As the PR/Media rep for Woodstock Honda Thor Racing, I had the opposrtunity to not only send out press releases on behalf of the team, but I get to interview the riders after the races.

At the Sydney SuperX held at Parramatta Stadium,it was my pleasure to interview “The King” of SuperX, 37 yr old “semi retired” Jeremy McGrath. Not only a legend of the sport, but an affable, funny and utterly likeable bloke. Today’s vodcast features my interview with Jeremy in teh Woodstock truck after his brilliant (and clever) second place.

AS a fellow 37 yr old, I say this: Jeremy, keep on keepin’ on!

Here’s a number of interviews I recorded – ostensibly for my press releases, but I thought they may be of interest to podcast listeners..

Back in 2006, when Casey Stoner was a first year MotoGP rookie, I was one of about 3 people to attend his press conference (including his wife- at that time she was The Girlfriend).

He was riding for Honda and was not on the factory team. In retrospect, I’m pretty sure he had already signed for Ducati, so when I was pressing him about whether he would stay with Honda (at that time I thought it was a good idea to stay with the number one team!), he was cagey…

Enjoy

Back in 2007 I was enjoying my first year on 3AW as their motoring expert. One of my first tasks (though I would call it a segment idea) was to find Neil Mitchell a new car to replace his ageing and awful Saab 9-3.

With a budget of $70k the field was wide open. We looked week to week at different cars that Neil hated equally.

Eventually I decided that we had to shake things up a bit. I thought about it thusly: “If Neil is the number one rating morning show presenter in Melbourne, surely he could spring for a lot more than $70k?” So I rang around and assembled some “different” cars for the segment. Different as in $400,000 price tags.

…and you’ll have to listen to the podcast to hear what they were.

Last night at the Premiere of “Love The Beast” I had occasion to chat with former 500cc Champion Mick Doohan.

Post chat about things film related, I moved on to chat about MotoGP this season and we wandered into a MotoGp v WSBK discussion and then the sparks started flying. I dared to suggest that that WSBK- with its field of 35, close racing and keen fans might eclipse MotoGP as a spectacle in 2009.To say Mick was NOT convinved would be an understatement.

Here’s how I saw the discussion:

Me: The fans want to see close racing, big fields and skill playing an important role (over say, traction control). MotoGP might struggle as there are just 18 bikes on the grid this year to get the fans fired up.

Mick: MotoGP is the pinnacle of the sport. World Superbike is not. Therefore MotoGP is better without even referring to field numbers, fan interest and closeness of competition.