Issue 118 - the Pembury Village Website

PEMBURY PEOPLEJames Webb – A Champion in the MakingMANY OF US might not be aware that wehave a prodigious sporting talent withinour community. The motorsport arena hasalready recognized that fourteen year old JamesWebb is developing into a futurestar on two wheels. Recentexposure on both terrestrial andsatellite television has reflectedthe considerable elevation of thistalented Pembury youngster.It gives me great pleasure tooffer our readers some insightinto James’s awards and whatmakes him a ‘Pembury Person’.It was only a matter of timebefore the young James, and hisbrother Daniel, becameenthused with their fatherJimmy’s passion for motorbikes.Jim had a successful career onthe track behind him and waskeen to support his children’s sportingambitions. He recounts "This was never a caseof me living out my dreams through my kids.The boys were keen from the start and as aparent it was natural to support theirambitions".With a considerable investment of time andmoney and with the ethos that the only placethat ‘success’ comes before ‘work’ is in thedictionary, the Webb family entered James intothe Junior Motocross discipline in 1997.Results soon followed in competition atnational level. As part of the East Kent team hegained a championship 4th place. Moving up tothe 80 class he then finished 6th in anotherchampionship on his Honda. The followingyears saw impressive performances at BrandsHatch, Mallory Park and Silverstone with manytop ten finishes on his Honda GP 125. Thisclass is highly competitive and is televised onfive different television channels. James wasinterviewed on ‘Men and Motors’ on ‘2 Wheels2003’ and further media exposure seems certain.In 2003, as a result of his efforts, James wasselected to be a student of the 16 Auto CycleUnion Academy. Victories followed and Jameswas soon on top of the podium at the BemseeKing of Clubs Championship at Silverstone.At fourteen years old he was not only theyoungest rider ever to win this but also with adouble victory and a club lap record! Inaddition, our young aspirant finished aremarkable 4th in theMotorcycle Racing UnionChampionship competing againstmany British Superbike RS175contenders. As a result of thisimpressive debut James wasrewarded with the ‘MinnieGrenfell Award’ for the mostpromising future rider. It shouldbe noted that previous recipientsof this award included MikeHailwood, Geoff Duke, PhilRead, and Dave Potter – finecompany indeed!The Webb family are keen toexpress gratitude for the supportof our community in James’ssuccess. Local sponsors have included JohnMears, The Royal Oak and AllSigns whocollectively have once again proven thatPembury people are there when it matters.Younger brother Dan is already impressing withhis exploits on two wheels and any extrasponsorship would be welcomed. I am sure thatsome of you might be wondering what mumLibby thinks about all this and she states: “Thisdiscipline is much safer on the race track. Itmight come as a surprise but I am not so happyabout the dangers of riding a bike on the publichighways”. James adds: “I am really grateful forthe incredible support from Pembury and thesurrounding area, not only from sponsors andfriends but also from my school. I aim to keeptrying my best and one day hope to compete inthe World Superbike Championships”.The great Mohammed Ali once said “It’s a lackof faith that makes people afraid of meetingchallenges, and I believe in myself”. JamesWebb appears to have demonstrated belief andfaith when faced with the challenges of hischosen sport. We could have a WorldChampion in the making and on behalf of us allmay I wish him every success.Paul Barrington-King30