Graeme Sinclair trades fishing rods for V8 passenger seat with touring-car youngster
For Gone Fishin’ host Graeme Sinclair, a ride in a V8 has been a bucket list item for a number of years.
The host of one of New Zealand’s longest running and most iconic fishing television shows has lived with multiple sclerosis since 1997, but hasn’t let that slow him down.
“Some years ago I took Greg Murphy out helifishing on Great Barrier Island. That week coincided with the V8 supercars at Pukekohe so Murph offered to take me for a hot lap around the course,” said Sinclair.
However, on the day, officials refused to let Murph take Sinclair for a ride around the circuit, suggesting it would be too dangerous.
“‘What do you think will happen?’ I asked, ‘I’m already in a wheelchair!’”
“Disability is not inability, but those pricks really got under my skin.”
Photo / Matt Smith
Fast forward to more recently, and it was a relationship with Mark Neilson of MWN Civil, the sponsor of Brad Lathrope’s BNT NZ Touring Car class two Ford Falcon that got the wheels in motion for a hot lap in a V8.
“Mark was very enthusiastic about Brad and the idea of getting me in the car at a Pukekohe sponsor day. It was, after all, unfinished business.”
“I also thought it was a nice idea for a Gone Fishin’ episode. So I’ll be taking Brad and his father Gary out to film for one of the upcoming episodes of the show.”
Once in the car with Lathrope alongside, Sinclair says the ride was everything he expected it to be.
Photo / Matt Smith
“Loading me in was a bit of an act and once harnessed up I felt like I was in a straight jacket. Bloody uncomfortable was my first thought but that was totally erased when the accelerator hit the floor.
“It took a lap to get in the groove but my first alarm went off on the first corner. I thought, there is no way this car is going around there!”
“I guess those corners are where you make up vital milliseconds and win races. They also highlight the yawning chasm between being a highway driver and one with skills and reactions appropriate to the race track.”
“I found that I had a stupid grin glued to my face. It stayed there for ages, in fact it was stuck there until my jaw ached a couple of hours later!”
Photo / Matt Smith
For Lathrope, a keen fisherman himself, he was only too happy to assist Sinclair in ticking off another bucket list item.
“I get such a kick out of putting smile on peoples faces and allowing them the opportunity to go in a race car and experience what it’s like,” says Lathrope
“Getting the opportunity to meet Graeme was awesome enough let alone being able to help him achieve the dream he’s had of going in a race car.”
Sinclair says he’s looking forward to taking Brad and his father Gary out in his Surtees Boat, to hook them into some big fish.
“As they say, good thing are worth waiting for! That was a hell of a blast and now it’s my turn to stick a smile on Brad and Gary’s face, not shredding rubber but peeling line!”