What makes the track so special? What makes it such a special place to ride?

Well, this was put together by two people, Bob Barnard and myself, 37 years ago.

I was currently the world champion at that time.

And so Bob Barnard came to me and said, he's a civil works engineer, and said, oh, I'd like to see if we can get a Grand Prix off the back of all your history and the sports love for it now.

And I said, oh, yeah, where? And he goes, a place called Phillip Island.

I went, where's that? And he said, well, let's go down and have a look.

And it was an old paddock with a track.

How did you find time as being world champ to also lobby the government for funding for a new track at Phillip Island?

Oh, well, when you

mentioned Philip Island, the hair stands up on my neck, you know.

Yeah.

Yeah, for many reasons it gives a funny feeling to me is because it was the start of my career in Australia.

It was the first time I ever had a Grand Prix there and that was because of Bob and myself.

I mean, Bob approached me with the idea and I said, oh, you can't do that in 12 months.

He goes, no, no, no, I can, I can.

you were telling us in, uh, when you last came on racing back about how you first went to Phillip Island with Bob Barnard and, uh, how you thought no chance, this is never going to be a

And we're going to do it for the last time over the weekend.

Yes, it's, well, it's sad, it's sad, but I'm here for it anyway, that's the main thing, and You know, I was here for the first, I was here for the last, that's the most important thing, and won a couple of races on the way.

Yeah, look, it's sad, because I was part of two people, basically, that we started and built all that circuit, which was a friend of mine and myself.

We put the effort in, and Bob Barnard was the guy, and myself.

So we put all that together between us two, so...

And it's been a...

All the riders love going there.

what do they go for? What are you looking at retailing those at?

Now, you've lived overseas in, in recent years, but, uh, when you come back to Victoria and when you come back to Australia, how would you describe the, the state of our roads?

Well, I mean, I've just arrived back from, uh, from Europe.

I, I live over there but, um, I have seen some atrocious roads.

Uh, I'm not, uh, pinpointing any exactly, but I have seen, you know, roads with potholes everywhere and, uh, it's dangerous.

It's dangerous to drivers of vehicles, um, whether it's small vehicles or big vehicles, and it's, uh, extremely dangerous for motorcycles.

So ...

And as I've just heard then, uh, in the voiceovers that, uh, yeah, it's, uh, a gentleman se- of 70s or odd has, um, had an accident and, um, been, been killed unfortunately.

Um, what's your message to riders who love it and, and this is their last opportunity?

Now, you've lived overseas in, in recent years, but, uh, when you come back to Victoria and when you come back to Australia, how would you describe the, the state of our roads?

Well, I mean, I've just arrived back from, uh, from Europe.

I, I live over there, but, um, I have seen some atrocious roads.

Uh, I'm not, uh, pinpointing any exactly, but I have seen, you know, roads with potholes everywhere and, uh, it's dangerous.

It's dangerous to drivers of vehicles, um, whether it's small vehicles or big vehicles, and it's a- extremely dangerous for motorcycles.

So, and as I've just heard then, uh, in the voiceovers that, uh, yeah, it's, uh, that a gentleman se- of 70s, uh, uh, has, um, had an accident and, um, been, been killed unfortunately.

It's so sad.

Um, what's your message to riders who love it and, and this is their last opportunity?

[laughs]

... to give away the information, you know? And I said, "No, tell me." And they went, "No, no, no." I said, "No, you have to tell me." I said, "Listen, I wouldn't have got you if, if I wasn't gonna get the information." So technically, I'm quite bright with all this stuff, you know, because I've done a lot of testing for Honda.

So we, w- they then, "Oh, a big difference, Wayne son.

We make full scale on the wall, and we measured everything." Oh, big difference.

Uh, and I said, "What's the difference?" Oh, well, the, but the engine has gone up 35 millimeter from where we are now.

And I went, "What?" And he said, "Yeah, yeah.

M- and the swinging arm angle is much greater, and the fork angle's much bigger." And I went, "Really?" And they went, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." And I said, "Well, we've always had trouble with wheel spin and sliding, you know, with the bike." Uh, and then, uh, and then I thought back to the days of the 88, and we had that same problem until we raised the bike in a t- private test.

Yeah.