You probably all noticed I was wearing a black arm band over the weekend, well this was because we suffered two sad losses in the family over the previous weekend. Firstly, it was a member of our extended family, Wayne Smith, who was found to have died in his sleep. Wayne was only 41 so this came as a big surprise to everybody. Wayne's father Noel and his late wife Gwen are very close with my mother and father and both Wayne and Noel could often be found visiting at my parents farm, whether it was just for a coffee or to help us tinker around in the garages. Both of them are wonderful with machinery and Wayne did me the great pleasure of restoring my 62 chev Impala for me and recently restored two vintage bikes for me, an old Douglas and an old Triumph.
As if this wasn't already enough of a blow to the family the following night my Uncle and Godfather, Alan Forscutt also died peacefully in his sleep, suffering a heart attack. Alan had been in poor health for a while however seemed to be looking after himself better recently and spending much more time with mum and nan so again, this came as a huge shock. Mum lost her other brother Gordon in a road accident when she was pregnant with me, that's where my middle name comes from, so as you can imagine her and my nan are devastated at the loss.
Both funerals took place last Friday and while we couldn't be there in person, all concerned knew we were there in spirit. I wore the arm band all weekend as a mark of respect for both men and I was very, very proud to have scored my first superpole on the FP1 whilst wearing it. Mum and Nan particularly knew what it meant and I think the pole position and Kalani's mega tv appearance was the morale boost everybody needed. It's times like this when you really hold your family close to you and whilst we may be miles apart we are still all there for each other.
In memory of Alan Forscutt and Wayne Smith.
