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Niall Mackenzie Blog number 3

This picture of me chasing Foggy on the Daytona banking in 1991 brought back some bitter sweet memories recently. I did half a season as his team mate on the Silkolene RC30s before scurrying off to Japan to ride a factory Yamaha Superbike. I’ve never been a quitter but I felt the team that year was gear stretched running two riders so it was a case of last in first out.

I can die happy!

As an eighteen year old Kenny Roberts was my bike racing God.  I loved Barry Sheene but as a Yamaha FS1E rider I always wanted the little American to win simply because his bike resembled mine.  The coverage of Grand Prix in the late seventies was sketchy but I clearly remember watching the epic Sheene/Roberts battle unfold at the Silverstone GP on my council estate telly.  The Dutchman, Wil Hartog was hanging in there for a while but as the laps unfolded it became a two way battle with Sheene looking favourite to win.  Sheene lost the most time as the pair lapped a certain George Fogarty so my hero Roberts eventually won by just three hundredths of a second.  I’m not sure what happened next but being a Sunday we would no doubt be skidding around later in the day at the Pines chippie pretending to be Roberts and Sheene.  Fast forward thirty four years and a boyhood fantasy came true as I headed out on Chris Wilson’s 1980 Roberts machine for the Barry Sheene tribute laps at last weekend’s Moto GP.  It crackled into life instantly and felt as sharp as any of the more modern 500s I used to race.  The temperature gauge had a maximum marker on 60 degrees so to begin with I was nervous as it didn’t move but being a hot day (although still keeping my hand on the clutch) I convinced myself it wasn’t working.    The bike felt tiny, not helped by the fact I only just squeezed into my 1989 Marlboro Yamaha leathers.  It still felt rapid though as I played out the 1979 classic in my head while getting tucked in down the Hanger straight.  Steve Parrish was also out there on one of Barry’s 500cc Heron Suzukis so we did our best to copy the famous last lap at Woodcote Corner where Sheene came so close to winning his home GP. As a lad I would have said the chances of me riding round Silverstone on a GP winning Kenny Roberts machine were zero, but in the words of Gabrielle, dreams can come true!

Rossi’s Ranch: Valentino’s Personal Playground

What does Valentino Rossi do when he’s not riding his Yamaha M1 around the best racetracks in the world? He relaxes at home in Tavullia, Italy, and rides motorcycles around his newly developed dirt track dubbed, “Rossi’s Ranch.” “It’s like a dream from when you’re a child,” says Rossi. “You hope at one moment you can buy your own racetrack.” It’s safe to say Rossi is financially stable enough at this moment in time to where he can make his childhood dream a reality.