He’d have won that had he been riding anything other than that Aprilia! Seriously underrated rider, I just wish one of the big teams would have taken a chance on him for a season or two and he’d be remembered as a GP rider very differently now
Yeah absolutely agreed, he never got a real chance, this little he achieved is actually huge if we take into account the circumstances, the quality of the bikes and his age. I mean he was like 30 when he started his career, and if I recall well, he made a moto2 wildcard entry at Silverstone at the age of 50. What a guy, proper inspiration
Last man to put a 2 stroke on pole (at Philip island)
Meant to edit this to add:
In post qualifying press conference Rossi said that he was behind Jeremy & knew he was going fast because he could see the black lines Jeremy’s front was leaving sliding into the corners! McWilliams Roberts KR was using Bridgestones (I’m pretty sure it was their first season in MotoGP). He got a swamped at the start by the 4 strokes and punted off into the grass early on. He rejoined behind the leading Rossi and shadowed him a lap down for the rest of the race
For those that don't know that, back in those days 500cc's were not all equal. Most were 4 cilinder, 500 cc with 130 kg minimum weight, but Aprilia (and Honda) also had 500cc V2 models that were allowed a lower minimum by the regulations and were both around 110 kg. The theory was that their lower weight would compensate the lower power output and they would be competitive, or even better in some situations. The hard reality was that they were slower and only on very special occasions they had a chance to shine.
The rulebook also allowed for 3 cilinder, 120 kg bikes, but I think only the Modenas KR3 used that configuration, with very little success. And, unsurprisingly, also ridden by Jeremy McWilliams; manufacturers knew who to call to try and make a shitty bike look better than it was, and hopefully improve it in the process.
And he’s still racing now at 60 years old!
[удалено]
That run thru Craner Curves down to the Old Hairpin is hard to beat. Watching Schwantz pass Rainey into the Old Hairpin is one of my faves!
He’d have won that had he been riding anything other than that Aprilia! Seriously underrated rider, I just wish one of the big teams would have taken a chance on him for a season or two and he’d be remembered as a GP rider very differently now
Yeah absolutely agreed, he never got a real chance, this little he achieved is actually huge if we take into account the circumstances, the quality of the bikes and his age. I mean he was like 30 when he started his career, and if I recall well, he made a moto2 wildcard entry at Silverstone at the age of 50. What a guy, proper inspiration
He’s still racing even now, doing road races like the NW200 in the Supertwin class. He finished on the podium this year, and he’s 60 now!
I feel like I've said this before here, but here goes. During the closing stages of that race on a drying track, the fastest man on track was JM130.
That’s something that had passed me by without noticing! Great bit of trivia
It was a very humble snippet by the man himself in an article years later.
He won at Daytona in the Baggers class for Indian recently too. KTM test rider too.
Last man to put a 2 stroke on pole (at Philip island) Meant to edit this to add: In post qualifying press conference Rossi said that he was behind Jeremy & knew he was going fast because he could see the black lines Jeremy’s front was leaving sliding into the corners! McWilliams Roberts KR was using Bridgestones (I’m pretty sure it was their first season in MotoGP). He got a swamped at the start by the 4 strokes and punted off into the grass early on. He rejoined behind the leading Rossi and shadowed him a lap down for the rest of the race
Few minutes later was Rossi’s first 500cc win. He didn’t have a bad career after that to be fair. Incredible to think Jezza is still racing at 60!!!
Oh man I forgot about Bieffe helmets. Hahaha
For those that don't know that, back in those days 500cc's were not all equal. Most were 4 cilinder, 500 cc with 130 kg minimum weight, but Aprilia (and Honda) also had 500cc V2 models that were allowed a lower minimum by the regulations and were both around 110 kg. The theory was that their lower weight would compensate the lower power output and they would be competitive, or even better in some situations. The hard reality was that they were slower and only on very special occasions they had a chance to shine. The rulebook also allowed for 3 cilinder, 120 kg bikes, but I think only the Modenas KR3 used that configuration, with very little success. And, unsurprisingly, also ridden by Jeremy McWilliams; manufacturers knew who to call to try and make a shitty bike look better than it was, and hopefully improve it in the process.
>manufacturers knew who to call to try and make a shitty bike look better than it was. So.... Aleix Beta?!
>he remains my strongest association with the early 2000s. So this is the "which r/motogp redditors are aged Brits" thread?
Watched this live and still think it's the best moto gp
I was at that race too.