Review: Foggy and Whits in Telford
Carl Fogarty and James Whitham are two of the world's best known racers and commentators in motorsport – but there's a lot more to their friendship and racing career than meets the eye.
On stage at The Place, in Oakengates, they just appear like two normal northern blokes who share a love of the simple life, until they start reminiscing about a life of racing motorbikes.
The first time they met was at the Manx GP during the early 1980s, when Carl admits to racing "a madman" for the first time.
The course is known as one the world's most dangerous road circuits but it didn't stop the pair having a go at each other during their teenage years.
It's a procedure they pair keep coming back to again and again – Foggy going on to win races while Whitham ends up in the gravel – but of course there was much more to each rider's careers than that.
Foggy, who went on to win four World Superbike Champions and an Isle of Man TT race, and Whitham, who had two British Superbike Championships and three third placed TT finishes, recall their careers in a style that only racers can on stage.
It's quick, funny and all over the place, but most importantly it's very entertaining. Whether it's Whitham recalling how he "borrowed" a Suzuki sportsbike for a race and promised to return it with two new tyres, only for the bikes to end in a pyramid of parts – with two new tyres – after he'd crashed in Scarborough breaking several bones in his body.
Or if it's Foggy recalling one his most famous battles, when he raced Steve Hislop at the TT, which he narrowly lost – a race that has been voted the best over the famous mountain course by spectators.
The pair continued to bounce off each other throughout the show and it made for a thoroughly entertaining evening.
The Foggy and Whit: Givin' It Gas Tour is a laugh-a-minute one all motorbike fans should try to catch during its six-day tour.
The riders also helped to raise a fantastic £1,900 for the Shropshire and Staffordshire Blood Bikes charity during the evening, by raffling off prizes and merchandise.
