As a young lad growing up in Hawick, it was more likely that Stuart Easton would turn his attention to rugby as his sport of choice, with the Borders town being a hotbed for the oval-ball game in Scotland, boasting four clubs and a host of youth teams.

But, and it seems a highly unlikely scenario for most individuals, rugby just wasn’t tough enough for Stuart.  It was too slow and not dangerous enough to really get his adrenalin pumping.  From an early age his heart was set on a sport that would quite literally leave rugby eating dirt.

For on the British Superbike circuit, where Stuart fizzes round the track for his Hydrex Honda team, there is no time for the stop-start antics found in sports like rugby.  Once the light turns green, it is death-defying speed, precarious bends and ferocious competition all the way until the chequered flag is waved.  It’s a sport for the fearless, or, as Stuart imagines it, the downright reckless.

“Maybe I am just a bit stupid!” He laughs.  “I would never consider myself as brave or courageous.  It is just something that I have chipped away at over the years and it feels quite natural for me to race bikes now.

“My dad was always into motorsports,” explains Stuart, speaking exclusively to In The Winning Zone, as he recalls how he got into motorbike racing.  “He did a bit of rallying and he was always into it but never had the funding or the backing to be able to compete as highly as he would like to.  So when I came along he was keen to stick me on a bike when I was young!”

From that point, Easton enjoyed a rapid rise through the ranks.  He started off in motocross (off-road racing, also known as scrambling) before moving into road-racing aged 16.  It was then that he was ‘spotted’ and earmarked for bigger things. 

“When I started road racing really it happened quite naturally for me and I finished 2nd in the British Super-Team Championship, which is a competition for teenagers. I then found myself getting an opportunity to race in the British 125 [cc] Championships for Vimto Honda, which is run by Paul Bird. I finished 3rd in that then I started to come up through the ranks.

“That was 10 years ago now, and I think that back then it was a lot easier to get noticed and picked up than it is now. Times are getting even harder for kids to break through now.”

The next major stage in Easton’s progression was the Supersport circuit, a kind-of qualifying championship for the big leagues of the British Superbikes.  He won the Supersport in 2002 and duly made the step up, where he found his feet instantly and enjoyed a prolonged honeymoon period amongst Britain’s elite.  Then disaster struck.

“Everything came along and quite naturally and I had three of four really good years where I was finishing top three in British Superbikes every year.  Then from 2004 up until last year I have struggled with a lot of injuries. I had three broken wrists, a broken heel and a bad skin graft on my forearm. For a number of years I was injured every year.

“The broken heel was one of the worst injuries.  It wasn’t one of the most painful but it took a long time to recover from that. I was in plaster for three months and on crutches for four months and I had to get months and months of physio after that.  So that pretty much hammered my season last year.  I was just getting over that when I broke my wrist mid-season, so that set me back again.

“So for quite a few that it was hard and I had a lot of injuries and just had a long struggle. But I think that if you stick at it long enough then the good times will come along again.”

And indeed they did.  This past year has seen Stuart enjoy a series of successes.  At the end of the 2008 season he won the notorious Macau Grand-Prix.  The race in the Chinese region is described by Stuart as “a bit different”.

“Basically the track is lined with barriers the whole way around.  With stone walls and angle barriers, every inch of the place has zero run off, you can never afford to make one mistake. It is dangerous, but that’s what makes it feel even better when you win it”

After joining up with Shaun Muir’s Hydrex Honda team for the 2009 season, he has continued his hot run of form, claiming several podium finishes on the British Superbike circuit, and even racing twice in the World Superbikes.

“Now it is coming good.  I would like to stay where I am and continue with the same team, with the same guys and build on that.  If I can finish this year in the top three at least, then hopefully I could get second in the Championship. The leader is quite away in front but I can build on that result and try to win the Championship next year, then I will see beyond that where we are. 

“My ambition is to hopefully one day win a World Championship.  Realistically it would be the World Supersport Championships or maybe the World Superbike Championships.  That would really interest me.”

So what does it take to be the best in the world of motorbike racing?

“You can be as fit and mentally sharp as you want, as hungry and aggressive as you want, but if you haven’t got all those tools to do the job then you will struggle. Likewise, if you had the best bike and best team but you aren’t fit enough, sharp enough, or hungry enough then you will still struggle.  So you need everything, the full package, to be able to become a British Superbike Champion.”

Easton is quick to praise the efforts as other as the key components behind his recent success.  From his Dad, who paid his way through the ranks until he was picked up, to his team owners, including Paul Bird and current gaffer Shaun Muir, themselves former racers. And of course, he sets aside special mention for the team that get him and his back out onto the track every weekend.

“When I started in the British Championship and I got my opportunity from Paul Bird, he brought me through 125cc bikes to 250ccs to Supersport, and every year he put a really good bunch of guys around me with really competitive motorbikes in each class. 

“Everything was top drawer maybe I kind of, not took it for granted, but thought that’s just the way it was. 

“Then when I went through the bad stage of my career, when I was getting injured, I ended up on uncompetitive bikes and lesser funded teams.  As much as the guys I worked with were working hard, when you are lesser funded and don’t have the tools to do the job it is a big struggle, that’s when you can ride just as hard and finish 13th.

“Now that I am on a competitive package again with Shaun, I am riding the same as I have always ridden, but the results are coming now.”

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