INTERVIEW: Former motorcycle racer Steve Parrish speaks ahead of Norden Farm show

Former motorcycle racer Steve Parrish was once told by his teammate and world champion Barry Sheene that if he put as much time in on the bike as he did planning his practical jokes, he might have won more accolades on the track.

Two-time British champion Steve, 62, admits he would have liked to more trophies, but probably not at the expense of having a globe-trotting good time in a career which included getting banned from Macau for ‘blowing up’ a brothel with a firecracker while his fellow racers were inside.

Steve, who has worked as a commentator since retiring from racing, said: “It was an awkward time. I’d only just married, and had to phone my wife saying I’m in prison for blowing up a brothel. That went down like a kidney stone.”

Petrol heads and bike fanatics will no doubt lap-up Steve’s stories, but do not expect much about racing itself. The show, presented by Steve’s daughter Frankie will mostly consist of off-track tales from the ‘halcyon days’ which he says are in complete contrast with modern competitive racing.

Nowadays, Steve who also raced trucks in his career, says you just can’t be a ‘character’ in any sport for fear of being ditched by lucrative sponsors.

Along with the Macau ban, Steve also set fire to a toilet block in Poland, and once pretended to be his teammate Barry Sheene as Barry was too hungover to attempt qualifying.

“I come from an era where PC meant ‘pulling crumpet',” said Steve, who admits he’s gone 42 years without a ‘proper job’.

“We live in a completely different world. Everyone’s got a phone with a camera. Unfortunately, if you blow up something, someone will have it recorded. You can’t have a bit of fun.”

Modern riders, Steve says, are like ‘Olympic athletes’ who are only allowed to eat 'pasta’ and work out every day. In Steve’s time, racing was a weekend job, with Sunday nights and the mid-week reserved for travel and antics.

“I suspect the guys now are living the dream. But I do not see them have as much fun. We went off partying together, even the night before a race we’d sit having a barbecue. There was so much more camaraderie,” he added.

Steve Parrish MAD (My Adolescent Dad) is at Norden Farm on Sunday, February 21.