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If the previous feature was about building a winning bike,
then perhaps this one is about creating one guaranteed
to lose – but having a helluva lot of fun along the way.
Meet Monsieur Mig and his Voxan extraordinaire.
To lovers of the sound of racing bikes, one device in particular stood out last year. Between the high-pitched howl of the fours and the death-knell scream of the two-strokes, one machine in particular belched pure thunder from its twin chromed exhaust. From the point of view of sheer mechanical music, the Voxan, one of the more improbable race bikes on display, stole the show. So if you were at last year's TT, you know its rider already – by ear, if not by name. Fabrice Miguet was the man who treated us to that glorious cacophony emitted by the French-built V-twin.
When not playing havoc with noise meters, ‘Mig', as he's commonly known, describes his profession not as mere ‘racer' but as ‘Pilote-bringeur', which roughly translates as ‘happy-go-lucky racer'. To him, the distinction is huge. And these days, what puts much of the happy into the racer is his growing love for pure roads action. During preparations for TT 05 the cheery Norman explained in broken English just what attracts him to road racing's Island redoubt in Europe's far North West.
Certainly it wasn't national tradition, at least in any obvious sense, except perhaps the fine Gallic habit of simply being passionately unconventional. For the truth is that no Frenchman has ever won a TT, and off the top of my head I can think of none who've even scored top ten finishes. And, although a French engine powered Rem Fowler's Norton to victory in the twin cylinder class of the very first bike TT, not since 1924 has a French machine even taken part. In that year Peugeot fielded a full works team in a Senior race won by Alec Bennett's Norton. They did moderately well, Gillard placing 11th, Péan 14th while Richard retired. But neither Peugeot nor any other French factory would return to the Island ever again – until Mig and his Voxan trundled off the Ben-my-Chree ferry into Douglas last May.
This year, Mig's back with a new Voxan. ‘Black Magic', described as a cafe racer homage to the Manx Norton, will be even louder and raunchier than last year's machine. Pin back your ears and enjoy the din.
Born in Argentan almost 36 years ago, Mig began racing in 1991 in the infamously mad Coupe Kawasaki series (imagine the old Yamaha Pro-Am series, but without traditional British reserve), making his Isle of Man debut on a ZX-9R in 1999. In the same year he also raced at the Belgian road circuit, Chimay. 2005 will be his fifth TT, and his second on a Voxan. As well as the Kawasaki, he's raced here on a GSX-R750, GSX-R1000 and Yamaha R6. From his first practice lap he realised that the Mountain course was a ‘sensational discovery' – but then he had something of a pedigree regarding mountains, having placed fifth in the uniquely manic French ‘Championship of the Mountains' the previous year.
As well as the TT, he's since raced at circuits as diverse as the North-West 200, Dundrod, the Bol d'Or and even Daytona. But if this gives the impression of a well-heeled, globe-trotting toff, nothing could be further from the truth. Mig, not to put too fine a point on it, is skint. Yet oddly, he more or less likes it that way.
Being French, he has little trouble expressing his life philosophy, summed up as ‘good life, good fortune… and tomorrow can look after itself'. To this you can throw in a dash of rock and roll attitude and, above all, the mantra ‘Just Do It!' The rest of his creed doesn't translate very well, but acute happy-ology is pretty close. “A lot of guys worry too much… some care only about results… that's fine, but you must mainly take pleasure in what you do.” If the philosophy has one obvious drawback, it's that no one's likely to pay you to pursue it, yet on the other hand he pronounces himself ‘too busy to work'. So Mig's racing is financed by what he can scrounge or borrow. His race transporter's an ex-ambulance bought for £700.
So why the Voxan? Mig clearly believes in doing things differently. He loves the roads and is proud, without being overtly jingoistic, of being French. So the notion of racing over the Mountain on the French twin was obvious. “I wanted to race with a French motorcycle,” Mig explained, “with all parts French – the oil, the tyres, the brakes – because the TT is in another country and this makes me proud. And I also want to help the French factory. I know I can make less speed with the Voxan, but it is worthwhile. A lot of French press – and French spectators – are pleased with this. And even Belgians, Germans and Italians.” And British too, judging by the reaction last year.
The idea of racing the twin came to Mig in 2003, but didn't really get rolling until about April last year. “Everything's like that with me,” says Mig. “Easy, but not simple.” The bike itself came though the support of Scratch Moto, a bike shop in Angers, and Emile Ferré, Voxan's commercial director. Scratch boss Michel Hautbois – “I try to put into biking what it gives me; everything” – clearly saw in Mig a kindred spirit and was happy to offer him a bike at cost.
Mig's enthusiasm also enchanted Ferré, who could see no way his small company could otherwise compete on the Island. “Mig pleased me a lot,” he explained. “He is the opposite of politically correct and what he did is great. We couldn't have hoped for better.” As well as facilitating a low price through Scratch Moto, Voxan offered modest help with spare parts.
“The Voxan's really great,” Mig enthuses. “I have great fun on it. It's an easy bike to ride. Of course it lacks horsepower, but not charm. If I treated myself to a well-kitted R1 I could perhaps get into the top ten, but that's not what I'm looking for. I lapped at 20:37 last year [109.8mph], 56 seconds slower than my best lap on the GSX-R1000. But that doesn't matter. Above all, I want to be happy. That's why I race – to do things that make me dream. It's about having fun and getting the most out of it with friends like Tof and Fifi (his mechanics]), who are golden guys, who I can count on 100 per cent.”
ALL THIS AND MORE
IN ISLAND RACER TT05
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