John Price eyeing another formidable year on the bike

Price, 48, decided to give club racing a whirl more out of love for two-wheeled motorsport than anything else.

But his talent soon came to fore as he began winning races regularly in his first year and then blew away all his competition in 2016.

Price, born in Shrewsbury but now living in Church Stretton, will also be tackling a road race for the first time his year as he looks to claim his national licence.

"I'll be racing three Kawasaki ZXR 400s," he said.

"I'll be defending my titles in the Forgotten Era and Formula 400 Supersport.

"That's the in the Wirral 100 and the Crewe and South Cheshire Club Championships, raced at Tonfanau.

"I am also hoping to race at Aberdare, which will be my first road race and will help towards me obtaining my full racing licence, moving up from club racing."

Price entered the Forgotten Era and Formula 400 Supersport in two championships last year – the Wirral 100 and Tonfanau – building on his surprise early success, and went on to claim his four titles at a bit of a canter.

He topped off a fantastic year's racing in 2016 by winning the 500cc Allcomers and Forgotten Era classes at the Wirral 100.

He also claimed the Kelvin Beckett Memorial Trophy for the greatest distance between first and second place during a race.

The most significant change to his 2017 calendar will be the Aberdare road race, a picturesque and demanding 0.9-mile circuit that winds its way through trees in the local town park, 30-miles north west of Cardiff.

The race attracts the likes of road racing and TT regulars Peter Hickman and Dan Cooper, with greats such as John McGuinness often watching from the sidelines.

Last year, Australian star David Johnson also entertained fans with a number of parade laps on board his TT Norton.

But Price said far from getting carried away he was simply seeing how he would take to the roads, while balancing his work and home life with his new found passion for winning races.

"This is only my third season racing," he said. "Last year I won four trophies, as well as the Kelvin Beckett Memorial Trophy award for the greatest distance between first and second place during a race.

"It think it was about 20 seconds. It was a wet race at Tonfanau – but I'm pretty good in the wet. I'm 48 years-old but I ended up beating a lot of the younger lads.

"I wasn't expecting anything when I started and this year I'm just planning to get faster.

"I want to try the road race in Aberdare just to see what happens really. I'm taking everything step by step.

"I need to keep everything in perspective at work and at home for family life."