Motorsport: Love launches assault on Europe

Sam Love is back home for summer after a busy year living his dream of racing internationally. Photo / Supplied

Bay of Plenty motorcycle rider Sam Love's passion has always been to go fast on two wheels.

The multiple national title winner has been doing just that - racing on some of the finest tracks in Portugal, Spain, Andorra, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, England, Sweden and Norway as part of a motorcycle riding odyssey funded on a shoestring budget.

Love had grown disenchanted with the sport in New Zealand, so sought the advice of fellow Kiwi and former GP500 world championship winner Simon Crafar of Moto Vudu.

"I felt it was all take and no give and that my vast efforts were going unnoticed and unrewarded in New Zealand," he said.

"I contacted Simon ... we talked through a lot of ideas and he shared his knowledge on how it worked in the big lakes of world racing compared to the small pond of racing in New Zealand.

"Simon was very honest and told it how it was - one of the first questions he asked was how much money do you have?

"I very quickly learned the financial cost of living your dream, which was quite an unrealistic sum."

Undeterred, Love moved to Perth and worked every shift he could get for two-and-a-half years before raising the funds, with Crafar's help, to purchase a van and an old Yamaha R6 for his assault on Europe.

"The only thing keeping me going was my dream of one day racing those circuits I had grown up watching at 3am.

"I raced all the big GP circuits I had dreamed of as a boy, and quite successfully, coming within three seconds of world lap records at four major international circuits on a bike that was a far lower spec."

Strong performances at club race meetings led to a role as a rider's assistant on a Moto GP team.

Back home sorting a work visa so he can head to Norway to make good money during the winter, Love plans to raise enough money to help him become a contender in the International Deutschland Masters or Scandinavian Championship next season.

You can follow his progress on Facebook page Sam Love Racing.