Nick's Blog | Nick Harris

Such a long way from home

How ironic that the Kiwi emblazoned on Hugh Anderson’s iconic pudding basin helmet represented a flightless bird from his native New Zealand. Flightless is the very last word to describe Anderson and his fellow countryman’s globe spanning journeys in search of World Championship glory in Europe.

Of course, Anderson is the best known and his induction into the MotoGP™ Hall Of Fame was not only to celebrate his considerable achievements but to all of those New Zealand riders who sacrificed so much to make such a long journey.

Anderson was not the first or the last but his impact was enormous. He was the true talisman who brought success to a proud country a long way from Europe. He is the only New Zealand rider to win a World title with those two 125 a two 50cc Championships for Suzuki. Anderson scored 25 of the 31 Grands Prix wins by New Zealand riders and no other rider has achieved more Grands Prix wins for Suzuki. Those 25 wins for the Japanese factory have only been equalled by 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz.

A decade earlier those pioneering globe trotters arrived from the other side of the World and won Grands Prix. The first New Zealand winner was Ken Mudford who gave Norton success in the 350cc 1953 Ulster Grand Prix. A year later Rod Coleman brought AJS their last Grand Prix with victory in the 350cc race at the TT on route to third place in the World Championship. Ginger Molloy was rewarded for his tireless pursuit of the multi-cylinder Japanese machine with a win at the 1966 Ulster Grand Prix on the 250cc Bultaco. Thirteen years later Dennis Ireland took advantage of the top riders’ boycott of the re-surfaced Spa Francorchamps circuit to win the 500cc Belgium Grand Prix. Current Dorna pit lane reporter Simon Crafer dominated the 500cc race at the 1998 British Grand Prix to bring Yamaha their only win of the season and the last premier class victory on Dunlop tyres.

Some who made the journey paid the ultimate price and none more so than Kim Newcombe. A brilliant rider and engineer Newcombe produced a two-stroke 500cc engine from a West German flat-four König outboard boat engine. He lay second in the 1973 World Championship after winning in Yugoslavia on the Opatija road circuit. To fund his considerable Grand Prix efforts, he raced at a non-championship international event at Silverstone. In the race Newcombe hit an unprotected post at Stowe corner and died in hospital three days later.

I think being so far from home encouraged riders from Australia and even more so New Zealand to enjoy and make the most of paddock life. Two of them Stu Avant and Graeme Crosby were so typical to make the most of their adventure and I was happy to join in with them. I arrived to report on my first ever race at Misano in 1976. I was wandering round the paddock a lost, nervous soul when Stu Avant stopped me to tell his story. He’d arrived for his first race outside New Zealand with his friend Mike Sinclair. At last I was up and running with the story. I became great friends with Stu especially when he was based in England, although as an Oxford boy I could never agree of his support of our great football rivals from Reading.

Finally, while we celebrated with Hugh Anderson last week we also mourned the loss of another true great World Champion. Phil Read is surely the most underrated rider in the 74-year history of our sport. Seven World titles, 52 Grands Prix wins and the first rider to win 125, 250 and 500cc World titles.

A true Prince of Speed.

By Nick Harris|2022-10-13T08:35:34+00:00October 13th, 2022|Nick's Blog, Uncategorised|Comments Off

All in the same boat

Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) summed up the situation perfectly before the start of the Grand Prix in Thailand. The good thing is we are all in the same boat the Australian told the cameras as the rain hammered down on the empty grid and the thunder rolled ominously around the Buriram circuit.

You may all be in the same boat Jack, but some including yourself and, in particular, winner Miguel Olivera (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) were pulling the oars a lot harder than others. It is so easy sitting at home watching events unfold on the television early on a Sunday morning.

When the Moto2™ race was stopped after just eight laps as the riders aquaplaned down the main straight, there was a real danger that the MotoGP™ race may not even start as the monsoon-like rain hammered down. While my only worry was, to enjoy one or two boiled eggs for breakfast, the decision if the race should go ahead, how many laps or awarding half World Championship points, like in Moto2™, had to be made.

It was only the fourth time in the 74-year history of Grand Prix racing that half points had been awarded. When the rain abated it was obviously safe to race and only reduced by one lap. It was tricky, to say the least, but rideable.

It was ironic that the monsoon-like rain had been forecast for most of the weekend but hardly touched the MotoGP™ riders in practice and qualifying. So, no real wet time until those warm-up laps before the start of the race. It’s not that the teams and riders are not prepared for these types of conditions when they travel to Asia. There have been plenty of monsoon-like rain falling causing delays and cancellation of practice and qualifying sessions in Sepang, Motegi and what about the race at Mandalika this year? What catches everybody out is when it rains in a country where we are told there will never be a wet track

I remember thinking that somebody must be cleaning the windows of our commentary box at the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar. It just did not cross my mind that it could be rain because I had never seen or heard of rain in Qatar. It was 2009, the second year of the amazing floodlights at the circuit. As the 125cc race started to get underway spots of water appeared on the commentary box window. You could see first the drizzle and then heavier rain falling on the unwetted tarmac through the glare of the floodlights.

The race was stopped after just four laps. Surely this was just a rogue shower but it was like being back home as the rain continued. Andrea Iannone was declared the winner of the 125cc race with half World Championship points being awarded. The rain stopped and the 250cc race, reduced to 13 laps, was won by Hector Barbera who just scrambled through before the drizzle in the glare returned to the middle of the desert. The MotoGP™ race was postponed for a day causing a long night of flight changes and travel plans. Of course, it was dry the next day and Casey Stoner brought Ducati victory in the 22 lap race watched only by marshals and probably a few camels from a safe distance.

It rains in Italy and England but not in the same epic quantity as those Asian venues apart from when MotoGP™ arrives. The long-awaited return to the World Championship for the Misano circuit on the Italian Adriatic coast in 2007 after a 14 year absence hit problems. The first day of practice for the San Marino Grand Prix was scrapped when the circuit, running the opposite direction from its last Grand Prix in 1993, was flooded. We have witnessed plenty of wet races at Silverstone, but it rained so hard four years ago that race day had to be completely cancelled.

Of course, Jack Miller wanted to race in the rain on Sunday especially after his Motegi victory seven days earlier, but he also had an equally important or in some people’s mind even more important reason. Jack admitted he would be in for some real strife if he could not stick to his original travel plans because he was getting married next weekend before Phillip Island in two weeks’ time. Sounds like the Australian just about got it right on both counts. Hopefully, the sun will shine on his wedding day but on Phillip Island, no promises.

By Nick Harris|2022-10-05T16:19:22+00:00October 5th, 2022|Nick's Blog, Uncategorised|Comments Off

Team orders or no team orders – That is the question

There may have been no MotoGP™ around when William Shakespeare famously enquired, ‘To be or not to be that is the question,’ but it’s a similar question being asked on the MotoGP™ stage over 400 years later. As the season prepares for the final curtain at Valencia next month, team orders or no team orders is the question that dominates paddock discussions and beyond.

They may not have come into play at a dramatic Motegi but Francesco Bagnaia’s (Ducati Lenovo Team) demise in Japan will just increase the pressure on the Ducati riders to help his cause. It is a tough one, with examples and answers to all arguments. Surely with Ducati closing in on Fabio Quartararo’s (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) seemingly untouchable lead in the Championship, Bagnaia deserves all the help he needs from the Italian clan. The question is what you understand as help. The key factor is for team managers to be crystal clear when talking to their riders about what they expect from them. It is when the grey areas appear the problems start, and the mistrust starts.

The classic example of mistrust came a long time ago when Phil Read and Bill Ivy were teammates at Yamaha. After Honda departed in 1967 Yamaha dominated the 250 and 125cc World Championships on those magnificent four-cylinder two-stroke machines. It was decided before the 1968 season by Yamaha and the riders that 125cc World Champion Ivy would win the 250cc title and the former 250cc Champion Read the 125cc. All was going to plan before Read, never known as your best teammate, reneged on the original arrangement.

The seven times World Champion duly clinched the 125cc title in Brno and then told his teammate he wanted to make it a double. The new agreement came to a head at the final round horrible round at Monza, full of anger and accusations. Read beat Ivy in the twenty-two lap 250cc race. Incredibly they ended up on equal points in the Championship but Read was crowned World Champion after their respective race times from each Grand Prix were added together. Ivy, totally crushed by the turn around retired to go car racing a very disillusioned rider. He returned to finance his car racing before passing away in 1969. Read continued to win world titles and upset teammates.

Bagnaia and Bastianini may not have exactly tread on eggshells in their last lap Ducati duels at Misano and Aragon, but they showed ample respect for each other. Teammates may not receive orders but do not wreck their Championship ambitions by doing something stupid at a vital moment – just ask Dani Pedrosa. Nobody will forget and especially the Repsol Honda team that afternoon at Estoril in 2006. It was the penultimate round of the World Championship. Leader Nicky Hayden arrived with a 12 point lead over Valentino Rossi and was comfortably placed third in the race behind the Yamahas of Rossi and team-mate Colin Edwards. His Repsol Honda team-mate Pedrosa was right behind as they raced into that tricky left hand at the end of the back straight with twenty-three laps remaining. The 250cc World Champion Pedrosa left his braking too late, ran onto the kerb, locked the front wheel, with his sliding Honda skittling down teammate Hayden.

That 12 point Championship lead disappeared in a cloud of sparks, Portuguese gravel, and American expletives. Rossi led the Championship by eight points going into that final round in Valencia. I do not know who the happier person in Valencia was. Hayden was crowned World Champion after finishing third while Rossi crashed. Pedrosa followed and protected his teammate in fourth place the whole 30 lap distance but never getting too close.

Orders or no orders, some teammates are never going to help each other. Can you imagine Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo offering a helping hand in those tempestuous Yamaha days. It is not only teammates but compatriots who can help you win world titles. There is no doubt the Italian ‘mafia’ ganged up on Dutchman Hans Spaan to enable Loris Capirossi to become the youngest World Champion when he clinched the final round of the 1990 125cc World Championship with victory at the final round at Phillip Island. Seven years ago, the Rossi/ Marquez war started when Rossi accused Marquez of slowing the pace again at Phillip Island to help fellow Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo in his successful title bid.

So, four races to go including all that intrigue, plots and subplots. William Shakespeare would have loved every minute of it.

By Nick Harris|2022-09-29T10:56:16+00:00September 29th, 2022|Nick's Blog, Uncategorised|Comments Off

“Please don’t crash”

What a compelling heart-stopping first lap in Aragon. Watching the return of Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) over the weekend brought back so many memories and an expression under my breath of genuine concern. Even when commentating on what unfurled in front of me I would whisper to myself away from the microphone, ‘Please don’t crash.’ Watching a rider return to the rigours and dangers back in the saddle after a serious injury was a double-edged sword. It was great to see them back in the fray but after all that pain and sheer hard work they had endured to return, I prayed they would not crash

So many riders have returned from serious injury to find success. Grand Prix motorcycle riders always have been and always will be tough guys. It is what the sport is all about. Nothing will stop riders from competing if humanly possible, often at the expense of pain and suffering when they have finally cried enough and retired. Barry Sheene and Alex Criville not only won 500cc world titles after returning from serious injuries but also became national heroes in their respective countries. Sheene’s two life-threatening accidents at Daytona and Silverstone rather than two world titles made him a British icon. Criville became the first Spanish rider to be crowned a premier class World Champion two years after a serious hand injury kept him out of action for over two months.

I remember two very different comebacks that had very different times scales involving World Champions Mick Doohan and Jorge Lorenzo. One lasted 56 days, the other just two days. Mick Doohan’s pinched grey face matched his mood when he arrived for the penultimate round of the 1992 500cc World Championship. When he showed me the spindly remains of his legs and especially the right leg I understood just why. His right calf was still encased in a light cast while the wounds below reminded of our local butcher’s shop. Mick had missed four Grands Prix after breaking his leg in the final qualifying for the Dutch TT. The Australian rider had seen his massive Championship lead slashed to 22 points coming into the penultimate round at the dangerous chaotic Interlagos circuit on the outskirts of the massive sprawling City of Sao Paulo in Brazil. He had almost had to have his right leg amputated after infection set in after the operation. At one point, both his legs were sewn together to try and restore circulation from one to the other.

Watching Mick complete 121km in the drizzle was a humbling experience coupled with fear of what injuries he would suffer if he crashed again. He did not but all that pain and effort was unrewarded. Somehow he finished in 12^th place which meant no World Championship points. Wayne Rainey won the race and two weeks later won the title by four points. It was a bitter pill for Mick to swallow but after a difficult 1993 season, all that pain and anguish was rewarded when he won the 1994 500cc Championship for Honda. That win just opened the floodgates for the Australian legend who won four more world titles on the trot

Even on that tiny television screen in the Assen commentary box in 2013, it was obvious Jorge Lorenzo had broken his collarbone when he crashed in the second wet practice session. That horrible dropped left shoulder walk through the gravel trap said it all for the World Champion. He was immediately flown to Barcelona to have a titanium plate fitted with ten screws to repair the snapped collarbone. We surmised he could be back in a couple of weeks at the German Grand Prix but Jorge had different ideas. He flew back on the Friday night and was passed fit to race after the Saturday morning warm-up. Race he did and finished fifth after 26 laps of pain. Unfortunately, the story of the defence of his world title did not have a successful conclusion when he crashed and re-broke the collarbone at the Sachsenring two weeks later. He lost the world title to Marquez but two years later won back his crown amidst the Valentino Rossi/ Marquez shenanigans.

So can Marquez follow in the footsteps of the likes of Sheene, Criville, Doohan and Lorenzo. Of course he can but while he has been away the opposition has got both stronger and younger, beware of those young pretenders at the next three Grand Prix in Motegi, Buriram and Phillip Island. The eight-time World Champion won the last MotoGP™ races to be held at all three. Stand by for the fireworks.

By Nick Harris|2022-09-23T08:23:18+00:00September 23rd, 2022|Nick's Blog, Uncategorised|Comments Off

Pecco poised to join the greats on the honours board

Twelve years ago, I took a bemused Jorge Lorenzo and Nicky Hayden to the legendary Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, the home of world cricket. It was a media pre-event before the British Grand Prix and the two World Champions were more than a little confused attempting to play the great game, but were fascinated by the honours board in the pavilion. Any player who had taken more than five wickets in one innings, known as a ‘Fifer’, was honoured. Around one hundred names starting back in 1884 were listed

Pecco Bagnaia arrives at Aragon this weekend determined to find his name on a shorter MotoGP™ Fifer honours board. The Italian Ducati rider has won the last four Grands Prix and since 1949, only seven riders in the premier class would have their names engraved on that imaginary MotoGP™ special board. Those seven are the only riders in the 74-year history of our sport to have won five or more consecutive premier class Grands Prix.

No great surprise at the names and especially the top man. Between the 1968 West German Grand Prix and the 1969 Ulster Grand Prix, 15-times World Champion Giacomo Agostini won 20 consecutive 500cc Grands Prix. Riding the MV Agusta, Ago won at some remarkably diverse venues including the Isle of Man TT circuit, Imatra in Finland, Montjuic Park in Spain and the Sachsenring, Brno and Nürburgring road circuits.

Both Mike Hailwood and John Surtees took full advantage of the superiority of the MV against their mainly single-cylinder challengers. Hailwood won 12 successive 500cc races between the 1963 Belgium Grand Prix and East Germany a year later. Surtees made it 11 in a row, including victory in every one of the seven 1959 World Championship races. Another British star, Geoff Duke, was the first rider to win five in a row. Riding the 500cc four-cylinder Gilera, Duke won the 1954 Belgium, Dutch, West German, Swiss and Nations Grands Prix to set the ball rolling.

Five-time World Champion Mick Doohan fought back from serious injury to win ten in a row for Honda in the nineties. The Australian won ten of the 15 1997 rounds in succession. Doohan would have moved into second place behind Ago with 13 successive wins if teammate Alex Criville had not beaten him at Jerez to the delight of the home crowd.

Who will forget 2014 and the next Honda multi–World Champion? Surely Marc Marquez could not repeat his rookie success of the previous year and retain his MotoGP™ world title? Any doubts disappeared in a cloud of exhaust smoke as the young Spaniard won the opening ten races of the season. It was only in August that the run finally came to a halt at Brno in a race won by his Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa.

No honours board would be complete without a certain Valentino Rossi and again it was on the Honda that the nine-time World Champion won seven in a row in 2002. He led the four-stroke charge winning nine Grands Prix that historic season. The Doctor won five in a row for Yamaha in 2005 and 2008 and for both Honda two-strokes and four strokes in 2001 and 2002.

Back to the cricket at Lord’s in 2010. The ground staff at this legendary venue were mostly Australian. They loved MotoGP™ and especially Casey Stoner. Incredibly they allowed the two World Champions to play a game on the famous second pitch at the Nursery end of the ground. Pictures of Jorge with pads on trying bat and Nicky chucking instead of bowling the ball were shown throughout the World. The groundsmen loved it until the Air Asia hostesses arrived on their hallowed turf wearing high-heeled shoes to serve the traditional strawberries and cream and cups of tea to the media. The game ended abruptly.

There should be no such interruptions for Pecco on Sunday as he strives to emulate some of the greats of our sport and join that very special Fifers club. Probably no strawberries and cream and cups of tea in pit lane if he does it.

By Nick Harris|2022-09-14T19:47:48+00:00September 14th, 2022|Nick's Blog, Uncategorised|Comments Off

We’ve always been a loyal old lot

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.

In that first year the World and Europe were recovering from the rigours and horrors of the Second World War. People from England flocked to the Isle of Man for that very first race just four years after the war had ended. They were free at last. They could travel again and even to Europe for those other Grands Prix in Switzerland, Holland, Italy and Ireland. Motorcycle racing led the revolution one year ahead of Formula One and soon welcomed back old war time enemies Germany and Japan to join the fray.

When the Iron Curtain cut off countries in the late sixties such as Czechoslovakia and East Germany, it was Grand Prix motorcycle racing that provided the repressed population with a glimmer of light. Despite the problems and restrictions massive crowds flocked to the Brno and Sachsenring road circuits to get a taste of a very different World. The authorities hated it and tried to prevent certain national anthems being played to celebrate race wins but the riders and teams kept coming back.

In 1983 I remember my conscience was in turmoil when I landed in South Africa for the opening Grand Prix of the season at the height of the Apartheid segregation ruling. I came home five days later so proud how the Grand Prix paddock had totally ignored the legislation and laws. In 2011 MotoGP™ was the first World Championship sport to return to Japan after the earthquake and tsunami resulting in the radiation leak at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station. Many riders did not want to go but everybody arrived to put on the show. Some riders may have showered in bottled water throughout their stay but the Japanese people and especially race fans never forgot.

I am convinced Grand Prix racing has retained its popularity because it is prepared to make changes. These changes throughout the seven decades have not been popular at the time. Switching to purpose-built tracks from the road circuits. The demise of the 250 and 500cc two-strokes for the four strokes in Moto2™ and 3 and MotoGP™. The splitting up of qualifying and even last week the announcement of the arrival of Sprint races next season. I, like many others of my generation, have not always agreed with these changes but they are imperative if our sport is going to survive in an ever-changing World. Of course, mistakes have been made but standing still or going backwards is never going to work.

The survey clearly illustrated that increasingly younger fans are following the sport and especially females. They are younger than their male counterparts. One third of those have been following the sport for less than five years and 56% of those female fans are aged between 16 -34 years old.

As one of those grey or in my case white-haired fans, I have two simple requests for the future. Please keep the admission prices at a level which are affordable to everybody. Please don’t price yourselves out of the market. Sprint races next year but please keep the racing as simple as possible. Do not confuse or clutter pure racing with too many regulations.

Finally, my top prize after reading the survey goes to those amazing Dutch fans. Despite not witnessing a Dutch winner for 32 years they are the most active race goers with 73% of them attending a race in the last five years.

The Dutch and all MotoGP™ fans have always been a loyal old lot.

By Nick Harris|2022-09-08T09:19:52+00:00September 8th, 2022|Nick's Blog, Uncategorised|Comments Off

The gentleman’s stare

Private, polite, friendly and rarely outspoken but I will never forget the look Andrea Dovizioso gave Marc Marquez after they had crossed the finishing line at Austria in 2017. The winner of an epic battle round the Red Bull Ring had just let World Champion Marc Marquez know in no uncertain fashion the fight for the MotoGP™ World Championship was on. The previous year in Austria it had come down to another last bend decider, that right hander at the bottom of the hill, and Dovi lost out to teammate Andrea Iannone. The gentleman off the track was not going to let it happen again. You do not win 24 Grands Prix and a World title without that inner aggression and confidence when the lights change. That stare said it all

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.

No rider in the 74 histories of the sport had to wait so long, 130 races to be precise, between that first MotoGP™ win at Donington in 2009 and his second in 2016 at Sepang. Dovi made his Grand Prix debut as a 125cc wild card in the 2001 Italian Grand Prix at Mugello Grand Prix which was won by the wonderful Nobby Ueda.

What a legacy Dovi will leave especially for Ducati. Watching the Italian factory dominate so many of the races this year despite the herculean efforts of Fabio Quartararo on the Yamaha, makes you realise just what a talisman he had been for Gigi Dall’lgna’s team. It was Dovi that led them back to the top step of the podium. It was Dovi who brought back memories of the Stoner days to the passionate Italy factory.

Dovi certainly has earned his retirement from a sport he has graced for over two decades. Of course, we will never forget the wins. I will always remember that stare but even more, I will remember a really nice guy.

The MotoGP™ paddock will miss him very much.

By Nick Harris|2022-08-31T21:00:45+00:00August 31st, 2022|Nick's Blog, Uncategorised|Comments Off

Sprint races – Rossi in the Mugello rain

So, Sprint races next year – but not for the first time in the 74-year history of Grand Prix racing. Perhaps they were unplanned but Sprint races in various forms are not new. One thing mankind through the centuries has never conquered is how to control the weather and particularly the rain. When those spots of the wet stuff fell on dry tarmac the fun and games started. This could cause chaos in the commentary box and media centres, but they also provide some memorable Sprint races and great talking points.

The Sprint race I will never forget was at Mugello in 2004. It was the shortest ever race in the Premier class, six laps of the magnificent Italian circuit just 31.470 kms. It was all going so well in the tiny glass house type commentary box on top of the main grandstand. Then the dreaded word was mentioned – rain!

The commentary boxes were so small you had to sit sideways at right angles to the track watching the action on the television monitor. You could see into all the other commentary boxes and there were some furrowed brows and counting on fingers going on. It had been a fantastic race to commentate on that summed up the quality and excitement of the 2004 season. Valentino Rossi, Makoto Tamada, Max Biaggi, Loris Capirossi, Sete Gibernau, Marco Melandri and Nicky Hayden swapping podium positions and the leads, when the clouds started to role in over those Tuscan Hills. Then I started to worry. How many laps would the riders have to complete of the scheduled 23 before the race could be stopped with maximum points being awarded. If they stopped before the cut off how many laps would the new race be and would the times from both races be added together. I was lucky because my fellow commentators Gavin Emmett and Matt Roberts were on the ball. As always, they had done their homework and checked the rules, but others were not so lucky.

On the 17th lap the heavens finally opened. Rossi put up his hand to halt the proceedings. When the Doctor put up his hand at Mugello nobody dared to argue, and Race Direction called for the red flag. The race was stopped. It is rumoured and never proved that one television station thought that was that and Rossi was declared the winner and they went off air. It was a shame because the real fun and games were about to start.

A six lap Sprint race was scheduled with maximum World Championship points being awarded. No race times being added together, just six laps of pure mayhem. Once again the weather stepped to make it even more complicated. When the grid reformed the majority of riders remained on slicks because the rain had stopped and the sun came out. Then it started to drizzle just to add to the fun. Norick Abe, Troy Bayliss and Ruben Xaus all took turns at the front but at the Chequered flag Rossi led the way for the second time that afternoon. Gibernau and Biaggi were second and third respectively which was their positions when the first race was stopped.

he Flag-to-flag format was introduced in the Premier class the next season in 2005 but not in the 125 and 250cc classes. Three years later in 2008 the shortest ever Sprint and grand prix race took place at Le Mans. The original 24 lap 125cc race was stopped because of rain and the re-run was just five laps of the Bugatti circuit. To the delight of the home crowd Frenchman Mike Di Meglio won the 20.925 kms encounter fighting off the challenge of Bradley Smith. Di Meglio went on to win the World Championship.

Finally, spare a thought for the 500 cc riders in the 1954 Ulster Grand Prix at Dundrod. They had already completed a gruelling 179 kms when some treacherous Irish rain brought the race to a premature finish. They were awarded no World Championship points for their considerable efforts because the rules stated a 500-cc race must be a minimum distance of 200 kms. No Flag to Flag or Sprint race to help them out in those days.

By Nick Harris|2022-08-24T08:42:00+00:00August 24th, 2022|Nick's Blog, Uncategorised|Comments Off

Maverick holds keys to very exclusive club

Third in Assen, second at Silverstone – there is only one place to go for Maverick Viñales on Sunday in Austria. If the Spanish rider can grab his first win for Aprilia and just the second premier class victory for the impressive Italian factory, he will join one of the most exclusive clubs in the history of Grand Prix racing. Viñales has already achieved premier class wins for Suzuki and Yamaha. A win on Sunday would be so very special.

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

Since his arrival into the World Championship in 1983 Lawson was always regarded as a Yamaha rider for life. The Californian won three 500cc World titles and 26 Grands Prix for Yamaha before a sensational switch to Honda for a single season in 1989. Not only did Lawson win four Grands Prix but the World title and returned to Yamaha the next year. Before retiring in 1992 Lawson added another chapter to the history books. In difficult conditions he brought the beautifully graceful Italian Cagiva machine its first ever Grand Prix win in Hungary to sign off an incredible career.

So, what about the other two. Despite finishing runner-up four times in the 500cc World Championship Randy Mamola won his 13 Grands Prix on three separate bikes. The first at Zolder in Belgium in 1980 followed by four more for Suzuki. The Californian switched to Honda in 1984 and won four Grands Prix before he joined Yamaha in 1986. He won four Grands Prix for them, and those four runner-up positions came on all three of those machines. Two on Suzuki and one apiece on Honda and Yamaha.

The middle of the night moment for me was Loris Capirossi. The Italian 125 and 250cc World Champion may have only won nine premier class Grands Prix, but he is in the club. That first win in Australia was on the 500cc Yamaha in 1996. He returned to the 250cc class to win the World title before re-joining the 500s in 2000. He won the Italian Grand Prix for Sito Pons’s Honda team. Capirossi joined Ducati in 2003 and brought the Italian factory seven wins including three successive victories in Japan.

So over to you Maverick to add to those Suzuki and Yamaha victories. The keys are in your hand to unlock the door into one of the most exclusive clubs in the 74-year history of Grand Prix racing.

By Nick Harris|2022-08-18T08:01:17+00:00August 18th, 2022|Nick's Blog, Uncategorised|Comments Off

Roberts reveals revolution and then wins Grand Prix

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.

By Nick Harris|2022-08-10T16:02:59+00:00August 10th, 2022|Nick's Blog, Uncategorised|Comments Off

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