Now then, it's been a while since I got to write anything but it's all been a little flat out lately, i have just got home from italy and things couldn't be much better to be honest. From the British sprint series to one of my favorite enduros, the Lossiemouth BEC, have all gone perfect for me and i have had loads of fun doing them, all in sunshine for once, which has been a nice change for british races.

On the world championship front, all three rounds have been good, all different which I like, nice tests including the extreme tests, (despite what some moaning gits might say, i think they are an important part of the EWC, and some riders need to shut up and get on with riding their bikes),  both manmade and natural which is  good. As for the Friday night supertests, i think this is a load of bol***ks, especially when some riders ride in daylight, and some are riding in the dark, complete load of crap! Anyway, enough moaning , i'm leading the world championship which is ace and its so good to be fighting with Christophe like we were in italy, I dont think either of us could have gone any faster, every test one second difference or the same time, but the strange thing is, it is so much more fun than in 05 and 06 when i lost one day in 2 years, i think maybe because in a strange way it got boring, not the winning but just that i didn't need to ride on the limit every corner of every test like i did on sunday in italy, it was so important for team Farioli and also KTM and myself to win, even more than normal as Bergamo is the home of the team and for me, the home of enduro. So many passionate fans, the atmosphere was amazing!

I was happy enough on Saturday with 3rd, which is a miricle for me, as i hate losing, but knowing i was'nt feeling my best, and that i pushed as hard as i could have done, i was satisfied anyway!  Christophe was riding awesome and for me, is a hugely underated rider and i have loads of respect for him as a rider and a person, and he is without doubt one of the best guys in the world right now, and one of the nicest guys in the paddock, so its gonna be fun fighting it out for the title!!! Not much else going on, been riding my trials bike more than my enduro bike while i've been home lately, its a good craic and loads of fun, especially when there is a few of us, usually ends in carnage!!!!!!

Knighter

Hi all, well the past couple of weeks have been pretty flat out, first up we had the Muntjac which was the first round of the BEC, and turned into a bit of a mud fest which is suprising as it is pretty sandy, but I suppose nonstop rain will make anything like that. Anyway, I won all four special tests which was a good start, but the test is a little frustrating, as you want to go faster but the lines are so close to the trees it makes it so 1 lined  and very difficult to make up time as you cannot carry any corner speed, but it is very easy to make a huge mistake which would be very costly, so although the weather spoilt it, it was great to take a comfortable win.

Then it was straight on the plane monday morning and off to Florida, not bad for some hey! Tarah picked me up from the airport and I was straight into the garage to do a bit of work on the bike. Tuesday morning we went to watch a bit of the GNCC and to collect some Pirelli tyres, then it was back to the airport to pick Gizz, my mechanic up so he could get my bike factoried up to go riding on wednesday. I bought a 2010 450 SX out here in december so thats what I was riding at the alligator, not ideal but good for a bit of fun! Anyway all went ok in the first test, apart from a wrong turn, but the test was so tight, through palmetto trees and bushes, and was probably about 25 minutes long. test 2 was not quite so tight, and I had a good fun ride through that one, some big sand whoops which I love, but the track was still about a metre wide! Test 3 I went the wrong way following a slower rider and had to turn around which probably cost me half a minute, but the track got so so tight, it was crazy! I can now understand why them boyz cut there handlebars down a couple off inches!Good idea for next year!!! Now it was off to refuel, then off to test 4, the wet muddy one! All went great for the first 5 minutes, some big deep ruts full of water, just like the Muntjac, but then the ol girl started squeeling and getting tight, so I stopped it as I knew it was done, then It wouldnt go and the battery went flat, so I had a nice push to the highway. A marshall helped me push start it and I JUST made it back to the paddock where it granaded itself and ground to a halt, good timing anyway!!! What I did find out was I really enjoyed the race format, the tests are like a checkpoint at a BEC or a WEC, 15 - 35 minutes long, and virtually back to back, no long boring liason sections or slack checks like european enduros are full off nowadays. I think we will see a lot of young fast American enduro riders coming through in the next few years as a result as its perfect special test training, and I think its going to help the USA enduro series get younger riders competeing in it as it is a lot of fun, and although the Alligator is super slow and tight in the tests, a lot lot slower than europe, the guys tell me that the other rounds are a lot less tight, so hopefully I will get another one in later on in the year! Catch ya later

Well had a great past week in spain back on the KTM, had 5 good days testing the 530 on a load of different surfaces and special tests down in benacasim, and it was great to ride with the rest of the factory boys from the enduro team, and also the MX team a couple of times, and I can tell u all that so far its very positive, so hopefully this week will be as successful as the past week. Also last night I rode the indoor, which apart from trying to ride at sheffield when ill, this was my first indoor in over 2 years and it was great fun on the whole, and I really enjoyed it! Quallifying was great, apart from it was difficult in my group after 1 lap as the rock section was full of bikes laying upsidedown, then I won my heat race easily, so that was a good start. Then the first final I decided to ride my own race and ride sensibly, as we had 3, seven lap finals in the space of 40 minutes, and it worked out great, as I took the win pretty easily, then final 2, i got a little bit boxed in the first turn as Ivan got pushed wide and was having a good dice when a lapper got stuck in the rocks, and I went into him, so I just settled for third behind blausiak and Ivan, then for final 3 I decided full attack mode, which backfired a little when I tried jumping past blausiak n I ended up in a heap with the KTM on top of me! ooopps! Anyway, had to get from around 10th, n worked my way up to third which I was made up about, as it could have been anyone of us winning as the track was pretty easy and fast, but I was happy to see Ivan get a win infront of his home fans, Its not easy testing on a big 4 stroke all week, then hopping onto a 2stroke and going straight into qualifying, so it was nice for Ivan and myself to take a win each. Well, back to the 530 now, gotta keep getting the miles in and continue to get myself ready for the first BEC at the end of Feb, But I am definatly happy to be on the pace already and back on the KTM!!!!!! Also thanks to Gareth my mechanic, been mega all week, and at least we got a win in the first race of the season!

Well we are well into January and all racing cancelled here in the uk, and iom, whats the world coming too, enduros cancelled because of  a little bit of snow!!! Load of old women! hahaha. Anyway, had been riding alot in sunny Florida and only come home early to get ready for the tough 1, which got postponed the day I got home, typical! So been having fun in the snow on the Katoom, not easy with normal tyres on ice, but lots of fun. Had a little bit of fun at the weekend on the 2 smoke on the extreme test, good fun but more importantly got a good couple of days on the 500 done, which feels pretty near the ballpark already, which im really happy about, so the next couple of days are gonna be spent trying to get all the little things like gearing, bar mounts etc etc, dialled in perfectly before I head down to spain saturday for an official KTM test next week! Then I will race Barcelona indoor to get a race under my belt, maybe on the 500 for training, then maybe hellsgate the following week, but I'll see nearer the time, as its way more important to get the big 4 popper dialled in 100%, as I don't want to be doing a Bubba going to the first BEC on a bike that is not dialled in and looks like it handles like shit!!! Speaking of which, I was just having a laugh reading the comments on racerx and transworld about last nights Phoenix SX, I can't beleive some of the bol**cks idiots write on their, they really dont have a clue, mainly wanabee Bubba fans slating Dungey cos he is smoking everyone, and Reed, cos he always gets the blame when Bubba crashes. Load of idiots, These guys are ALL awesome riders, and it makes great racing, so just be happy. Rite, enough of this i'm gonna get an early night, lots of riding tomorrow!Later

Hope everyone has a happy Christmas and a healthy and happy new year, cheers.

First of all, sorry for not keeping this blog up to date, i've been pretty busy and I had nothing good to write about really, haha!

Well as u all know i'm all sorted with KTM for next year, after a crappy year, on the beemer anyway, I cant wait to get started on the orange beast again, I have loved being involved in the Kawasaki thing, great bike, people and company to be involved with and i am sad to leave, but the way the economy is at the moment, it would have been impossible to build and run a team on the budget we had available and been ready for the start of the year, and with KTM, I just need to concentrate on racing as I know the bikes and team is second to none.

I still dont regret signing for BMW, It might of been good, but unfortunatly we wern't allowed to develop the bike which was the whole idea, so there was no point in staying there, and I know me leaving helped Juha out and gave BMW the kick up the arse they needed,  and they gave him a new chassis, which would never of happened if both of us had stayed.

Anyway, moving on, just got back from America, had a week in Florida at Tarah's, did a little bit of MX, and went alligator spotting on an airboat which was ace fun, then went riding in california, was supposed to do Vegas endurocross, but then I wasn't allowed!!!!

Ended up doing a day in the dirt last weekend, which was brilliant fun, Kehoe, Short, McGrath, Matasavich, Emig, Johnson, Ward all them guys out racing together along with me and 500 others, ace laugh especially the vintage race where I rode Troy Lee's 1975 CZ from his museum, in full retro gear [ see video on frontpage ]  and a new Steve McQueen rep lid which Troy Lee will put into production next year, its probably the most fun I have had in years, and wasn't the worst bike i've ridden this year either, hehe, even after i snapped one of the shocks off on lap 2, ooopps, sorry Troy. I also rode the team race with the missus, this time I was on a KTM, and Tarah on a honda, with me taking the holeshot and then having a great dice with honda boss Eric Kehoe, who was increadbly fast, with Mcgrath next behind me, (glad Kehoe aint my boss), anyway you have to change with your partner every lap, so every 4-5 minutes you were on a full qualifying hot lap which suited me great and we ended up 5th which was really good, considering the 4 teams ahead were past and present factory mx riders, and all the ones behind got beat by a girl!!!!hahaha.

Was supossed to race Genova this weekend, but aint got bikes for it so im in full training mode now instead for next year.

Well just got home and another british title, which is nice after the season i had up until jumping on the kawi, but the feeling I had at the weekend was a good one, in the way the times came easy, something like 2006, so we are definatly getting there, and i'm getting more comfortable on the green machine all the time, which is the best feeling.

 As far as the british championship goes, I think its a joke in all honesty! Five days into the championship, and its over, pity there isnt more events around the country, not just Wales, it would be excellent to have one in Scotland, Ireland, and the IOM, and I think a shorter lap is the way to go, 25 to 30 miles.

 The event at the weekend was excellent, 4  short laps, and although only one test per lap, it was an awesome test, 10 minutes of a little of everything, grass, rivers, logs, rocks and forest, and excellent going, very stoney, not just welsh boggs in forests the whole lap. Well done guys on an excellent event! Its a pity some of the other events arnt a shorter lap with plenty of decent special test time. The thing that bothers me is the ACU, different rules to WEC,  which does'nt help young lads wanting to race WEC, different start numbers every race, and all the riders being muddled up in start order! Why not set riders off in championship order, with their championship numbers, so the guys battling it out are together, and not at any advantage or disadvantage because they are starting 15 minutes after the first rider on the test?

 For example at the Knighton I started 10 or 15 minutes behind the first guy, by the time the first guys had left the test, it started raining, and I had a wet slower test, so your bolloxed before u start. Anyway I just think they should modernise it and make it a little better for riders, and spectators, the Dyfi was great in my opinion.

 Not much else happening, went to California last week to see Tarah, n help her get ready for racing again after she broke her wrist in the GP in Portugal in April, and now i'll be busy getting sorted for the WEC in greece n france really, looking forward to them on the Kawi, should be fun and hopefully I can stop Aubert, maybe in france anyway.

 On a different note, bought the manx paper on the boat home for a read, and while reading about the tour de france and Mark Cavendish, I read the most disrespectful thing a manx athlete at the top of their sport could read, it says, (Mark's tour de france wins represent the greatest ever achievement by a manx competitor in ANY sport),What the hell do they know! Guess my three world championships, 4 AMA titles and being the first and only british rider ever to win the ISDE ever in its 80 odd year history dosn't count for much, or for instance Dave Molyneux's 14 T.T wins making him joint third all time in T.T wins with Mike Hailwood, and the most successful sidecar driver ever in the T.T. Shows how  single minded and ignorant some people are, and no matter what sport it is, if your at the top at world level at your choosen sport, your at the top, your the limit, cycling, motorsport, swimming, whatever, they are all the same and you have to dedicate your life to it to succeed. The Isle of man has had so many top athletes, and everyone of them had to, or has to, dedicate everything to it to succeed! I just think the journalist is way way out of order! They obviously only know or care about cycling! Anyway have fun, and i'll start getting ready for WEC, again ;)                

Well, unless u have been to the moon or somewhere u will know that I parted ways with BMW, and have now joined Kawasaki europe and the KSRT ( Kawasaki superbike racing team ), which is ran by Paul Bird Motorsport for the rest of 2009 at least.

First of all, i'd like to say thanks to all the guys at BMW, super people and a great team, but unfortunatly, I couldn't get on with the bike, thus I didn't have fun, and we were at a stage where the bike was pretty well developed as far as it can be unless a new bike was designed, so I was very limited to do what I needed too unfortunatly. Anyway the team offered a release, and I took it, its that simple. I always said if i'm not enjoying my riding, i'll stop, riding bikes is my life, and doing it being miserable is not an option for me, not even for any amount of money!

Anyway bought a Kawi, went to Snowshoe, had loads of fun, oh and won the race, perfect! If I'd won and not had fun, then I'd still be miserable!!! ( Also I just want to say, I've read a lot of s**t about shutting up the yanks and I just want to say, the American people were great with me at the Snowshoe, also the past 2 years, I had so so much support and help from so many people, spectators, and industry, it was unbelievable, so thank you to everyone who helped in the USA ).

Arrived home Wednesday, bought and built another Kawi, ( getting good at that ), went to the GBXC, and had a great time, won the race and really enjoyed it. So got everything sorted with Kawasaki , and Birdy and I am really looking forward to it, get back to basics, and have a great bike and some good guys behind me, which I know with this set up, I will have.

Obviously it will take a little time for everything to get rolling, but hopefully we can get on top of everything and carry it over into next year where we should be set up perfect for the WEC. This year, i'll miss Mexico as its next week, but then race the final WEC rounds, British enduro Championship, ISDE, some endurocross, FIM Indoor World Championship, Red Bull Romaniacs and some other races that might come along! Can't wait, Anyway hope to catch up with u all at the races, Cheers, Knighter

Before I start, sorry I havn't got around to answering forum questions, but I am on my way to Spain testing, as the British weather is S##t!

Well the tough one has been and gone, and although i'm dissapointed with a dnf, I am made up with how it was all going, from my riding, to the way the bike felt, and I am certain I could have gone on to an easy win, but thats racing, and me and my mechanic Scotty have learned an important thing that was better to find now, than at the first WEC!

Now I have the 480 engine home, I will get it put in tomorrow, and get crackling on that again, and trust me, we will be good to go!

Sorry 4 dissapointing a lot of people who had travelled a long way yesterday, but thank you all for coming, and showing great support!

Cheers, DK