Gary Hotton on his beloved Ducati motorcycle. Picture: PETER MOURANT (00915321)

Gary Hotton (35) is the motorbike-riding owner of Florida Pools and Spas and a shareholder in a new retail venture based at Five Oaks selling pool products, spas, solar panels and garden furniture. He is also a founder of Bean Touring, organisers of motorcycle track days.

When and where did you pass your test and how many times did you take it?
In a car, I passed my test first time in 1991. On a bike, I passed my 50cc test in 1990, then moved onto a 125cc motorbike which I passed my test on. That enabled me to have a licence for an unlimited cc motorbike one year later. I then had to pass my test for that type of motorcycle. I have never stopped learning and have attended various race schools over the years.

Your first car?
My first car was awesome, – a bright yellow beach buggy which I had for about six years. It had massive 30-inch rear wheels, speakers on the rear wheel arches, air horns, a roll bar and it wheelied in first gear!
My first motorbike was a Yamaha RD50 with a big-bore kit and longer gearing. That meant it flew downhill but came to an abrupt, over-heating mess on any uphill gradient!

Your favourite car?
My VW Beach Buggy.
My favourite bike is the Ducati 749R. It’s beautiful and rare, with full carbon-fibre bodywork, Ohlins suspension front and back, Ohlins steering damper, Brembo brakes, hand-built engine, titanium valves and a sports exhaust system all as standard. No other bike handles like it.

Your worst car?
I owned my far share of wrecks, but those little Suzuki Vans with no bonnet just scare me.
There are no bad bikes. Bikes move the soul, whereas cars move bodies. Riding a bike is all about the feeling – even my overheating Yamaha RD had character.

Your current car?
An Audi Q7, which is totally impractical and too large for Jersey. My wife does not like to fly, so we drive everywhere for our holidays. To transport my family it’s safe, economical, luxurious and full of electrical toys for me to play with!
My current bike is a Ducati Hyper Motard. It possesses the rare quality of looking great – it’s Italian, after all – and it’s comfortable and practical. Plus, in the right conditions it can be very, very naughty!

Your dream car?
The Lamborghini Countache 25th Anniversary QV, in white with Rosa red leather interior. In fact, any Lamborghini – the Miura, Murcielago, Diablo or Reventon. The scissor doors, the V12 engine, the Italian style – a Lamborghini is everything a super car should be, except the Gallardo, which is a pimped-up VW golf.
On the bike side, Beantouring track days were my idea and I ran the organisation for five or six years. In that role, I got to ride well over 200 modern performance bikes in their natural environment of a race track. So you soon learn what separates a good bike from a great bike. I love V-twins, so for me the Britten V-1000 is my dream bike, built by New Zealander Jon Britten in his shed. He had the inspiration to design a bike with no frame, to build a complete V-twin engine from scratch, to locate the rear shock in front of the engine and to make his own carbon-fibre girder forks! If building the bike wasn’t enough, entering the Britten at Daytona and beating the world shows what a talent Jon was. Only ten bikes were made before Jon Britten succumbed to a malignant melanoma aged 45. A real Hollywood story.

Favourite drives?
In the car, any time I drive out of the Island with my family means freedom, good memories and the start of an adventure.
On the bike, I have a total obsession with the Alderney Hill Climb. The course just suits me, very flowing and very fast. The road is maybe five metres wide and I’m registering 130 mph through the timing lights. The whole weekend is a brilliant buzz, really well run with a great relaxed atmosphere – they can’t do enough for the competitors. It’s an annual pilgrimage for my whole family, which makes it extra special for me.

Motorsport interests and heroes?
On the bike, I respect the talents of riders who compete on closed circuits, but for me the road racers have my greatest admiration. I do not have the talent or mental strength to compete in an event like the Isle of Man TT. Those racers are on another planet, because the nature of the courses mean they have no run-off and no second chances. That’s why, locally, I look up to Marcus Bisson. If I see his name on the entry list I know I have to be at the top of my game to even compete. You learn so much from just watching him. Internationally there is only one – Carl Fogarty. He did it all – four times World Superbike Champion, multiple TT winner, setting a TT lap record of almost 123 mph back in 1992! He also competed as a GP rider on the beautiful but handful Cagiva 500 cc Grand Prix bike, with some success. There has been no other rider since to match his record across the different disciplines and I don’t think there will be.

Driving ambitions?
Ever since I was a child I’ve had a burning ambition to compete in a Paris Dakar event. Realistically, to do a 44-second bike run up Bouley Bay would be something special.

Do you think you are a good driver?
In the car, I only required one driving lesson before passing my driving test. I think that tells you the natural skill level of my driving ability. However my wife, Zoë, is a fully trained emergency response driver. She completed an intensive driving course covering controlling a car on skid pans, high-speed manoeuvres through the Welsh valleys, the art of motorway driving, overtaking, cornering, basically everything. She also thinks that the fact that I have only had one driving lesson in my life reflects my driving ability. However, I have a sneaky suspicion that our conclusions are poles apart!
On the bike, I am a very slow road rider, but on track I can more than hold my own. In fact, the wetter the conditions, which place more demands on the rider’s ability, the higher up the field I tend to finish.

What do you always carry with you on long journeys?
Long journeys for me usually mean I’m driving to a racetrack in the south of France or Spain, so I’ll have my Ducati in the back, a case of energy drinks in the cab, a full tank of juice, sunglasses and my iPod on. That means I don’t need to stop for anything for about 600 miles.
A wallet, a phone and a waterproof are all you need for any bike ride.

Who would be your preferred passenger on a long journey?
Family excluded, in the car it would be my best mate Kenton, because I know I’d be laughing from the minute the journey started to the end. And my business partner, Jon. Unlike me, nothing flusters him and he always looks stylish – as we found out on my stag do, he even looks cool when he’s sleeping!
On the bike, nobody. Pillions should be banned from bikes!

What makes you angry when you are driving?
Drivers who will not assist bikers who are trying to filter in by making some space instead of driving directly at us! Why? There are always cars parked on the roads leading into St Aubin and Gorey, yet the traffic still flows freely in both directions at the same time because everybody just moves over a bit. It seems that certain drivers will happily move over to stop scratching their car against a bus but won’t move over to miss smacking into the skin and bone of a bike rider’s elbow or knee – nice!

Have you ever been involved in a crash?
Yes. I wrote my first car off before I even had a licence. It was a £30 VW beetle and I neatly stacked it into a pile of hay bales in our field while practicing handbrake turns!
On the bike, if you play rugby you are going to get tackled – that’s a fact. Motorbike racing is no different. In one season alone I got through three helmets and two sets of leathers! On the road, it’s completely different. I have no intention of having an off, and I ride very defensively. ‘Trust no one’ is my road policy.

What do you listen to when you are driving?
In the car I love music, any music from Guns ‘n’ Roses though to Cold Play, Prodigy and Leona Lewis. I will always have music over TV. I have an awesome album on my iPod at the moment of The Greatest Running Songs Ever, which I play non-stop while I’m training.
On the bike, nothing comes close to the bellow of a Ducati twin on song or the howl from an air box, so I generally stick to just ear plugs on a bike – the fewer distractions, the better.

How could Jersey’s roads be improved?
Get rid of the current road planners! What are they doing? The rest of the world is trying to lower emissions by getting traffic to their destinations as smoothly as possible with the minimal amount of stop–starts. Jersey’s road planners, on the other hand, are flying in the face of this by continually introducing more and more traffic-calming measures. Why? The other day I had to collect a rep from the Airport. I was about to go into the short-stay car park when I spotted a guy standing on his own just past the bus stop. It turned out not to be my rep, so I now had to drive around the taxi island to get back to the short-stay car park entrance, except you can’t do that any more because the route is now blocked. So I had to drive out of the Airport over five speed bumps and two pedestrian crossings until I reached the main road, where I had to go round the roundabout then back over the five speed bumps and the pedestrian crossing to return to the short-stay car park entrance! Absolute madness.

Do you clean your car, and if so, how often?
I own a fleet of 22 vehicles which I have bought myself, so I need my drivers to look after them, and part of that involves regular cleaning. My son, Gus, has been able to work a power wash from the age of two. He has his own overalls and on a Sunday we will wash at least one vehicle together, although I always tend to get soaking wet, much to his delight!
My race bikes are tools which I am going to trust my life with, so regular cleaning is essential as part of the overall preparation of the bike. I always find some small job that requires attention when I clean my bikes – a loose bolt here, a slack chain there. A clean, well-maintained bike gives me confidence, enabling me to go quicker.