now , the walking definition of spiky , abrasive and clearly very tightly wound .
Nowadays ? Carl is like some kind of zen buddhist at times , sending social media congratulations and support to other riders , being chilled and chatty in public settings and generally nothing like he seemed under the pressure of personal competition 25-30 years ago . Or even shortly after retirement as the figurehead of the high profile Foggy Petronas WorldSBK team .
If you don ’ t believe me , ask him , as I did a few years ago about life after racing retirement and then greater fame than ever when he took his second kind of ‘ King Carl ’ award , being King of the Jungle in ‘ I ’ m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here .’
“ Honestly it was just the way I was when I was racing ,” said Carl . “ I almost look back on it now and be embarrassed somehow , and think that you would regret it . I say I should regret it . But people said , ‘ That ’ s just how you were . That was your makeup . You need to hate others who got close to you to make you really beat these guys .’ It seemed to work . Whatever I seemed to say kind of came true .”
It seems then that maybe Carl had to initially change his personality to become the racer he was , and he has maybe just changed back again ? And maybe , just maybe , he never really had to adopt quite that level of spikiness and aggression towards others in the first place ?
“ If I had to do it all again now , I ’ d probably keep my mouth shut ,” said Carl . “ Just keep your mouth shut and do my talking on the track . I don ’ t know why I did that really , because I really wasn ’ t like that away from racing . I think the more I won the more it kind of went to my head a little bit and the more big-headed I got and arrogant I got . I just couldn ’ t stop it , really . It seemed the fans liked it , the press liked it . It was just a bit mad , really . It was that Brit-pop era , it was all happening . I think away from the racetrack I was always a bit shy and a bit quiet in some ways , really . But get me to the racetrack and - I wanted to win . The more I won the more I had to win . If somebody else won I ’ d say , ‘ it ’ s only because of this , because of that , I had a bad weekend or whatever .’ It ’ s just how it was . If I had my time again I would probably do it differently . You always put more pressure on yourself to win , but there ’ s enough pressure anyway . It ’ s crazy !”
Fogarty , who made few friends with his rivals over his WorldSBK career , was and is friends with someone who appears to be his polar opposite in some regards , James Whitham .
Himself a former WorldSBK race winner on what would be called now an ‘ Independent Team ’ Whitham was also a factory Suzuki rider for a couple of years .
So there were two broad questions for ‘ Whit .’ One about changes he saw in his mate Foggy after racing , and those he may or may not have noticed in himself .
He sees the different ways that he and Fogarty retired as key to how soon they settled back into non-competitive life . Normal life may be pushing it , but life as non-racers at least .
Foggy was forced into early retirement while still at the sharp end of WorldSBK . By comparison , Whitham knew he was ready to stop when he did . “ Carl always seemed to have a little bit of unfinished business and he would look , for years , as still being able to compete ,” said Whitham . “ I was kind of over it . I did not want to try that hard any more . I had almost used up what I needed , personality-wise , to do what I needed to do on track . I felt like the time was right . And I got a job straight away
( TV commentary ) working inside the paddock still , so it was a nice little ramp down from where I had been . I think for me it was quite easy to reconcile myself . I was not sitting at home thinking I was an outcast . That can be difficult for some people . I was not as famous as Carl , didn ’ t get the attention he did , didn ’ t get the money Carl did . I am not saying this was a bad thing , but it is different thing .”
So what did change for Whitham himself ?
“ I think I am a little bit less stressed ,” he offered . “ I think I was reasonably relaxed and balanced about it when I was racing . I would say Carl , would be a different person now , but still pretty stressed . When you are racing for a living a lot of times you are under pressure , and it ’ s a little bit of a rollercoaster . When you get a good result everything is perfect in your life ; then a week later you get a disappointing result and your life falls apart . You are sharing teabags because you don ’ t want to waste money ! That is the kind of life you live as a racer . I just felt a little bit more relaxed . But everybody is different . The more fame you get through it , the more difficult it would be .”
Interesting point that , and he gives some examples from his era . “ For the most part , people who were at the top of their game in WorldSBK , like John Kocinski , Pierfancesco Chili , Aaron Slight , Scott Russell … for the most part they are better people to spend a little bit of time with after they retired , although my time with them has been limited as they live all over the world ,” he stated . But James thinks even legendarily nice guy ‘ Frankie ’ is another level of de-stressed compared to his racing years . “ Chili was probably a bit more friendly but quite angry at times . Fiery Italian mentality . Chili , was , is and remains the nicest person when you get him away from the track . He was lovely and still is but he was a passionate racer who would have been racing even if you didn ’ t pay him .”
And in 2024 James said of all those fired-up old rivalries , “ When you see them all getting together , it ’ s like ‘ Band of Brothers ’ or something . Hugging and talking about the old times . I guess that ’ s human nature . I think all that ‘ nastiness ’ you have got to build up for somebody , because you have to go and race them … not ‘ damage ’ them … but you have to be not bothered about their feelings in any way . That then turns into respect ( in retirement ) by knowing how hard they tried to get to where you all were . It ’ s a funny thing , isn ’ t it ?” Sure is James .
Another WorldSBK race winner and the most successful BSB rider ever is Shane Byrne . After a recent injury had forced him into an incredibly reluctant retirement , he said that his postracing nature is still a bit … conflicted , maybe ? “ The direction and drive I had for that one thing that meant more to me than anything … I still dream to this day of getting back on . But I know that I probably never will . I have mellowed a bit , with the TV job and such . I would also say that ( racing the bike ) is not something that you ever want to let go of .”
So do people close to Shane notice this current struggle inside ? “ I guess my wife does because sometimes I can be sitting looking our the window , or just not saying anything , and she will be like ‘ What ’ s up , what are you doing , what are you thinking about ?” And I just don ’ t know . I am just thinking . You know when you have a dream in the night and you wake up in the morning and can ’ t remember what the dream was , but it felt really real ? It is a bit like that . When I am working and stimulated to do what you have to do , it ’ s different . But when I sit at home I feel like I ought to be out cycling , or in the gym , because a race is coming up . But there is nothing to be prepared for .”
OFFICIAL PROGRAMME 45
THE BIG READ