Jeremy McWilliams Interview | Island Classic 2016

Interview conducted by Trevor Hedge with Jeremy McWilliams – Island Classic 2016

Island Classic 2016 - Qualifying - Roger Winfield, Jeremy McWilliams and John McGuinness — Island Classic 2016 – Qualifying – Roger Winfield, Jeremy McWilliams and John McGuinness

Jeremy McWilliams: Post Island Classic Interview

“Ahh…well…I couldn’t work out how Jed was able to pull away….I put everything into it and couldn’t do anything about it. And as the race went on I snapped the steering Damper, but it didn’t really effect the lap time. Then Beau came past and I thought….that’s it……..if Beau stays in front on the Vincent, then Jed wins it overall.

“So I basically just dug deep and I had enough to get back past the Vincent. And it worked out through turn one. Then I rode kinda above where I felt comfortable for a lap. And the Vincent went away thank god.

“I’m not sure what went wrong. We did a little bit on the bike before the race, but we couldn;t really match the laptimes. It felt really quick, but looking at the laptimes it’s not…..it’s pretty bloody slow…mid 37’s again….and it felt more like we were on lap record pace. So, yeah we need to have a little bit more of a test on this bike. When we lost friday we kinda lost all the set up time and I’m against trying to change too much for race day.

“I think in hindsight we needed to have it higher at the rear and a slightly softer spring. Would it have made any difference I don’t know. But we kinda need to go and do some testing. It’s too difficult to come at race at this level without any testing on a bike.

“I managed Jed’s team when he was riding WSS and he’s a real good rider, a real quick kid. He’s a good guy he will go far in racing because he has a lovely way with sponsors and teams and even other riders. It’s lovely to race against him.

“I beat him a couple of times yesterday, but he kinda came out with all guns blazing today, kinda thinking I’m not going to let the old man have his own way. His bike’s working great. Rex has done a great job on that bike and he’s riding the wheels off it.

“Of course he has, he’s just getting a lucky break. He had the break in WSS, but the next year it didn’t work out with the team. But there’s so much emphasis on the course and having to find support. It’s difficult for and Australian kid to come over to Europe and bring over support from Australia. It’s a different world over there. But I hope he does, I’d hate to see him disappear, as he has an awful lot of talent.”