Part Two of our special feature on talented Royston rider Luke Mosseey as Layth Yousif paid a visit to the British Superbike rider Luke Mossey at his home in the town to learn more about the star.
Passionate North Herts rider Mossey took time out of his busy schedule to discuss his hopes for next season ahead of testing for 2018 in an exclusive interview.
Last season was a frustrating one for Mossey after an encouraging start but his love of the sport is as strong – if not stronger – than ever as Crow Sport catches him before he jets off for crucial testing in southern Spain.
Despite breaking his back last season brave Luke has thankfully fully recovered and is raring to go.
He said: “We’re off to Jerez in Spain again in two weeks for the first test.
“We’re starting the preparation already and looking at 2018 now with Kawasaki.
“I’ll be in southern Spain, then have Christmas off before heading back Spain again after New Year’s for more testing.
“We’ll come back to England and refresh the bikes to then go back out again in March for two weeks before the first race in April.
“I’ve dedicated my whole life to this. I never went to school much, I just lived for bikes and raced every weekend.”
Luke shows the dedication and discipline all top racers have – in every aspect of their lives.
He’s had a personal trainer for last two years and works on fitness five days a week including a large focus on stamina.
As he says: “You’ve got to be as light as possible but as strong as possible, you don’t want to gain loads of muscle because you don’t want to be heavy.
“The lighter you are on a bike the quicker you’ll be in a straight line.
“I run, cycle and do circuit training. Some weights but light weights, nothing heavy.”
It’s testament to Luke he is still able to move after a horrific 130mph crash which saw him break his back last season.
Thankfully he has fully recovered both physically and mentally as he matter-of-factly talks me what it feels like to come off your bike at a speed faster than a speeding Inter City train.
He recounts dryly: “It was on a good lap. I actually set the fastest time as I was flying through the air past the lap timer.
“They disqualified the lap but it didn’t matter because I couldn’t continue.
“I fell off at 130mph.
“I remember coming down and landing on my bum and facing forwards but starting to come down on my head.
“I knew instantly I’d done something to my back because I felt a tingling in my feet.
“I’ve broken my back before so I knew what it felt like, but I didn’t know the extent of it.”
The old joke is a broken back to a bike rider is like a broken finger to mere mortals, but the gallows humour doesn’t do justice to the reality.
As Luke says: “It’s your vertebrae that come first then it goes to your spinal chord. When you get to your spinal chord that’s when you’re stuffed.
“The medical team at the track did a great job, they took me straight into the medical centre.
“At first we thought it was just one vertebrae that was broken but when we went to the hospital for the MRI scan it turned out that it was four.
“I was just annoyed after the start we’d had. It’s not uncommon to have injury filled years in this sport, it happens to the best in the world.
“I knew instantly the year was gone as soon as the doctor told me it was four vertebrae.”
Luke was transferred to Southampton Hospital from the track at Thruxton but incredibly all he was concerned about was when he would be able to race again.
Luke says: “I wanted to race the week after so I went to see a specialist.
“He said that if I had raced and had the smallest crash I would be paralysed. It’s not even worth thinking about once you hear that.
“If it’s a finger or an arm you can get over or repair that. Once it gets to the spinal chord you’re stuffed – but I had the hump with the doctor because he wouldn’t let me ride.”
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