Motorsport Update Sliding sideways through the world of motorsport.

In appreciation of Barry Sheene pt1

No British rider has won a premier class Motorcycle Grand Prix since 1981. That is a surprising fact, isn't it? People in the street would probably think that Carl Fogerty had won several, but the self styled King of British Motorcycle racing only made a handful of appearances in Grand Prix racing. His first was a wildcard entry for the 1986 250cc British Grand Prix and the last, finishing fourth in the 1993 500cc British Grand Prix. For some reason, he never made the crossover from World Superbikes (which he won four times).

No, the shadow that hangs long over every British GP rider is that of Londoner Barry Sheene. The double 500cc World Championship winner took his final victory in Sweden twenty nine years ago, the last before serious injury and a lack of competitive machinery curtailed his career. Sheene took over from multiple world champion Phil Read as the number one British rider from the mid 70's onwards and was arguably the first rider to maximise his marketing potential as a modern professional sportsman.

125cc

Barry Sheene first came to prominence on the British racing scene when won the national 125cc championship at the age of 20 in 1970 (weirdly old by today's standards, but young back in '70). This success saw him stepping up to the 125cc world championship in 1971, riding for Suzuki and taking on the Spanish motorcycle king, Angel Nieto. The Englishman had already shown what he was capable of the previous year, when he finished 2nd in his début Grand Prix at Montjuich Park in Barcelona, the last race of the season.

Sheene ran Nieto close that year, winning in Belgium, Sweden and Finland. He also took podiums in every other race, with the exception of the Isle of Man. In 1971, the island was the British round of the world championship and all the major players in every class took part. Crashing out at Quarter Bridge, Sheene refused to race there again, as he felt the risks were not worth the championship points. His vocal opposition to the race did not make him popular amongst sections of the British motorcycling community, even more so after the TT lost it's championship status in 1977. In the end, the Englishman finished second to Nieto and decided to move up to the 250cc class with Yamaha.

More next time...