You could understand why Terry Rymer retired at 32 years of age from racing motorcycles professionally. By that point in his career, he'd won dozens of races, the British Superbike Championship, the Endurance World Championship (twice), the European Superbike Championship, races in the Superbike World Championship, the 24 hour races at Le Mans, Spa and the Bol d'Or.
Seventeen years on, he found himself wedged into the British Superbike paddock, manager of the JG Speedfit Kawasaki squad that fielded ex-Superbike World Championship star Leon Haslam and BSB star James Ellison. It's hard to imagine that Rymer wasn't getting his fill of racing.
But Rymer also was a consultant for a company that was expanding its motorcycle tire sales business in the south of England. And he had a very, very trick modern vintage Yamaha OW01 in the garage. And a racing series in the country known at Thundersport GB - roughly akin to the WERA or CCS/ASRA series in the U.S. - had a class known as the Dymag Golden Era Superbike class that the bike was legal for.
So last summer, after years of not racing, Rymer shrugged on a set of leathers and gridded up when Thundersport visited Donington Park.
The races can be seen on YouTube at the Thundersport channel. The greatest thing about them is to watch Rymer slowly get back into the racing groove. At first, he's hesitant. Then, as he sees the opportunity for a win arise, he starts pushing harder and harder. On the first televised race, he's clearly chosen the wrong tire, which gives up on him three laps from the end, yet he still manages to push it across the line first.
The post-race interview is spectacular. Rymer talks about losing the front and saving it on his knee, losing the rear, not even remembering where he made the first pass for the lead. He was riding hard, really hard for a 49-year-old, really, really hard for a 49-year-old with absolutely nothing to prove to anyone. The phrase "World Champion" is pretty much all the street cred anyone needs. Rymer's nailed that twice.
But it's a reminder that once the green flag drops, it's not about how old you are or what you did. It's about racing, and getting to the checkered flag first. And that talent that got you the title of "World Champion" is like a drug, sitting there on a shelf, and the presence of a track, a race and a bike is enough to make anyone do whatever it takes to get one more hit of that.
In a meaningless club race, Rymer, a man with nothing to prove, still went all in for the win. Makes you wonder if racing is somehow genetic ...
