STEVE PLATER
He’s not the first bloke you think of as being one of the most level-headed in the TT paddock, but the truth of matter is that Steve Plater is as sharp a roads rider as you could hope to find. Winning your first TT race in your second ever year of racing at the Island kind of underlines that, don’t you think?
Last year was something of a watershed for Steve Plater.
The easy-going source of a cacophony of laughter in the paddock achieved something he thought would take a long time to do. He won his first TT, standing on top of the podium in the first Supersport outing of 2008.
Now that is a great achievement, no matter which way you slice it. Any rider winning a race on the world’s toughest road race circuit is someone to take serious note of, but few have ever made the grade in such a short period of time.
OK, so there are some who say that Steve only won the race because of a disqualification – but that’s just nonsense. You don’t get to be that high up the running order without having the skills to be a race winner. There may be an element of good luck, or fate, needed for every win but you’ve got to be fast enough to get up there.
Steve made an astonishing leap from nervous first-timer to race winner in just two competitive visits to the Island. And while he might now be the owner of one of the TT Trophy replicas, he does admit to not having the same deep-seated, lifelong urge to race at the TT as some of his rivals.
Island Racer sits down at the kitchen table in the newly refurbished family home Plater has knocked into shape for his ever expanding family of wife Vicky and two children to hear the story of how he got to the stage of being Steve Plater, TT winner.
“I was never a TT fan really before I raced there,” he says – all the time stressing how incredible the other riders who compete there are: “I mean, it was something I was in awe of and had a very high respect for everyone who competed there of course, not just the winners but everyone who goes out to race.
“But it wasn’t anything I just had to do from a young age or anything that like that, you know. I’m not like a John McGuinness or anything like that. He’s wanted to race at the TT forever and was almost brought up on it. I couldn’t even tell you much about the history of the event really.
“Before my racing career started I went to the TT when I was 20 and watched from a few places and was just gobsmacked, as everyone is when they go there for the first time. I used to go to a few GPs abroad with my mates and a couple of mates used to go to the TT. One year I went with them and it was awesome.
“At that point I was thinking about racing, but certainly not on any road circuits. Anyway, I eventually got racing and got interested in road circuits like the NorthWest and Macau.
“During all of that the TT was at the back of my mind as something I would really like to do. But the problem for me was that I just didn’t trust myself to be controlled enough, to change my frame of mind as a racer enough, to be racing at the TT.”
It’s a fair call for a rider to make, only they can be sure of their own state of mind – and more importantly their ability to be calm and serene enough in their approach to really be able to hustle around the Island.
But still the itch wouldn’t go away. Steve might not have realised it at the time, but the niggle had been planted and it would pick away at him for the next few years.
Eventually, with wins in British Superbikes, British Supersport, World Endurance, NorthWest and Macau under his belt, Plater felt the time was about right to give it a go. But choosing his time for that first moment in the fray was as vital as any other part of the preparation.
“First of all I decided that I wanted to go and that the best time to do it would be the centenary year a couple of years back. I thought it would be best because of me having a fairly high profile because of the short circuit racing and my North/West rides and all that, but with it being the centenary year and the pressure on everyone else to perform in that year especially, I figured that I could go and stay in the background a bit.
“I wanted to have a go but to really do my own thing, try and experience it and hopefully enjoy it. By doing it that way, in that year I knew that if I didn’t enjoy it then I could walk away. Either that or I would end up getting a feel for the place and then deciding to pursue trying to win. It seemed like the best option for me.”
He’s clever, this Steve Plater. If it had gone all wrong and he’d decided he didn’t want to know then that first year would have been looked upon as a try-out and nothing more. The centenary year was a rightful distraction for others that Steve managed to use to his fullest advantage.
“Because I’d won at the NorthWest and Macau there would be those people out there expecting me to go out there and push, and they’re welcome to those thoughts of course, but for me I have to put things into perspective – I knew that I might have gone out, done the first two laps, s*** myself and not wanted to pursue it any further at all.
“I didn’t think that would happen but until you do something you never know for sure. The older you get then the wiser you get about the whole industry so I just wanted to make sure I wanted to be there, it doesn’t matter about teams or managers or anything like that – you have to want to be there to be good at the TT.”
It’s probably safe to say that Steve was happy with that first, exploratory outing on the Island a couple of years ago when he scored the Best Newcomer award. It certainly paved the way, set in the mind – if you will – the course of events that would lead him to that fateful first Supersport race last year when he won.
You will read in this publication’s review of 2008 what happened, how Bruce Anstey’s Relentess TAS Suzuki was disqualified from the win because of a non-rule-compliant engine part. You might even read into the events that happened that Steve won because of another rider being taken out of the equation.
That’s a wrong thing to assume. Steve Plater won the race because he was fast and scrapped for every inch of the podium underneath him. He faced his demons and put them to the back of his mind. He won the first Supersport TT race of 2008.
“That result last year was absolutely mega. I’d been there the year before with the centenary of course and that was a great event to be a part of, but last year was just awesome.
“I still went with the same mindset of just keep trying to improve, the first year was the toe in the water and all that and I was very proud of what I’d achieved. But after the first year I had to make the decision about whether to go back or not.
“So I sat and thought about it and reasoned that, to me, I’ve won races at everything I’ve ever competed at – apart from the TT. I’ve won at BSB, BSS, NorthWest, Macau and World Endurance, but not at the TT.
“And I don’t give a f*** what anyone says. The TT is the real deal. That’s why Foggy’s my hero, not because he’s Carl Fogarty but because he’s won at everything from WSB to World Endurance to Macau, to the NorthWest and the TT. He’s done the whole lot. Every discipline of motorcycle racing on short circuits and road circuits, he’s been phenomenal.
“In my opinion, Rossi is the best ever but only at GP level, but he could probably go to the TT and end up struggling, it’s that tough – that’s not criticising him at all though, it’s just what I think.”
That’s Steve though, a straight-talking racer who knows where his own strengths lie. And where those of others do, too. Another facet to that insight is knowing what he’s good at, and more importantly, what types of races and events will really push him.
“I started racing very late in life but I really liked the idea of racing at the TT because I’m good at World Endurance racing, which is a very long race and a completely different frame of mind of racing. It’s a different aspect and different approach to racing on the short circuits where you get your gloves on and gumshield in and it’s time to Rock and Roll.
“The NorthWest and Macau tracks are a little short circuit-ish. The TT is the real deal. So I made the decision to go back to the TT and the only reason to go back was to win. So I thought and thought about it for about six weeks then I thought: ‘Yeah, I want to win one,’ and I knew I was fairly along in my career but I thought that maybe I could go and get a TT win and when I do I’ll retire.”
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