Nick Harris

Misano just about ticked all the boxes in that recent Global Fans Survey. Ninety-four per cent of the fans put exciting racing top of their priority list. The MotoGP™ clash and certainly the last lap between Pecco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini would have met that particular criterion. Just three hundredth of one second separated the two Italian Ducati riders at the end of 27 laps. Ninety-one cent of the fans put overtaking and on track action top of their list. I think the Moto2™ race, with perhaps just a few too many crashes and less than half a second separating the first four in another breath-taking Moto3™ race, would have sent most people home satisfied and happy.

Ever since that very first World Championship race at the Isle of Man in 1949 the sport has attracted a very loyal and knowledgeable worldwide following. It has always had that extra edge to it that other motorsports have never been able to understand and match. Its popularity has often reflected in the mood of the World and in many cases provided fans with a glimmer of light in countries suffocated by suppression.

Dovi went on to win three more Grands Prix that season including another dramatic last bend Marquez confrontation in the Motegi rain but just failed to prevent the Spanish rider and Honda from retaining the title. It was similar outcome the next season despite four more wins for Dovi and Ducati but he had paved the way for the Italian factory to take on the Japanese giants.

Thank goodness Dovi won that 125cc World title in 2004 fighting off the likes of Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner. He really would not deserve to be called the nearly man after twice finishing runner-up in the 250cc and three times in the MotoGP™ World Championships. I honestly think Dovi deserved to win at least a couple of those and especially a MotoGP title for Ducati but a certain fit Marc Marquez was around at the time.

So just one World title for Dovi but the facts speak for themselves. This has been a truly incredible record-breaking career when the final curtain drops for Dovi at Misano on Sunday.

The rider from Forli, just up the MotoGP™ mad Adriatic coast from Misano, made a record-breaking 229 consecutive MotoGP™ starts for Honda, Yamaha and Ducati. He made his premier class debut at Qatar in 2008 and never missed a race until the start of the 2021 season. Only his great nemesis Valentino Rossi has made more Grands Prix starts in all classes. Dovi starts his 346^th Grand Prix at Misano on Sunday. It was 16 years and 120 days before his first Grand Prix win and his last. That first came in 2004 in South Africa in the 125cc race at Welkom in South Africa. The last in 2020 in the MotoGP™ race at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Only fellow Italians Rossi and Loris Capirossi have longer Grands Prix-winning careers.

Since the birth of the World Championship in 1949 only four riders have won premier class Grand Prix on three separate makes of machine. Plenty have won Grands Prix or even World titles on two but three is a very exclusive club.

The first two names I thought of were not such a great problem for the old grey matter. Not only did they achieve three wins on different bikes, but one of them also took World titles on two of them. I did work out the next two although the final rider’s name came to me when I woke up in the middle of the night. Neither of them captured the ultimate prize, the 500cc/MotoGP™ World title.

So, let’s start with the obvious two. Not Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo, Giacomo Agostini, Phil Read, or Geoff Duke who all won premier class Grands Prix on two different machines. It was World Champions Mike Hailwood and Eddie Lawson who went one better.

As he did so often it was Hailwood who led the way. In 1961 he won the 500cc Senior TT in the Isle of Man riding the British Norton. Before the end of the season, he had been snatched up by Count Agusta for his MV team and Hailwood rewarded his faith with victory at Monza. Four 500cc World titles and 28 Grands Prix wins followed before Honda signed him to spearhead their 500cc challenge after dominating the smaller classes. Despite winning eight Grands Prix for the Japanese factory Hailwood finished runner-up to former teammate Agostini in 1966/67

The rumours had been rife, but it was 43 years ago to this very day in the Silverstone paddock the revolution became a reality. A revolution that never actually happened but whose very threat brought Grand Prix motorcycle racing out of the dark ages and moulded its very future. A revolution headed by a World Champion and national newspaper journalist that brought the riders just reward for their efforts and saved lives.

World 500cc Champion Kenny Roberts and his great friend journalist Barry Coleman wanted to wait another year before the announcement in the Silverstone paddock two days before the 1979 British Grand Prix. The riders were not prepared to wait and the plans to run a new World Series in direct competition to the Grand Prix World Championship were unveiled. It was an incredible concept to break away from the established World Championship that had been in existence since 1949. A brand-new separate Championship for just 250 and 500cc machines. With all the top riders including World Champions Barry Sheene, Kork Ballington and of course Roberts signed up and ready to go it was a significant threat to the very future of the existing World Championship.

Roberts arrived from America in 1978 to totally change Grand Prix racing as the Europeans knew it. His sliding style, homed on the mile long ovals back home, ripped the established 500cc stars apart on Grand Prix circuits throughout Europe but away from the track Kenny was appalled. Never someone scared to express his feelings he just could not believe how the riders were treated by organisers and promotors. Safety, prize money and simple respect just did not exist in Kenny’s eyes, and he was as determined as he was on the track to do something about it.

Who could blame the riders for being so impatient? They were fed up and totally disillusioned with banging their heads against a brick wall, or in most cases, Armco barriers, about safety, prize money and just respect from the Promoters and Organisers. With Roberts and Coleman at the head, all the top Grand Prix riders agreed to compete in a rival series.

The history books show the World Series never got off the ground but read between the lines to discover just what an enormous influence it had on the very future of the sport. The FIM’s reaction immediately condemned the new Championship either to run alongside the existing World Championship or as an alternative. Still, they realised the status quo had to change and quickly to save their World Championship. Immediately they increased the Grand Prix prize money by a staggering 500% and scrapped the controversial start money fiasco. Previously organisers would agree to a start money fee for the riders to compete and paid paltry prize money. At the end of a Grand Prix, there would be a queue of riders, including World Champions, outside the organisers’ office in the paddock waiting to be paid. Imagine such a scene in the Silverstone paddock this weekend.

In the end, the new World Series probably failed because of the lack of circuits that were brave enough to stage their events. The FIM made it very clear they would not issue permits for any of their races at circuits that hosted a World Series event. In the end, the riders returned to their familiar haunts in 1980 but attitudes to safety, respect and liveable prize money had changed for good. The revolution had begun thanks to Coleman and Roberts, but there was still a long way to go, especially on safety.

Riders leaving Silverstone on route to Austria should raise a glass of whatever they drink between Grands Prix to Roberts and Coleman. The pair of them were not prepared to stand and watch the riders being treated in such an appalling way. They started a revolution that riders today should never forget. Without them who knows what would have happened? So typically after the announcement, Kenny went on to win a classic 500cc race with Sheene. I bet the pair of them didn’t queue for their start money.

The summer break has arrived. The riders and teams deserve it, but it has not always been the case in the past when fighting for very survival.

Most riders competed in more than one class. The factory riders because they were told to by their employers. The privateers to gain more start money to enable them to have enough diesel and food to struggle to the next venue. Of course, the World Championship was a lot shorter than the 20-plus worldwide venues these days. The riders supplemented their paltry incomes by racing at non-championship and often extremely dangerous venues. These lucrative races were between Grands Prix and often during the summer break.

It was such a very different world and there is no better place than Assen to show just why. Compare the so different life and times of a Grand Prix rider. The Dutch Cathedral is the only circuit on the 2022 calendar that was a venue in that very first World Championship season way back in 1949. As the riders streamed through the legendary and much-changed Strubben corner on Sunday, I wondered just what those bygone heroes would have thought of the super-slick show their modern-day counterparts put on week after week. One thing for certain is they would be surprised and, in some cases, happy at the number of kilometres a modern-day Grand Prix rider puts in over a weekend and especially on race day.

On Sunday, MotoGP™ winner Pecco Bagnaia, riding for the Ducati Lenovo Team, completed twenty-six laps of the 4.542km Assen circuit, a race distance of 118.092km. Also, the Italian only competed in one race on Sunday. It used to be so very different with two great World Champions illustrating just why.

In 1964 Jim Redman won the 125, 250 and 350cc races for Honda at Assen on Saturday, June 27th. Three Grand Prix wins in one day was unheard of even in those days. Mike Hailwood had won three TT races in the Isle of Man in one week, but three in one day was a record-breaker. Two years later in 1966 Hailwood won three Grands Prix on the old Brno circuit in Czechoslovakia and then repeated the dose at Assen a year later.

Like Redman, he won all three Grands Prix on Honda machinery. First, the 250cc race after fighting off the challenge of Bill Ivy on the two-stroke Yamaha. Next up, the 350cc and finally the 20-lap 500cc race and the second showdown of the day with the MV Agusta of Giacomo Agostini. In all, Hailwood had raced in a single day to three wins over 57 laps of the 7.7km Assen circuit. It was a total distance of a staggering 439km, which he completed in a time of three hours, three minutes, 0.07s. I think, and I am sure he would have enjoyed, a beer or two that evening.

At the start of the World Championship races were longer than today, a lot longer. Once again Assen produces the perfect illustration. In 1950 Italian Umberto Masetti won the longest ever race at the legendary venue. Riding the Gilera he won the 18-lap 500cc race around the 16.536km circuit in two hours, 0m, 43.2s. The total distance was 297.6km for a single race win. Masetti went on to win the World Championship in the six-race title chase.

Marc Marquez contemplated the idea of competing in both the Moto2™ and MotoGP™ World Championships. The long Grand Prix schedule and practice and qualifying sessions made the dream impossible. The last rider to win two Grands Prix in one day was Jorge Martinez in 1988. The Spanish World Champion won the 80 and 125cc races at Brno. Three years earlier Freddie Spencer was crowned 250 and 500cc World Champion. In 1985 Freddie turned back the clock in the 12-round Championship to ride in both classes. At Mugello, he stood on the top step of the podium after winning the 500cc race as the 250cc machines were being wheeled to the grid. Second-placed Eddie Lawson turned to him after ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ anthem and said, “rather you than me”. Freddie smiled and won the 250cc race to become the first 250 and 500cc Grand Prix winner since Jarno Saarinen 12 years earlier.

The great thing about MotoGP™ today is that it has been prepared to make changes and embrace those changes to keep the sport so vibrant and popular. We have the greatest respect and admiration for those riders who have graced the famous Assen tarmac for the last 74 years. They laid down and built the very foundations of what we witness today. They certainly deserved a summer break, but rarely took it because to survive they had to race.

Last week, two icons who played such a massive influence in my growing up celebrated their 80th birthdays. Paul McCartney will celebrate at the weekend by headlining Glastonbury Festival, the legendary Cathedral of modern music. I do not think Giacomo Agostini is planning to headline at Assen at the undisputed Cathedral of World Championship Motorcycle racing, but he has every right to.  I never saw McCartney, or The Beatles live but I certainly saw Ago. They are memories that form the very structure of my love for the sport.

The most successful rider in the 74-year history of Grand Prix racing. 15 World titles, 122 Grands Prix wins in just 231 Grands Prix starts. Add the fact that Ago’s looks, and charm, tempted so many beautiful ladies to link his arm – how could I not be impressed. Where do you start for a rider who loved Assen, winning 14 times at the Dutch TT.

Ago and I made our debuts at the TT races in the Isle of Man in 1965. The Italian was a works rider and team-mate to Mike Hailwood in the legendary MV Agusta team. I, a scruffy teenager on a day trip to the Island to watch the 50cc and 500cc World Championship races. Agostini had made his TT debut earlier in the week by finishing third in the 350cc race. I caught my first glimpse of the rider and machine that would dominate Grand Prix racing for the next decade. It was a very short glimpse as he raced down from Kates’s Cottage to where we stood in the pub at Creg Ny Baa. In a red blur and lingering exhaust smoke, he was gone. As we waited for him to return a lap later it was announced he had crashed 16 km out at Sarah’s cottage on the second lap. He was uninjured but his race was over.

Eight years later in 1973, we made a brave decision to miss our annual visit to Isle of Man TT and spread our wings and catch the ferry to Holland and a very different TT. Windmills, so many pushbikes, chips with mayonnaise and Beer at 6 am, were already making my first Grand Prix visit a memorable experience. The icing on the cake was watching Ago win the 350cc race on the MV although Phil Read’s victory in the 500cc race ran it close.

So, Ago was such a massive presence at my first World Championship events, surely it could not get better than that. It did and it did not. My very first assignment as the new reporter at Motorcycle News in 1976 was to travel to Misano for the pre-season international race in which arch enemies and former team-mate Giacomo Agostini and Phil Read were riding on 500cc Suzukis. They lost my luggage at Milan Airport, but I managed to find the legendary Abners Hotel on the Riccione seafront. I was nervous, very nervous but met Scotsman Iain Mackay, the renowned mechanic who later became head of Honda Racing PR, in the lobby. He took pity on me and asked if I would like to join him and his team for dinner that night in the hotel restaurant. I had no idea what team he worked for and gratefully accepted. With no luggage, I arrived at the restaurant in a dirty old t-shirt only to be welcomed with the shake of the hand by the rider in Mac’s team, a certain Giacomo Agostini. I said and ate little that evening. Incredibly the next evening Phil Read invited me to the very same restaurant for dinner and even lent me a couple of t-shirts. I thought what all the fuss about this job, it’s a doddle, but then events started going downhill rapidly.

When sleet fell on the morning of the race Ago refused to ride on safety grounds. The meeting was called off without a wheel being turned. I managed to get hold of Read by telephone who accused Ago of being pathetic. Pathetic Ago, accuses Read, steamed out of the front-page headlines on Wednesday morning. I thought I was in the big time. A week later the race meeting was re-scheduled for the aerodrome at Modena. I arrived cocky and full of myself. The first person I saw was Ago reading the front-page pathetic headlines. Before I could disappear, he signalled me over with the crook of his finger. He was so very angry. Ago enquired whether the opinion of a 15-time World Champion to such accusation might have been how a proper journalist would have approached the story. There were no more invitations to dinner that weekend. I still had so much to learn. Thirty-six years later when I hosted his 70^th birthday party at Silverstone he told me he’d forgiven me.

Happy 80th Ago. Paul McCartney will be celebrating his birthday by singing ‘Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away.’ In my case, it was watching the great Giacomo Agostini in action that did just that.

Sixty-eight years ago, to the day a certain Soichiro Honda arrived unheralded on the Isle of Man to watch the 125cc TT race. He returned home with the promise he would return one day to take on and beat the world. It was a promise that he never broke. It is that promise that forms the very foundations of Honda racing and it has never been forgotten or forsaken.

Two things shocked him on that first visit to the Isle of Man. The speed and engineering prowess of the European manufacturers, and especially the German NSU 125 and 250cc superbly build bikes that were dominating the World Championships. The second shock was the anti-Japanese feeling of the British people, despite the fact that it was nine years since World War two had ended. He returned home to Japan with a suitcase full of chains, carburettors, and tyres ready to start the journey. It was five years before he returned to the Isle of Man ready to take on the world.

A year later, Honda started competing at the Mount Asama Volcano Race, located in a village at the foot of an active volcano on the island of Honshu in Japan. The track surface round the 18 kms circuit was compressed volcanic ash. Their main competition came from Yamaha and Suzuki. A decade later they were fighting each other for World titles. Mr Honda finally returned to the Isle of Man in 1959. This time no suitcase and notebook but with a team to compete in the World Championship. It was the opening round of the 125cc World Championship, ten laps around the shortened 17.365 kms Clypse TT circuit. Three Japanese riders who had never competed a full race on a tarmac surface and American Bill Hunt who was also the liaison officer for the team. The Team Manager was Kiyoshi Kawashima, who later became President of the Honda Motor Company. Their RC 142 Honda machines featured a bevel-drive DOHC twin with four valve heads. They may have been down on top speed to their Italian and East German counterparts. The riders lacked experience on the track surface, but both typically were reliable and never gave up. The result was the Team Prize including a sixth place for Japanese rider Naomi Taniguchi. Honda had arrived and the World had to take notice.

Two years later the first of those 812 wins came when Australian Tom Phillis won the 1961 125cc Spanish Grand Prix at Montjuic circuit in Barcelona. Honda were up and running. At Hockenheim Kanematsu Takahashi became the first Japanese rider to win a Grand Prix with a 250cc victory. Mike Hailwood clinched Honda’s first World title at the penultimate round of the 1961 250cc Championship with victory at Kristianstad in Sweden. It was his first World title and the first Japanese machine to take a World title.

Nowhere more than the Sachsenring illustrates just what a task lies ahead for Honda. Hopefully, their inspirational leader Marquez will return to the fight next season. It is a massive ask for both parties. Both are very capable of meeting the considerable challenge that lies ahead because winning is in the blood of Honda and those promises given by Soichro Honda 68 years ago have never been forgotten. He would expect nothing less.