Dom Herbertson: Like Father, Like Son

Whilst tree surgeons, podcasters and TT racers may not seem to have a lot in common, playing all three is the reality of life for the latest guest on the TT Podcast, Dom Herbertson, who joins Chris Pritchard and Steve Plater this week.

Alongside recovering from his crash during the Senior at this year’s TT, the Hexham born lad is also post eye-operation after a chainsaw incident at work and gives the story of both events on the podcast, admitting that he doesn’t remember much from the crash and blanked out till he woke up in the hospital.

Being one of a racing family, Dom also gets into what it’s like to share the passion for the TT with his father Mark and talks about how it’s rare to have the sort of connection they have about racing that’s only possible between people who know what it’s like to be out on the Mountain Course, much to the concern of his poor mother.

Proudly coming from a working class background, the racer talks about starting an apprenticeship as a tree surgeon to fund his racing dreams and the struggle he faced to finally get into a race meeting at the age of 21, despite buying his first bike at 17. The childhood desire to race around the Mountain Course also led Dom to end up taking on the Manx Grand Prix as his first ever road race, setting off down Bray Hill for his first start on the road.

Getting candid about his slower than desired start on the world famous road course, Dom touches on the concern he felt waiting for his dad to see his name at the bottom of the lap times sheet and the pride that he felt after finishing his first race at the TT, even if it was in 64th.

As a huge racing fan himself, and an experienced host, the interview often turns toward the podcast’s own Steve Plater as Dom presses him for tips on how to get into a factory team, what it’s like to retire from such a competitive arena, whether you ever lose the desire to get out racing on an engine and how he thinks he would’ve stacked up against some of today’s top riders. The trio also discuss some of the big talking points from this year’s TT including why some racers ended up with slower lap times, the difference between factory teams and individuals and the expenses that come from wanting to race at such an elite level.

Finally, Chris takes the chance of having Dom on the other end of an interview to grill him on how he got his own hugely successful podcast, Chasin the Racin, started with friend Chrissy Rouse and who some of his best, and worst, guests have been.

Listen now to Like Father, Like Son (Part One)

Listen now to Pushing for 130 (Part Two)

You can either watch the full Podcast by subscribing for free to TT+ or listen to The TT Podcast through your favourite podcast provider.