CHRIS SWALLOW

The loss of Chris Swallow in the Classic TT Senior Race hit so many people so hard. The Wheeler family and the Swallow family have been great friends for 50 years, and Bill and I were deadly rivals on the track when we raced in the same class, but great friends off it. We stayed in each other’s homes and celebrated each other’s successes at trophy presentations.

I chatted to Chris in the paddock the morning of that terrible day and Bill just before the start of the race. To be brutally honest I didn’t know how I was going to be able to write a worthy tribute to the lad, but as I mention in my column, Bill rang me and, in an emotional conversation,