I remember it like it was yesterday Nick, and the awful silence which descended on the paddock as the news filtered through.
Every time I pass that spot I think of him, he was a lovely lad, and I often wonder just how many TT wins he would be on by now if fate hadn't played its hand that day.
Best rgds Nick and family, never seen a rider manhandle a machine like Dave, totally unique through the top and exit of Barregarrow - crossed up on the back wheel and drifting right into the gutter with the camber every single lap ..
I will always remember my meeting and chatting with DJ at Crescent in Verwood with fond memories of a very modest bloke and entertaining conversations I had with him regaling some of his more risque motorcycle rides in the Yorkshire Dales when his rear number plate might not have have been clearly visible!!! Still I am sure the local fuzz would have known not too many people were capable of riding with such panache. RIP DJ and thoughts are with the family.
Smoke me a kipper...........................I'll be back for breakfast
One of my favourites as a young lad, he was the main man when I were in my mid-teens, met him at Scarborough one year and I must admit following his passing I did fall out of love with the TT for a few years. I even have a tattoo of DJ on his Gixxer
I've never forgotten an immediately post-win interview he gave, I'm pretty sure in 1999 before he developed a slightly more refined 'I want to thank the team, etc' mindset. I can't remember the interviewer's exact words, but it went something like this:
Interviewer (probably Mr Cannell): 'When you saw the size of your lead, did you back off a bit?'
DJ: 'Did I bollox'.
On Manx Radio, that sounded positively marvellous.
RIP.
(This post was last modified: 30-05-2018, 07:31 PM by Paveway.)
I will never forget that day. I was still home when I received a short text message saying he was gone without any further details.
That was another time when I really did not want to travel over the next day.