I wonder whether a parent has any idea of the impact certain gifts carry, when they hand it to their child for the first time. For example, Mr Woods giving young Tiger his first set of clubs or, Mr Waugh asking if his kids wanted to play cricket. I would very much like to ask Jamie Stauffer’s dad, what possessed him to give his five year old son, Jamie, a Yamaha Pee Wee 50. From that humble beginning, the unassuming 23 year old Kurri lad has stormed through to take third place overall in this years Formula Xtreme series.

Formula Xtreme is a very exciting and entertaining form of motorcycle racing, especially if you are watching these thundering 1,000cc monsters from the track wall. You are allowed to wander through the pit area and observe the teams preparing for each race. One thing I like seeing is, starry-eyed youngsters getting autographs from their favourite bike racer. Jamie is always keen to look after his fans, and will go as far as giving away his knee scrapers to some lucky follower. The Bio Magnetics team he and older brother Daniel (overall fourth) race Yamaha R1’s for, only started at the beginning of the season and have put the other teams on notice that they are a force to be reckoned with.

Away from the track and back in the real world, Jamie works as a mechanic for TAG Performance at Kurri.

Jamie’s boss, Ian Taggart says "Jamie can cope with anything in the workshop, nothing seems to phase him, he’s a good all rounder". To show his support, Ian allows Jamie to take time off, with full pay, to pursue his racing career, something I applaud, as it promotes the Hunter and it’s fertility for producing talented youngsters.

Bride of 6 months, Emma, is an active supporter of her husband, attending every meeting possible, and, she is the first to admit that she frets "something chronic" if Jamie has an "off". She’s been involved with motorbikes for a long time and has no illusions of the dangers of racing them. However she says, "Jamie is very talented, more so than he lets on, level headed and not prone to carelessly throwing himself down the road, so I trust him to keep himself in one piece". She adds "mind you, I’m still in tears until I know he’s OK".

Jamie knows that mechanics will be required for as long as we travel by mechanical means, but what does he see for his motorcycle racing future? "I’d like to race World Superbikes, I’d even go to the USA to compete in their series. In 2000 I had a memorable win on an Aprilia 250, at Daytona, as part of the Aprilia challenge, and it got the fire going so to speak".

In his spare time, and you’d be forgiven for thinking he couldn’t possibly have any, he rebuilds motorcycle speedway engines, more than that he unwinds by riding them and anything else on 2 wheels powered by an engine, he’s one seriously addicted biker.

He will admit to one fear though, that for some reason he can’t continue racing, "I have 2 great jobs, and the one I do at the weekends is the best office I can imagine working in, I’d hate to be locked out".

Want to know what this race ace’s favourite bike is? The new Ducati 998, hmm, this boy has taste as well as skill.

May Your Lid Never Skid, Ian Parks

Photograph by Brian Campbell.