How it all Began!
“ I don’t know whether I could hack it or not amongst other riders!, that was the comment that probably started John Burrows race career! It was at Nutts Corner, at a clubmans meeting, where I was racing and John had been down spectating.
I have known John since he raced junior moto cross! We were in conversation about racing, and the idea of him going racing was being talked about. John had already been competitive in Junior moto cross, before trying his hand at go kart racing! After putting the racing aside for a few years, to start up his own business, Burrows Engineering, John wasn’t far away from the sport, as he had purchased a Fireblade for road use!.
So having ridden road bikes, it was pretty obvious, that one day, he might just venture out on the track!
Anyway, with the aforementioned statement, I replied, “ sure I could lend you my bike, and you can judge for your self!”
Two weeks later, John was out on track at Mondello on my bike!
It was a national meeting, and we shared the bike, In the last practice session, John disappeared!, probably run out of fuel , I suspected!
Later John came wheeling the bike back in, all apologetic, he had run of the track at the apex of turn four, and tipped over in the gravel trap!, And then the bike wouldn’t start!, He was really annoyed about this, but, I told him to forget about it, and go racing to morrow!
I decided to let him ride the bike, as I knew he was so keen.
The following week, John had purchased the ex Don Patterson ( Jamies brother) R6 Yamaha, went to Nutts Corner, and finished 4th!.Over the winter, he purchased a superstock bike from Scotlands Iain Campbell with view to contesting the 2002 Clubmans series.
With all the hard work over the winter, and preparations for the opening race, going to plan, John found an electrical problem with the big Suzuki! Hurried phone calls to various teams, but to no avail.
Having known Hugh Murphy, through his own Business (Burrows Engineering), He contacted Hugh, and lo and behold, Hugh had the part that he needed!, it was only a matter of going down, remove the required part, and go racing! A few hrs later, Hugh phoned back, and asked John, why not take a good bike for the weekend! (HM Motorhomes machine).So come race day, and John was on cloud nine, with this extra bike.
 He certainly didn’t let anyone down, a double in the 600 and 1010 clubman races, before going on to take the feature race of the day, the NK Coatings Invitation race, making it 5 wins from 5 starts, and for good measure, fastest laps in each race!
Continued success throughout the year, cumulinated in John winning both 600 and 1010 clubmans championships. He became only the 5th rider to do so, the other being; John Creith, Davy Morgan to name but a few.
John also took part in his first ever road race, the Cookstown 100, despite leading on the road, he was pipped for the win by Paul Earney on corrected time!, nevertheless a stirling performance for the road race newcomer Following year 2003 John teamed up with Hugh Murphy, along with Alex Donaldson.
John won his first road race when he romped to an easy win in the 400 support class at Cookstown.
 John also made his Manx Grand Prix debut, on board Winston McAdoos 750 Kawasaki, where he finished 4th in the newcomers race, before going on to take 21st in the Junior, and 17th in Senior.
2004
For the 04 season, John decided to run his own team, with backing from Kelso Car sales and Kronos Hi Fi.
He had a good start to the season, when he won both B races in the Open class at the Cookstown 100!, John went on to what you could describe as a learning year on the road circuits.
Stephen Ferguson, one of our top ex road racers, gave John a helping hand, acting as mentor at each circuit visited. This partnership led to John getting to ride the ex John McGuinness TT winning IFS 600 Yamaha at the MGP.
John had a good Manx by his standards, finishing in 5th place in the junior, following a great scrap with his friends and arch rivals, Kenny McCrea and Laim Quinn.
In the senior, John took 6th spot on his own 750 suzuki
For the 2005 season, John was back in the HM Motorhomes race team, with basically the same deal as he had in previous yrs, only difference being, that John worked at the bikes from his own workshop.
Johns learning year on the roads was beginning to pay off, as he was a model of consistency throughout the year, which ended with him taking a well deserved 3rd in the 600 Irish Road Race Championship!
At the MGP, John achieved a personal ambition, and that was to stand on the Podium!, 3rd spot in the junior race and 5th in the Senior, led to John receiving a few very tempting offers from Top MGP Race Teams, however after a lot of thought, John turned them all down!, as he was more than happy with his current set up with Hugh Murphy, and with this decided to make the step up to the TT proper.
2006
 What a start to the 06 season, Fighting up front with the big boys at Cookstown, missed out on a win, but nevertheless, was declared Man of the Meeting at his local circuit.
At the IOM TT debut , John achieved another personal ambition, and that was to lap the famous mountain circuit at over 120 mph!, this he did, and with top 20 placings, John got his first silver replica at the TT, as well as 2 bronze reps, in the Senior, he was on for a top 15 placing, when his bike expired.
Back home again, and John continued to roll in the results, at the inaugrural Bush Road Race meeting, where John is one of the club workers, John qualified on Pole, however a spill on lap 2, when he caught his knee on the banking, resulting in him been thrown off his machine, thankfully, he was ok, bit sore, but fit enough to go out in the next race, the 250 class, and set the fastest lap!. He led the feature race, but admitted that he was too sore, and had to settle for 3rd.
John ended the season just as he started, by taking the Man of the Meeting award at the inaugrural Boyne Road races.
2007
Armed with the latest models from Honda, John was eagerly looking forward to the 07 season, a winter of hard work, getting bikes prepared etc, John took in an early season meeting at Croft, where he scored two podium placings. This was despite severe handling problems, something that needed addressed pretty quickly indeed.
Back home again, and John took in the big Easter Monday meeting at Kirkistown to try and iron out his handling problems.
Unfortunately for John, he had a massive highside during the 600 practice, resulting in a dislocated shoulder!.
Despite the agony, John returned to the race scene at his local road race, the Cooksown 100, where last year he was Man of the Meeting, and was so eagerly looking forward to in 07.
He retired from the 250 race when dicing for 3rd with a seized engine, and done a few laps on the 600 just to see how the bike was going.
Since then, John has decided to give both the Tandragee and North West 200 both a miss, in order to be race fit for his favourite race, the IOM TT.
He has been receiving physiotherpary from Fiona Gilliand, race fans will probably recall that Fiona played a big part in helping Robert Dunlop get back to fitness for the TT following his crash at the NW200 in 1999.
Words ; Baylon McCaughey |
