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Valentino Rossi turned 35 in February, just a few days before Marc Márquez hit 21. That’s an age difference of 14 years, which isn’t something that happens very often in professional sport; in fact, has it ever happened before in motorcycle Grand Prix racing?
Past battlesThe question prompted me to trawl through my history books for evidence of a similar generation gap at the sharp end of premier-class GPs.
Leslie Graham is the oldest rider to be crowned 500 king. He won the inaugural 500 World Championship in 1949, just a few days short of his 38th birthday, but he mostly raced against similar-aged racers who like him had had their early racing careers rudely interrupted by the Second World War. Graham had been an RAF bomber pilot, flying Lancasters over Germany.
Of course, it happened on the other side too. Fritz Hillebrand was a Luftwaffe fighter pilot who got shot down and ended the war in a POW camp. In 1957 he won the sidecar world title, but lost his life in a race at Bilbao before the end of the season. Graham had been killed at the TT a few years earlier.
Sorry, I’m getting sidetracked. Fast forward to September 1962 and Mike Hailwood is cruising to his first 500 World Championship on the mighty MV Agusta at Monza. He’s just 22 years old and MV have given him a bit of home-race competition in the form of veteran Remo Venturi who is already 35. Hailwood beats the old man by five seconds.
A dozen years later the four-stroke MV is on its way to another world title, this time with 35-year-old Phil Read on board. At the season-opening French GP at Clermont-Ferrand, Read gets a bit of a scare from an uppity 23-year-old Cockney called Barry Sheene, who’s riding one of those new-fangled Suzuki RG500 two-strokes. This time the old man wins the day.
But the greatest old dog versus new kid on the block duel happened at Donington in July 2000, when 36-year-old Jeremy McWilliams fought for victory in the British GP with 21-year-old Rossi. There might’ve been 15 years between the Briton and the Italian but you would never have known it, just like in Qatar on Sunday.
McWilliams was the grand old man of Grand Prix racing by then, racing Aprilia’s underpowered Aprilia v-twin against Rossi’s all-powerful NSR500. He knew that tight and twisty Donington – also damp and slippery on this occasion – would be by far his best chance of scoring a 500 GP win.
The pair swapped the lead time and again, with mere millimetres to spare between them, just like Rossi would do 14 years later with Márquez. Eventually McWilliams overheated his softer intermediate tyres and crossed the line third, just 0.9 seconds behind first-time 500 winner Rossi, with Suzuki’s Kenny Roberts Jr between them.
Unsurprisingly, McWilliams remembers the battle well. “The inspiration for me was the younger and feistier they were, the better. I know from that race with Rossi that he would’ve got such a buzz from battling for the win with Márquez on Sunday. It certainly spurs you up when you’re fighting against the young guns.
“I remember slipping underneath him at the Old Hairpin a couple of times, deliberately trying to lift him a bit and put him off his game. I thought you could do that and get away with it because maybe the young guns would give a little to older guys like me, but I don’t think Márquez does that!
“Rossi made some pretty hard moves on Márquez on Sunday, though they were all very clean, positive and precise, which made it such a good race. That definitely showed that he’s still got the fight in him, he doesn’t give an inch. It was great to see the old dog giving Márquez a run for his money, and I hope it continues.”
Rossi and Márquez ended the Qatar race just like Rossi and McWilliams ended their Donington duel: shaking hands, laughing and joking about all the crazy things they’d done to each other – a pair of grinning assassins.
“Rossi was always the easiest person to get on with after a race, even if you’d beaten him,” adds McWilliams. “A lot of riders aren’t like that; he was always very complimentary.”
But it was Roberts Jr who was most interesting after that Donington race. “I’ll finish second to Rossi for the rest of the year, if the racing’s going to be like that,” he said at the time. “Those guys really over-ride their bikes, instead of just riding them round and round like the rest of them.”
You just know that Rossi and Márquez think the same about some of their rivals. They are both gladiators, in it for the fight, not just for riding round and round. Hopefully Rossi’s Qatar renaissance won’t be another false dawn, so that the old dog and the young gun can continue to show us how to race.
More from Mat Oxley
Moving MotoGP’s goal posts
Why the door was left Open for Ducati
The death of bike racing in the US?
I wonder if Rossi, when he retires, will still be out there thrashing around on any old motorbike the way Jeremy McWilliams does now with so much enthusiasm? My guess is ‘no’, that cars will be more of an interest as they will be more of a challenge, and he probably needs that to motivate him a bit.
Thanks, Mat, great read as always. I do hope the Rossi magic that seemed to come back at Qatar last year and then slowly eroded in the face of MM, JL and even DP, continues for the reast of this season.
Great article. Loved watching those two having fun and getting paid for it.
Paul Sainsbury, 26 March 2014 14:43Great article, and what a great race that was! It made me lament the current F1 situation, and maybe enjoy the ‘bikes even more.
Aldo, 26 March 2014 15:26That race sums up on so many levels why I absolutely love MotoGP, Rossi and now Marquez.
I love how Marquez looks at and talks about Rossi – he is so obviously in awe of him, even though he himself is the current World Champion! Off the top of my head, Marquez must have been about 9 or ten when Rossi won his first 500cc championship? So Rossi is a legendary hero to him as he is to (most) of us right thinking people, and you can see and feel that love he has for him.
Yes, the racing and skill is incredible etc, but the proximity and awareness of death/serious injury in all the Moto championships also breeds an incredible type of sportsmanship that one can actually feel. Me and my friends cry sometimes when talk about Marco Simoncelli. F1 can never replicate that level of sportmanship and love for the participants anymore, because, dare I say it, I’m not sure that one can die in an F1 car today. Not that that’s a bad thing of course, but in terms of heroic gladiators that are willing to die for the sake of glory in a 23 lap race there is absolutely nothing to touch these guys which is why I love all of them.
The Original Ray T, 26 March 2014 15:49The race was outstanding beyond Rossi and Marquez. Bradley Smith was phenomenal.
Rossi is a motorcycle racer, he has tried cars and has no interest.
Watching Marquez stop from 210mph beside Rossi on one wheel, with a broken leg, every single lap near the end was damned exciting. And it was all sporting and clean.
Thank God for physics and the fact that aero downforce doesn’t work on motorcycles. No aero, no push-to-pass, no telemetry, no radio, no pitstops, no “green”..in other words, take away the TV gimmicks of Formula Yawn and you could have great racing. Motorcycle racing is still dangerous, not the arena of the manicured, overpaid Princes of F1.
Saying Rossi could be Marquez’s father is a HUGE stretch, although there are some NASCAR drivers that could be Marquez’s grandfather. Men have won the Tour De France older than Rossi.
Jonathan Settle, 26 March 2014 20:21Could we have asked for more Sunday? what a fantastic race.
I for one got it badly wrong with Vale, really believed his front running days were over although going out at the top is the thing to do and i think he will, this year.
Young Braders? if ever there was proof hard work and listening to the right people works, kid is clearly going places.
Even purchased a Dorna season pass, under duress, lets hope the rest of the season is as good.
great article Mat, one of the terrible tragedies of F1 are the ‘much looked for duels’ i.e. Stirling and Jimmy, Jimmy and jackie, Gilles and Senna, etc etc but in MOTOGP we actually get to see the transition from one era to another competitively and sans tragedy – wonderful,
thank you ITV4 – that was a bonus and much appreciated
great race, thought Scott rode well, especially 1st time out and Sam was brilliant in MOTO2 – that is someone to watch methinks, thought Bradley would get off to an electric start but was impressed this time by his pace – the tyres i worry about, too many spills, didn’t understand Bradl’s one – but wow fingers crossed for a great season
Am I wrong in thinking that the body language between Rossi and Marquez was a bit frozen after the race? Was Marquez worried that his bold (but fair) moves may have upset his idol? Was Rossi turning on the psycho battle? Anyone?
I hope that Dani will fight for the championship this year. Marquez riding style makes motogp worthwhile watching
Enjoy the races everyone!
MotoGP’s young guns and old dogs26/03/14After Márquez and Rossi’s Qatar duel, Mat Oxley looks back at some of history’s other old vs young battles
8MotoGP
Moving MotoGP’s goal posts19/03/14Mat Oxley on the last-minute rule changes introduced the week of the MotoGP opener in Qatar
14MotoGP
Why the door was left Open for Ducati05/03/14Mat Oxley explains how the factory Ducati team has been able to exploit the new Open rules to close the gap to its rivals
30MotoGPAuthor
Mat OxleyRead Mat's profile and more …
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When I said he apexes too late after 13th, I shoulda said apexes too early. Doh. Utterly astonishing lap. That engine gets a workout too!
@matoxley 27 March@gibby82mufc youtube.com/watch?v=YWZG1n…
@matoxley 27 March@milesperhourmat I'll have another look - where was that?
@matoxley 27 March@trailkings I think Hailwood would be a little bit scared watching Michael Dunlop, just like the rest of us!
@matoxley 27 March@roryotoole Er, no!
@matoxley 27 March
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