Where there’s a will there’s a way

It took six of us to get Mark onto the race track. Three to hold the bike, one to put it in gear, one to strap his legs in and another to ride behind, but between us we helped a paralyzed man ride his Ducati again.

Mark Brereton became paralyzed four years ago when he crashed at Barber Motorsports Park while practicing for an AMA race. The doctors believed Mark would never walk again but this past weekend Mark defied all the odds and not only walked but rode his Ducati 748 around Barber for three 20-minute track sessions with Sportbike Track Time.

The 38 year-old gained limited use of his legs two years ago and is able to stand and walk short distances with the aid of a walker. With this limited ability Mark approached Ducshop to add a thumb shifter to his 748 so he could shift gears and finish the lap he thought he would never be able to.

Mark Sutton worked tirelessly to have the bike finished for the SBTT weekend and all of Ducshop’s regular track day-goers were on hand to help get Mark onto the track to ride.

It was a harrowing first session but with much pride and jubilation, and to the cheers and tears of his family and friends, Mark Brereton rode his Ducati again.

Mark has quite a list of people to thank: Richard Harris and all the crew at Sportbike Track Time for sponsoring his track time. Brian Van of SportbikeTrackGear.com for decking him out with leathers, back protector and gloves. TJ at ridersdiscount.com for the boots. Pirelli provided his tires and Lee McCurdy donated a Baxley stand. Neil Hodgson for donating the helmet and Mark’s wife Sam, daughter Olivia and son Devin for all their support and frayed nerves.

Mark would also like to thank all the Ducshop people who helped him on the day, including Sean Massey, Peter Runyon, Cliff Clarke and Lewis and Trudy Guthrie. But most of all he’d like to extend a big thank you to Mark Sutton for preparing his bike to ride.