James Whitham

James Whitham, probably one of the most popular and likeable characters in bike racing today, has announced his retirement for medical reasons.

Happily this is nothing to do with the cancer that took him out of racing for a while in 1995 but is, instead, an eye condition which makes him feel that he will no longer be able to compete at 100% - something that his legion of fans will instantly understand would be totally unacceptable to someone as committed as Whitham.

36 year old Whitham, who has recently become a father, has a long and glorious career in racing, albeit one punctuated by injury and illness. As well as the cancer which took hime out of the British Superbike Championship in 1995 he broke both his legs at the Ulster GP in 1989 and broke his pelvis at the Czech GP in 1999. Despite these setbacks he has proven again and again that he is worthy of the recognition he has received, both as a rider and as a man. He has always raced hard, taking the 1996 British Superbike Championship right to the last race where he was just beaten by team-mate (and triple winner) Niall MacKenzie as well as finishing 8th twice in the World Superbike Championship on the barely competitive Suzuki.

It is likely that Whitham will be joining one of the commentary teams for British Superbikes as well as regularly appearing in various magazines. Whatever he decides to do, though, we wish him and his family well.