Matt Patterson's early racing career
1991: I started club racing in the Ministock (or Supersport 125) class on an ex James Hayden Yamaha TZR125
Finished 2nd in first ever race at Mallory Park in the first round of the British Clubmans Supersport 125 Championship.
1st trip to hospital in my 2nd race after a big first chicane pile up at Darley Moore
30+ wins throughout season
1991 Ministock Champion
1991. My Yamaha TZR125 'Ministocker' with a few of the trophies won in my first season.
1992/3: Competed in British GP125 Championship on Honda RS125 NF4
Best result, 2nd at Mallory Park, UK Riders Cup National GP125 Championship.
Racing in Asia ARRC and Thai championships
1994/5: Competed in Thai National 250cc Championship on Yamaha TZR250. 2nd position overall. Colin Marshall Castrol Racing Team
1995: Competed in Thai National 250cc Championship on Honda NSR250. 2nd position overall. Colin Marshall Castrol Honda Racing Team
1995/6. Honda NSR250SP. Colin Marshall Castrol Honda Racing Team
1996: Competed in selected races of the Thai National 250cc Championship on Honda NSR250.
Competed in Asia Road Racing 250cc Championship on Honda NSR250. 4th overall. Colin Marshall Castrol Honda Racing Team
1997:Competed in Asia Road Racing 250cc Championship on Yamaha TZR250. 4th overall. Colin Marshall Castrol Racing Team
1997. Relaxing in hospital with a broken hip and various other minor ailments sustained at Johor Barhu, Malaysia
During 1994-1997 I raced professionally for the Colin Marshall Racing Team. Priority #1 was as the team's number one rider, but I was also at the head of the development of the NSR250, NSR150, Nova110 and finally TZR250. We had our own dyno and when the bikes weren't being raced, they were on the dyno trying the latest modifications.
In the majority of races, our NSR250 and 150 were faster than the HRC supported bikes of AP Honda, which caused much chin scratching. We had to finally give up the info on the 150 engine details as we had full Honda support and the bike was theirs, even though we had full control of development. That was a crying shame as their bikes improved after they "borrowed" my engine. The NSR250 however didn't have full support so we were able to hide the engine mods ;-)
Mechanic at HARC pro
1998/9:After a disastrous end to the 1997 season that ended with surgery to piece together a smashed pelvis after a big crash in Malaysia, I went to work with the highly regarded Harc-Pro Racing Team in Tokyo, Japan, as a full time technician for their Honda RS125 NX4 machines, and Chief Technician/test rider for their VTR1000 Firestorm project.
Harc-Pro work at the sharp end of HRC development, so it was a great learning experience. It was also an honour to wield the spanners for Hiroshi Aoyama in the 1999 All Japan 125cc Championship. Hiro was just a young lad then, but went on to become the last 250cc 2 stroke World Champion, on a Honda of course.
Other racing such as Super Motards and trackdays
2000~:
Chief Mechanic/test rider for Colin Marshall Castrol Racing Team in Asia Road Racing 600cc Championship. Preparing/developing Yamaha R6
All Thailand 400cc Champion. Kawasaki ZXR400
2000. On the grid in Pole Position. All Thailand 400cc Championship. Kawasaki ZXR400. With Charlie, my brolly dolly.
Thailand Open Supermoto Champion. Honda CR250 / CR500
Competed in World Endurance Championship - Zhuhai, China. Ducati 999. Team Ducati Hong Kong
Wins in Malaysian Superbike Championship. Team One Performance, Singapore
3rd position in Malaysian Superbike race, Johor Bahru, riding Honda NSR250 F3, Team One Performance, Singapore.
3rd position in Thai Superbike race, Bira Circuit, riding Honda RS250 NX5, Team TYGA.
Testing at Ohlins· TYGA and sponsoring ( SAG moto2/AP Honda/private teams and riders)
Ohlins test rider since 2013. First development program was Honda MSX125 GROM. Since then I have helped to develop many front and rear suspension solutions, including the Kawasaki Ninja 400 rear shock, as used by the first ever female World Champion Ana Carrasco in the World SSP300 class.
I'd like to take this opportunity to thanks a few of the people that helped me throughout my racing career. Apologies if I missed anyone:
Robin Spring - Halton Service Station
Josef Prokopius - EMAT Ignitions/Engine development
Peter Darvill - Darvill Construction
Vince French - Shoei Helmets
Colin Marshall - Team Owner and all round good egg
Castrol Thailand
AP Honda
Mr. Endo - Arai Helmets
Shigeki Honda - Team Harc-Pro
Anour Ramli - One Performance
Emilio Malucci - Gave me the best ZXR400SP anyone could ask for
Shane Stratton - TM Racing Andorra
And of course, as everyone says......my family for putting up with me. I still owe my Dad and brother a shed load of cash for tyres, fuel etc.