I was covering the final 500 GP held at Eastern Creek and after practice I was in the pits observing the attitudes of the various riders. Abe arrived back at his pit and as soon as he got off his bike he was smothered by at least ten , probably more, cute little Japanese teenage girls who were screaming like he was a pop star, and a bus full of Japanese TV presenters and media. Straight off the bike he gave two or three TV interviews, all smiling and obviously funny going by the hysterical laughter from the Japanese fans and press. I then decided to keep an eye on him for the rest of the weekend and boy was I impressed.
I realised those little Japanese groupies didn't have a hope once I saw his Italian or French girlfriend and when I snapped off a photo of him kissing her in the pits he spotted me, gave me a wink, a big smile and a thumbs up! After the race I went to his pit and even though he didn't figure inthe results he got the most pit attention from the Japanese media (and those little groupies). He even asked me to send him a copy of the kiss shot I had taken earler!
He struck me as being a really nice bloke who was thouroughly enjoying his sport and time in the spotlight so it's so sad to hear of his death. He was far too young and full of passion and talent. In a time when our motor racing champions are becoming less flamboyant and more homogenised, losing a deadset character like Norrick is a tragedy.
