he was racing. He was always hard on himself and meticulously detailed about the set-up of his bike. It was that commitment which brought him his numerous titles, a list which should have included the BSB titles of 2000 and 2001 when injury denied him the crown.

    To say he will be missed is not enough. His death has created a huge void in the sport. It has also ripped apart the lives of his family. The horror of his lonely death in the helicopter crash has also woken the rest of Scotland to the success of this quiet and shy Braveheart who thought nothing of racing wheel-to-wheel at 160mph on a motorbike. The bravest of the brave, he was also the first rider to average 120mph round the 37.73-mile Mountain Course on the Isle of Man.

    There will be many tears shed, not least at Knockhill, which hosts a round of the Scottish Motorcycle Championships today, and at Oulton Park, which is preparing a celebration of his life next Sunday. Hislop was a true motorbike enthusiast who just happened to be one of the fastest riders on the planet and with his ETI Racing deal in place, he had everything to live for.

    "It's all clicking back into place," he said on Tuesday, "and I'm really, really excited. I feel like a wee kid again with a new toy."

    Difficult still to accept that within 24 hours that excitement had turned to disbelief, shock and sadness for those who knew him.

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    Jim McGill

     

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