Back in the 1980's hair was worn big, fashion was dubious indeed and the charts were full of lots of people using lines like "You know what I'm sayin'?" In other words, it was just like today in many ways. But it wasn't all bad, as some very forward thinkers, as some very forward thinkers at Yamaha and ITV Sport had a bit of a brainwave.

"I know," someone may have said, "Why don't we get some top end club racers, give them identical bikes and real prize money and then put them on Saturday afternoon TV? Know what I'm sayin'?" And they clearly did know what he was saying, because Yamaha got together with Wrangler Jeans, came up with three dozen identical 350LCs, stumped up a shedload of prize money and called it the Pro-Am series. Some real heroes came out of the resulting televised mayhem, as well as some of the best, most exciting racing ever seen. These people were used to racing hard all weekend for a purse that wouldn't really cover the cost of them being there, running their own bikes and paying all their own bills. And suddenly someone came along and picked up the tab for all of it, even supplying (and mending) the bike. The money was great, of course, but the real carrot was the real possibility that someone would step forward and come up with a proper ride if they saw potential. A sort of Pop Idol for bike racers, I suppose. Niall MacKenzie, three times British Superbike champion, is probably the best known product of the series, but there are many others.

And they've done it again, too. A bunch of keen, fearless young riders from the top end of the club scene have been given their "own" R6, and are slugging it out in the R6 cup. Actually, what happens is they buy the bike and that includes a year's support in the series - mechanics, transport the lot. And because the bikes are all identical and all maintained to the same level, the results are purely down to rider ability and luck. There's no technical advantage to be gained anywhere.

In the spirit of supporting up and coming young riders, we're happy to give one of them a voice here. Calvin Hogan is local to our office, which is handy. He's also a thoroughly nice bloke, works hard during the week and rides hard at the weekend. The fact that he's also rather good is a distinct bonus. He's supported by Visorvision, who host his online diary as well as doing other stuff for him, and we're happy to link to that diary as well.

Please do bear in mind that Calvin is a free agent as well as being a twenty year old bloke. We're not going to make any attempt to censor him or indeed to apply any editorial control at all. He's a nice guy but he's not a saint...

Calvin's diary is here. There'll shortly be a link from the homepage as well. He updates it after every race, as well as when anything happens that may be worthy of comment, so please do visit and show your support. Essentially, if we can demonstrate that he's got plenty of public interest then it'll help him getting sponsored by businesses who can then give him the support all young racers need as he climbs the ladder.

SB He updates it after