Next weekend, the Steve Hislop Knockhill Round will feature a special tribute to Hawick star Hislop who achieved a couple of victories around Knockhill before he sadly lost his life in a helicopter crash in 2003.
To mark the tenth anniversary of his tragic passing, Knockhill has decided to pay homage to the 11 times TT winner and triple British champion with a special tribute over the weekend.
Steve’s achievements are to be honoured by two other Flying Scots, Niall Mackenzie and Stuart Easton, who will be central to the celebrations in a special lap on race day. Jamie Whitham, another teammate to Mackenzie in that title winning era and one of Hizzy’s great friends and rivals, will also take to the track on a Cadbury’s Boost Yamaha.
Mackenzie had Hislop as his teammate and title rival during the 1998 season, the year in which he completed a hat-trick of BSB championships. He will take to the track aboard one of the Cadbury’s Boost Yamahas they raced back then when Hislop took third place in the overall rankings. Niall said, “I didn’t know him well until we became teammates and even then we never really gelled. I guess I saw him as a threat because I knew how good he was. I only realised after I stopped racing that he brought out the best in me as a rider. He was an amazing rider and I always had a lot of respect for him.”
Stuart Easton will be riding a replica of the 2002 season MonsterMob Ducati which took Hislop to eight victories and his second crown.
Hislop protégé Stuart won the British Supersport Championship in 2002, the same year Hislop secured his second British Superbike title. Stuart said, “He always came across and took an interest in me because we come from the same town so he had heard about me. In 2001 we became teammates, then in 2002 we both won the championships. It was a bit of a fairy tale year, two guys from the same small town, riding for the same team and winning the two highest classes in British motorcycle racing.”
The three bikes will be on display together with the actual championship winning MonsterMob Ducati, owned and kindly loaned by Steve’s former team boss Paul Bird. Courtesy of the Hizzy Museum in Hawick there will be a selection of leathers, helmets, photos and other memorabilia on show in the Tribute Room in the Clubhouse in the main paddock. All items will be on display on Superbike Sunday 16th only. A special commemorative programme is also being produced with a biographical feature of Steve Hislop the man and racer.
On track, the riders battling for victories in the MCE BSB races will also be chasing an additional piece of silverware. Known as ‘The Flying Haggis’ Trophy and inaugurated in 2004 by Steve’s mother Margaret, it will be presented to the rider setting the fastest lap out of the two races.
The Knockhill team are indebted to the Hislop family and friends and the Curator of the Hawick Museum for releasing items for this special tribute. We would also like to thank Niall, Jamie and Stuart for their participation in the parade.