In 1996 Daryl Beattie suffered head injuries in an off-season motorcycle testing crash in Malaysia, which led to him competing in only four rounds of the 1997 World Championship.

With persistent injuries and a broken wrist it would be his last year of racing 500cc bikes.

Aged just 27 the sport had taken its toll on his body and at the end of the season he returned to Australia to recuperate and hang out for a while. After two years back in Australia resting and relaxing he was talking to friend and former Ten commentator Leigh Diffey, who encouraged the network to get Daryl down to Phillip Island to be a specialist commentator on the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix in 2000.

Things took off from there. He began to call the 125cc and 250cc bike races for the Network with Greg Rust and the odd 500cc race with Bill Woods while Barry Sheene was in Europe.

Daryl admits that he never dreamed he would have a career in the media as a commentator/reporter when he finished racing motorcycles. "I'm not one to voice my opinion unless I've had a few beers!", he says.

In 2001 he continued to commentate on the bikes and increased his involvement on RPM. Scott Young, Executive Producer of Moto GP, RPM and V8 Superstars, began to use him more on the show talking about bikes, and increasingly on general stories. This work on RPM would later help him get behind the wheel of a V8 Supercar.

In 2002 he joined the V8 Supercar commentary team, reporting at the Adelaide 500 and moving into the more dangerous role, down in pitlane at Indy and New Zealand. His rapid move to V8 pitlane commentary was surrounded by sorrow with friend and fellow commentator Barry Sheene fighting a battle of his own with cancer.

Working in the media, especially television, gives a driver/rider a new perspective. Now with the shoe on the other foot, Daryl has a new respect for the media.

According to Beattie "I didn't mind them when I was racing but there are times when you should and shouldn't be approached. It's a bit annoying when they approach you at clearly the wrong time with stupid questions.

"However, I wish I'd known what I know now as I would have been more approachable and understanding but, there is nothing in a text book that says you should do three years of media school before being allowed to ride a motorcycle!"

Having been on the driver's side he understands how frustrating it can be when something has gone wrong and your whole day is in the toilet.

"There are times when I don't want to run in on them (drivers). But when you have someone yelling in your ear 'get that story, get that story', you might know deep down that it's not the right time to approach, but you have to do it," Beattie says. Fortunately most of the V8 Supercar drivers understand that they are there to do a job and they respect the reporters.

After testing and then racing a V8 Supercar the obvious question is what is the difference between racing bikes on the world stage and running a V8 Supercar? "It's a case of where do you start. There are similarities as they are both motorsport and you need full commitment. As far as technique they are completely different."

From a technical point of view Daryl likened the V8s more to Superbikes as they too are based on production racing (even though they are nothing like what you would buy in a shop), unlike the Moto GP class, which are purely hand-built racing machines.

So, if you're quick on a motorcycle does that speed transfer into a car? "Not really. I don't think I know how to go quick in a car but I think I know how to go half all right.

"To find that extra, I think it's easy to find a time that's respectable and really hard to find a time that's awesome. Finding the second or half a second quicker is the difference between someone good and someone who's all right."

Daryl's earliest media experience came about when he won a motorbike on National Television in 1980 (see panel). That marked the launch of a very successful motorcycle racing career. Next season we hope to see him on the grid for the Konica Series, maybe even with fellow Ten commentator Grant Denyer.

On ya bike Daryl Beattie had possibly the most unconventional beginning to his very successful motorcycle career. Daryl wasn't introduced to bikes through a family member nor had he grown up around anyone who was interested in motorsport. In 1980, aged nine, he won a Suzuki 50 Minibike on a morning TV show for kids on Channel 7 with Jackie McDonald and Agro! In 1986 he had his first experience of road racing, aged 16, at Surfers Paradise. Two years later he competed in the Australian 250 Grand Prix Championship on a Yamaha TZ250, with victory in four of the five rounds. In 1989 he signed with the Honda Racing Corporation. With nine wins from 12 starts on a Honda RS250 he won the championship. In the same year he made his world championship debut riding his Honda in the 250cc Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island where he finished 12th. In 1990 Beattie moved to Japan to race in the All Japan 500cc Championship. In 1992 he won the series and also made his debut in 500cc Grand Prix racing at Eastern Creek substituting for an injured Wayne Gardner on the Rothmans Honda, finishing third. In the same year he won the Suzuka 8 hour partnering fellow Australian Wayne Gardner. His impressive performance in the final two races of the 1992 season saw him join Mick Doohan full time in the Rothmans Honda team in 1993. He won his first 500cc race, the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim. Daryl's most successful year was 1995 riding for Lucky Strike Suzuki when he finished second in the World Championship to Mick Doohan. The 1997 season would be his last; 11 years after the first road race in Surfers Paradise he retired aged 27 after a season dogged by injuries. In such a short career he achieved so much especially considering a machine won in a television contest sparked it. Just shows anything is possible!

On V8 Supercars It all started while Beattie was doing a story for Network Ten's motorsport program, RPM. Paul Morris and his Sirromet Wine team gave Daryl the opportunity to do some laps at Queensland Raceway in their V8 Supercar. Doing a story led to drives at the Queensland 500 and Bathurst. TV again gave Daryl the opportunity to forge a career in a different form of racing. "I have always been interested in cars, I watched them a lot when I lived in Europe," Beattie says. After doing the story and setting some impressive times Paul Morris organised a test for Daryl at Calder Park with Imrie Motorsport. "I went down there and tested. I did the best times and got the opportunity to do the endurance races." Another reason for his selection could have been his association with Ten. "You can't get anything better than TV time, which is what RPM gives you; it gets your name mentioned. "I'm sure that helped a great deal - a lot of the teams realised that if I was to drive with them at Bathurst it would give them that little bit more publicity than they would normally get." So what was his impression of his first race in a car? "Queensland was a great track to do my first race. It's a very basic racetrack with plenty of run-off and it's an easy place to get out of people's way," he says. During the race he partnered Christian D'Agostin; they finished the race 25th after they had tail shaft problems late in the event. And the big one, the Mecca of Australian motorsport: "Bathurst was much more of an eye-opener, it's such a long lap and you don't get many laps in practice. Technically it's a little harder to get a car around Bathurst quickly than it is at Queensland." This race was one that Daryl was excited about. He started the session and did one stint of 31 laps. "I was enjoying it that much you forget how tough it is. When they called me in, it was like, 'you want me in already!'," Beattie says. On lap 85 his teammate Tyler Mecklem had an accident that ended their race. For next season Daryl hopes to raise a budget that will allow him to do the full Konica Series and gain enough experience to have another crack at the endurance races. He will also continue his successful commentary work on Network Ten.