There are moments in life when you suddenly find yourself thinking about what you are doing, which path you are taking. And a crash, for a rider, can well be one of those moments. For Michael Sweeney this happened in 2015, after a very bad crash at the Isle of Man TT. Then, the buzz and the lure of road racing had the best again.
Sweeney on the MJR BMW at the Tandragee 100 (ph: Diego Mola)
The Irishman is without any doubt one of the brightest talent of the National Road Races in the last few years. And it couldn’t have been otherwise, having grown up in Skerries, where the famous road race is held every year since 1946.
After some years of Irish Road Racing, “Micko” stepped up to the Manx Grand Prix on the Isle of Man and in 2010 he won the Junior MGP Race, repeating the victory in the same class in 2013 as well. The following year saw his debut at the TT with an amazing 18th place in the Senior Race, achieving six replicas out of six starts; that was the icing on the cake of an all round brilliant season with podiums at every National meeting, the final 2nd place in the Irish Superbike Championship, the 1st place in the 250cc Irish Championship and the Macau GP debut.
On the other hand, 2015 was a year to forget: during the second Supersport Race at the TT, Sweeney suffered a crash at the Ramsey Hairpin; he was instantly transferred to Nobles Hospital in Douglas with various fractures and internal injuries which ruled him out for several months.
His bright looking bikes parked in the shed, though, were far too much for Micko, who was already back racing in September in his other home race of Killalane, with Macau following later in the year. Still on the road to recovery, Sweeney focused on 2016 season, which saw him competing also in the Classic TT onboard the Laycock Racing TZ250 Yamaha.
We met Micko in Cookstown just after the first day of practice and racing, when his amazing third place in the main Superbike Race was yet to be. He invited us for this chat on his camper van, clean and tidy just like the bikes of his private team: the Martin Jones Racing BMW Superstock, the JWM Yamaha Supersport and the Kiely Heating Kawasaki Supertwin.
Micko Sweeney on the podium in Cookstown (ph: Baylon McCaughey)
Micko, how is this start of the season going so far?
Last week we started steady enough at Tandragee, but I slipped off the 600cc, I had a bit of a crash. Then we came here, did the qualifying today and I’m second on the Supertwin, fourth on the Superbike and I think sixth on the Supersport. In the first race today we had a problem with the bike, I’m going to get it tomorrow in the morning at the Dyno and see if they can find the problem and hopefully we will get it sorted for tomorrow.
Do you think these first National Road Races are just a preparation for the TT or do you give your 100% as well?
All the National Road Races we do, Tandragee, Cookstown, North West are just to get ready for the TT. After the TT we come back to Ireland and we have Skerries, Walderstown, Armoy, Faugheen, Ulster Grand Prix, back to the Isle of Man to do the Classic TT, back from the Classic TT then we have Killalane, finished Killalane and then we have Macau. It’s just a non stop season for us all!
You’re not a professional racer, what is your everyday job?
I drive a truck when I’m not riding. Basically I probably work about 6-7 months a year because most of the time I’m away for 3 weeks here, I’m away for 2 weeks there, then I’m away testing. We have a busy busy schedule! As soon as the racing season starts everything is towards racing.
What kind of training do you do for the racing season?
I do a little bit of gym, not much because to be honest I’m not interested in going to the bloody gym. I go the odd times. I do a lot of running, a bit of motocross. That’s all I do over the winter time.
Have you always been into road racing or did you try short circuits as well?
No, I do a little bit of short circuit at the start of the season. I live in Skerries, where the road races is, so I’ve been going to Skerries looking at motorbikes for a long time. I’ve been going up watching Skerries for probably all my life. We just got into it and in 2006 I started; I got a bike and we did a bit and in 2007 I was on the roads and I’ve never looked back since then.
So you’re born and bred into road racing!
Basically yes, we had a hero in Martin Finnegan who was a very good friend of mine, he lived 3-4 minutes up the road from me. We looked up to him a lot because he was the local hero, he was the man at the time, and he still is. There is probably no one really of his caliber. That was it, basically, just racing all the time. I literally live a few minutes from the Hairpin in Skerries, you’d walk from my house to the Hairpin. Skerries has been run for about a hundred years or whatever. So we’ve been into motorbikes a lot.
Micko on the 600cc JWM in Tandragee (ph: Chris Usal)
You have a very good package for this year with a BMW, a Yamaha and a Kawasaki. Are you going to ride in the TT Zero class on the Isle of Man, too?
I don’t know yet, I don’t know. When I rode it Daley Mathison got injuried and the guys came to me a couple of days before asking if I would ride the bike, so I did. We’re talking with a couple of people whose electric bike I could possibly be on at the TT. It’s still not done yet but there is an entry there for me if I want to do it. We’re just talking at the minute. Other than that we have Superbike, Superstock, Supertwin, 600, we are busy enough as it is.
What about the small 250cc you rode for John Burrows?
After we won the Irish Championship in 2015 he told me “I’m hanging the bike up” so if you go to his place tomorrow night you’ll see he has my bike all set up and my leathers. John just wanted to kind of retiring the bike and I think it was the first Irish Championship the bike won and I won on it, so it still has my number on. John is very good to me, like last weekend we had a problem on the Supertwin, he gave me his spare bike and then he offered it to me this week as well but I’ve got mine back working. I like working with John!
Let’s talk about your crash at the TT in 2015. Did you have any repercussion or did you start thinking more deeply about what to do after that?
Yeah, basically my crash at the TT was a fault with the bike. I crashed at the Hairpin and I broke my back, I broke 5 bones in my back, I broke a bone in my foot, I damaged my shoulders as well, I damaged my kidney, it was nearly pushed out here. I was lying in the hospital and I was actually 5 months at home. I couldn’t sleep in my bed, I had to sleep on a bloody chair because I couldn’t lie down. And then I said “I’ve enough of this, I’m not doing anymore”. But then I got better, I was getting better and better and in September I raced the Superbike in Killalane even if I was still under painkillers and then I went to Macau. I still was not fully recovered, I still struggled a little bit lifting my back and stuff. I did think about packing it in but then I got better and the buzz came back, I wanted to ride a bike again and I just carried on from there. It was probably the slowest crash I’ve ever had but the most damaging one. I’ve never done one like that and I never want to do it again. But you know, it’s just in this game, isn’t it?
Thanks a lot Micko and all the best!
