P120
CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
I
t's always been pretty hard to
get to the top in motorcycle GP
racing.
For a start you need that
special combination of talent
and determination. The levels of
each can vary (riding skills, for
example, can be natural but can
also be learned), but the sum
total of them needs to be formi-
dably large.
Then you need an entry
pass. These are not generally
obtainable without considerable
expenditure, even for the most
talented riders, although the very
lucky ones are those discov-
ered early on by talent-hunting
managers with links to wealthy
sponsors. Valentino Rossi and
Marc Marquez, for example, had
big guys paying the bills from
their earliest road-racing years.
By contrast, Casey Stoner and
family had to suffer many depri-
vations before notable Svengali
Alberto Puig picked him up, and
the Brad Binder family coffers
were heavily raided to get Brad
where he is today. His father
IT'S HARD TO START, HARDER TO STOP
For many
champions,
saying it's
time to retire
is the hardest
decision of their
career. PHOTO:
GOLD & GOOSE
