Exclusive: GT Factory Racing 2014 Launch Party
Making the trip down to the big smoke of Londonshire of an afternoon, should really be planned a bit better! Fashionably late I think is the term used to describe our arrival, us being Doc (the big pic man) And Bicks (AKA Chicken man, friend to the Athertons and mate I blagged an invite for!) We were so excited about this do, held yesterday evening in Red Bull’s UK HQ in amongst the posh financial district of Central London.
We arrived to a packed house, filled with industry types, other mags and big industry sponsors, it was almost a who’s who of the UK MTB world. Straight away the big Shropshire mon pride was buzzing with the presence of lots of top Shire bods, including all the Athertons, Marc Beaumont, Lord Rich Cunynghame was on the mic, Dan Brown the big boss, all Shropshire through and through! Cunny (man on the World Cup DH mic with Rob Warner) was running all the interviews and presenting in his usual very professional manner, a born natural.
We had missed his interview with Rachael and just caught the back end of his on-mic chat with Dan Brown, Brownie looked a tad like a rabbit in the headlights, not liking the attention being on him. As the talks and interviews went on over a couple of hours all the crew were hauled up on stage to talk about their part of the team. It was so impressive and mind blowing to see just how many people are involved in the monster that is Atherton and GT Factory racing, they seem so much more pro and better set-up than any other team.
Alan Millway was next up, this guy is the pain giver, the man who gives the training structure and screams the fitness training orders, to produce the athletes we see today. Harris and Ross had a representative there, they are the guys who treat and fix all the injuries, and believe me, they are kept busy! He spoke about how he first met Dan Atherton (Athy) when he came in with a broken neck, he also fixed up Taylor Vernon after his back break and is currently working on a very peed-off looking Athy with his latest fractured Tibia injury. Jamie Edwards was a chap I never knew about, he’s their kind of psychological coach, and it was fascinating to hear how he changed all their mind-sets, creating winning athletes (expect an interview with this chap soon).
All the team riders came up, it was great to see the fresh faced Martin Maes in attendance, ready to take on the 2014 EWS at full pace. As I said Athy couldn’t hide his frustration, talking about how gutted he was after such an amazing winter of training to come off at his local Dyfi track, sustaining an injury bad enough to knock him out for the first EWS round. But with Athy, every cloud has one tiny silver lining, as we arranged another interview for the next couple of weeks at his new pad in the heart of the Dyfi forest. Finally the mechanics were bought up on to the stage too, reporting on how they love their job, but how frustrating it can be, to do all the work, but never actually get to see any of the racing!
Before the show came to a close there were a few questions fired at the riders, of which I had one for Rach, “Are we ever going to see you at an Enduro race?” I was abruptly shot down with the reply! “Why does everyone want me to do an Enduro race?!” Gee pipes up with “It’ll never happen mon, she hates pedalling!!” So that was the answer to that! Amongst the final questions was one upon all UK riders minds, “What do you think of the British Cycling Federation’s ridiculous new ruling about banning head-cams from race events completely?” Gee voiced his irritation to such a bizarre ruling, but now, one day later, it seems after the uproar of the UK riders and sponsors, that same ruling has been kind of reversed, unbelievable!
The little show was done, and we could all relax, chill and enjoy the evening, sampling the delights of what GT Factory racing had on display, and more importantly what Red Bull HQ and Central London had to offer! I had one main mission of the evening, the main reason I had been sent, and that was to catch up with Martin Maes, after his fantastic 2013 season and find out his thoughts for the up-coming season.
I hear you’ve been giving Gee a run for his money on the DH tracks, him on the big rig and you on the Enduro bike, any truth in it?
To be fair we rode a lot of time in Malaga and Finale together, it wasn’t so hard, so I was quite surprised with myself. For me Gee was such a huge star, so fast and the first times I rode with him I was so surprised to see I can be as fast. He is still faster really, but I was on Enduro bike that the tracks were more suited to, so that is maybe why I could keep up
From a long time racer like myself, who has a young son, I’m interested to know about how influenced you have been by your father?
Well he’s quite a big influence, because when I was young he was racing for sure. I wanted always to follow in his footsteps and loved to watch him win races. I took a lot of advice from when I was real young all the way through to now. His advice is really import for me, because he has a lot of experience during his career, so he has a lot of influence on me now.
Just inform Enduro Mag readers of your dad’s racing achievements
He is 23 times Belgian National Champion in lots of different disciplines. He started with Trials and BMX then he finished his career with 4X and DH.
So looking to 2014, you decided to go Senior instead of Junior when you had the choice, was that a big decision for you?
Yeah quite huge really, I asked Athy and my team manager and they said it was up to me, they said I could do whatever I want. I asked my dad, he said it was up to me too, but told me to think about what will make me feel better and which category would give me more motivation for racing. So after a lot of though I went Elite Senior for more of a challenge.
So what are your expectations for results in the races and who do you see as the biggest threat?
It’s hard to say, but it will be really awesome if I can be really consistent throughout the whole season. I will be really happy to finish the season in the top ten but top five would be perfect!
Martin interview in the bag and it was time to make the most of Red Bull’s hospitality. Drinks were on tap and after a heap of pizza, the alcohol was sinking down well as the bike talk stepped up. On show for the first time too, and worth a mention was the new Baron tyre from Continental, these things look the mutz nutz, a proper all-round trail tyre and are going to be the next big thing from the big German tyre manufacturers, pre-production samples being sent out soon for Enduro Mag testing.
It has to be said that Red Bull’s HQ is seriously cool, offering DJ tunes, tokens for roulette and Black Jack, a massive chill-out area downstairs and did I mention the free alcohol?!! Well soon the massive pictures of the team riders all around kind of started to blur, as did the lines of reality, the place started to close and we, with other cycle industry dudes, hit the town, it was a big big night (London never sleeps) but believe me, that is another story! As I sit here writing this I realise it was such a fantastic event, put on by such professionals and well worth the big head ache I now sport on the following day!
Big Thanks to Red Bull, Dan Brown and his team
Words Jim Buchanan
Pics Doc Ward
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