I can remember the day well. April 9th 1989. It was the first ever Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix. I was a young lad and my Dad sat me down on that Sunday and told me to watch. Maybe I’d like it, he’d said. Well 19 years on and I’ve not missed a GP since and when you factor in various superbike and supersport championships, I’ve probably seen over 1000 motorcycle races in my time.
With that in mind, I’d have to say the best return, or at least the one that makes me smile the most, was last year in the Japanese GP. In a flag-to-flag wet / dry race and out of contention, Loris Capirossi sussed the situation and picked the perfect time to pit and swap bikes. I saw him hit pit lane around 11th position by himself and got on. He won it by a country mile. It could’ve gone horribly wrong but in that race, it was almost a case of taking the same gamble at the same time as Loris himself.
For the last eight or so years I’ve been a working writer, director and editor, both in fiction and fact, based in London with my wife for the last three of those. My obsession with cinema is rivalled only by that of bikes, with Wayne Gardner the all-time hero. The first of many GPs I would attend in person was the 1990 Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island, which was to be arguably one of the greatest Grand Prixes of all time. Dozens of lead changes in a four way battle for the win between four guys that would end their careers with a combined total of 10 world titles, Schwantz’s massive highside three laps from home and Gardner holding on for the win with a broken wrist and the bike falling to bits around him. If Betfair had’ve been around then you wouldn’t have known where to put your money. And that, my dear readers, is part of the reason you can’t beat a good bike race.
