Sir Jackie, you’re a regular visitor to Bahrain and its Grand Prix but this year it’s the venue of the 60th anniversary celebrations of the world championship. How special does that make this year’s event …
Today is the 7th Anniversary of the passing of Motorcycling legend Barry Sheene.
When Barry Sheene decided to up stumps from his country mansion in England and move his entire family to the Gold Coast in 1987 on the strength of a chance visit with George Harrison in 1985, Aussie race fans were both surprised and delighted. Contrary to the stereotypical beer swilling Aussie expats that had been infiltrating Earls Court since the ‘50s, Sheene was amazed by the laid back Down Under attitude that embraced a directness and work ethic that he was well familiar with. Add in the ever-present warmth of the South Queensland sun, vast quantities of fine Aussie wine, and the decision made perfect sense to Bazza.
His willingness to facilitate, cajole, and network on behalf of a good number of Aussie bike riders was immeasurable. Garry McCoy, Mat Mladin, and Troy Corser were all beneficiaries of Barry Sheene’s good deeds, setting them on a path with a number of key career manouevres. Now all in their late ‘30s, McCoy is still racing in MotoGP, Corser is in his second year with the BMW WSBK team and recently retired Mladin made a fortune racing in America, a move that was instigated by Baz. His first Aussie cause was arguably Paul Lewis, whom he enthusiastically pumped in the English media in 1983-84 much to the chagrin of Wayne Gardner. What Barry did do for Wayne was to provide him with plenty of motivation like the build up to Gardner’s first season on a V-four 500 in 1986; “If Gardner can’t win on that thing [Honda NSR500] he ought to piss off back to Australia.”
Ironically, Barry’s final races were hard-fought tussles with good friend Wayne in several classic races in 2002 (doubly ironic since Barry categorically refrained from coming out of retirement, saying he’d “rather have a lobotomy”). Gardner was invited to ride the FWD Manx Norton that Sheene had ridden at the 2002 Goodwood Revival meeting. Appropriately, he won a Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy race in 2003.
On 9 March, 2003, Network Ten commentator Bill Woods was making his first Formula One call at Albert Park. As a member of Ten’s GP bike call team since 1997, there is no doubt that Barry Sheene’s friendship with Bernie Ecclestone played a role in Ten securing the Australian rights to F1 from his previous employer, the Nine Network.
Terribly ill with stomach cancer that had been diagnosed in mid-2002, there was word that Barry would make an appearance at the 2003 Aussie GP and perhaps take part in a parade lap, but he was too sick to attend. During his call, Woods sent a cheerio to Barry knowing that the 1976-77 world 500cc champion was in his final days, saying how much he missed him in Ten’s first call of a Formula One race. His voice faltering with emotion, Woods signed off his message to Barry like this: “Thanks mate…we…we couldn’t have done it without you…”
Barry Sheene passed away the following day, Monday 10 March, 2003, aged 52. He has been honoured in so many different ways in England and Australia, in both motorcycle and car racing circles. The cheeky Cockney’s face and voice may have been missing from our lives for seven years now, but his legend has most certainly lived on.
Don’t forget to check out the Barry Sheene Festival of Speed 3-4 April 2010 at Eastern Creek.
It’s always good to start your week with a laugh, and I nearly fell off my chair with the sheer absurdity of this crazy feat.
Watch in amazement at this hilarious footage of Jimmy “The Flying …
Here a couple of lovely videos featuring Chad McQueen talking about being on the set of Le Mans with his Dad, Steve, in 1970.
In the first video, Chad talks about sitting on his Dad’s lap …
Renault is going retro in 2010, working hard to recapture its historic allure with new livery based on classic Renault designs.
Maxpart Racing has created officially licensed replicas of the evocative Martini Racing gear of the 1970s.
Star of the range is the uber retro light blue jacket, famously worn by Argentinian legend Carlos Reutemann. The jacket …
This has to be one of the most ridiculous and completely avoidable crashes I have ever seen. The tragic part is that it claimed the life of popular Italian driver Ignazio Giunti
Giunti, from Rome, made …
In the days when the AMA Grand National Championship included road races, Rex Beauchamp stayed on the dirt and came close to winning a championship anyway.
Inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2007, Beauchamp …
The motorcycling bug bit Sammy Miller whilst watching motorcycle racing in Ulster. He went on to compete and win his first event in 1953. The rest as they say, is history.
Millers career was an …
Check out these beautiful artworks by Nicolas Cancelier. I’m a real fan of his work, as it really captures the essence of the eras represented and the styles are so varied.
Here is a some background …
Have a listen to this remarkable little tune.
It’s a song called “The Champions” and is sung by the 1972 World Championship winning crew from John Player Team Lotus.
The record was produced to celebrate Emerson Fittipaldi’s …
Greg Pretty was one of the most versatile riders of his generation, and hugely respected by his peers.
Aussie race legend Greg Pretty lost his life in a terrible head-on accident on January 16, 2010 aboard …
Today is your last chance to score a couple of Live2Race T shirts.
Simply add a comment to any story on MotorSportRetro.com or on our Facebook page and you are in the draw.
The team at Live2Race …
Thundering across the dry flats comes a Porsche lover’s wet dream come true, expelling a tree of dust.
It’s a spectacular cavalcade of horsepower. A stunning pairing of power and beauty. And it’s all to borrow …
As NASCAR’s Sprint Cup daredevils get ready for this weekend’s season-opener, the Daytona 500 at the fearsome Florida Speedway, it’s worth wallowing in a bit of stock car nostalgia.
The blue-riband 500 has been the most …
The Dakar rally is probably the most gruelling and dangerous motor race in the world. Motorcycles, cars, quad bikes and trucks compete, not so much with each other, but with the race itself, to survive …
Here are some video snippets from a documentary called Trans Am 1970.
The 1970 Trans Am series is regarded by most racing enthusiasts as the high water mark of American road racing.
Six full factory teams prepared …
A rare wet afternoon has given me a respite from the heat and humidity to do some more searching in my large and almost uncatalogued photo collection and I found these gems taken in the …
Here is a full length video of the season opening Argentine 500cc Motorcycle Grand Prix from 1982.
The opening parts of the video are arguably the best bits with some good interviews with Sheene, Croz and …
This is a fascinating and very well written account of the politics behind the extraordinary Auto Union and Mercedes ” Silver Arrows ” grand prix cars of the 1930s.
Eberhard Reuss is a German motor sport …
The first video is a touching account of Lorenzo Bandinis fatal race at Monaco in 1967. The clip, which is in Italian with subtitles, features moving interviews with Bandini, his wife and Mother.
Bandini was hired …
As a hard-nosed newspaper reporter would probably note, Marco Lucchinelli was ‘one of the more colourful characters’ to win a world 500cc championship. A blindingly quick rider of the 70s and 80s with a particular …