Shane Byrne
them together because they were
open and the vertebrae are bolted on,
so my back is done. That’s not going
to be a problem.
The complication is that my neck
wasn’t great when I was last there.
Obviously in the five weeks I’ve had
a lot of treatment: in the hyperbaric
chamber, laser and magnetic field
therapy - everything I can possibly do
to help, I’ve been doing. So there is
absolutely no chance that I can have
any regrets when I see the Doctor on
Tuesday and think “s**t, why didn’t
I do this or that, why didn’t I just
make a bit more of an effort”. I’ve
worked really, really hard to do the
best job I can so that when I see him
on Tuesday, he can say it’s fine or it’s
not! I just don’t know which way it will
go at the minute.
If the news is good, and you regain
full range of movement in your
neck again do you want to come
back to racing bikes again?
Yeah. One hundred percent. I don’t
feel ready to stop! You know how life
is… I didn’t go to Snetterton thinking
I’m going to retire at the end of this
year. I went to Snetterton thinking
let’s make it ten or twelve wins rather
than eight or ten. I was thinking let’s
try and make it three Championships
on the bounce. Let’s wait for the new
V4 from Ducati, maybe do a year on
that and see how it goes - take a view
on it at the end of that year.
I feel that there is a lot more racing
left in me - it’s just that there won’t be
any left in me if I can only be 99.9%.
The crash was really close to the
mark, and one of the problems at the
moment is that the top bone in my
neck is open at the front, so it’s not
like a complete circle. Which in itself
isn’t a massive problem, but the back
of it was broken away too - where it
is broken at the back is exactly where
your spinal cord is.
At the moment, my surgeon is telling
me had he just taken everything off
and just gone with it, you only need
to have a little crash - and sort of
bang your head on the floor – and
there is nothing to stop the bone
cutting through the spinal cord. And
obviously you know what that means.
If that is still the case on Tuesday and
he says to me that it’s not going to
get any better, then obviously I can’t
carry on racing. I’ve got a wife and
two young kids, I’m not willing to take
that risk. But at the same time, if he
tells me, “you know, what it’s going to
be as strong as ever, it might even be
stronger” - as you know what bones
are like once they have calcified
- then maybe we can think about
getting some tests done at the end of
the season. You know, seeing what
the craic is.
You have had an incredibly
successful career, especially in the
UK. Is there anything you feel you
missed out on? Not getting that
factory shot at a WSBK title that
many of your peers got, does that
irritate you?
Do you know what, that is my one
- not regret because then you are
talking like your career is over - but
all I’ve ever wanted to be was a World
Champion, from the word go. And I
believe if you are not aspiring to be
that World Champion, there is no
point in putting your crash helmet
on; you may as well just go and do a
normal job.
I think that maybe this year, if this
accident hadn’t happened, maybe we
could have fought for another title,
and maybe the V4 would have been
great next year and we could have
fought for another one. But it wouldn’t
have mattered if it was another 15
titles, because I only wanted to be
a World Champion, you know? And
you can’t swap. It’s not like you can
go and trade three British titles for a
World one. I do wonder sometimes
why didn’t it happen, you know!
Have you given any thought
to what you would do should
the neck injury be too severe
to continue racing? Would you
want to continue a role inside the
Motorcycling industry?
I guess yes, but I haven’t. By that I
mean I guess I’d want to be in the
industry but I’m not ready to stop.
I can’t let those thoughts enter my
head at the moment. u