FEATURE
P80
WHERE THE RACING IS
Rossi and Sete Gibernau eight
years ago – discussed at more
length below. For those with longer memories it evoked a similar
move in a far-off place at a far-off
time, that had a pivotal effect not
only on that year's World Championship, but also on the changeover of two racing dynasties.
The year was 1983, the place
Anderstorp in Sweden – an airfield runway linked at each end
by a series of to-and-fro loops
among low dunes, in the middle
of a forest that was itself in the
middle of a number of other forests. It was here that King Kenny Roberts was – in one single
move – ousted by his successor,
Fast Freddie Spencer.
It was the last lap, last-but-one
corner, at the end of the runway
and with only a few to see it. Roberts braked as late as he thought
possible and was peeling into
the corner when Spencer arrived
alongside, all crossed up. There
were two possibilities – hold his
line and they would collide and
both crash... or run off wide to
give Spencer the chance to do
the same.
Roberts realized, he later revealed, that he had far underestimated not the skill or the speed
of his rival, but his deadly determination.
"You don't expect that sort of
riding at this level. We could have
been killed," he said at the time.
Here was a young guy who
was perfectly prepared to crash
and maybe die for his need to
get in front. It was not his kind of
racing any more. At the next race
Spencer took the title by two
points. Roberts retired forthwith.
It's a step too far to think Lorenzo will suffer the same blinding revelation, but the omens are
there for those who want to see
them.
It is not the first time Lorenzo's
considerable dignity has been
ruffled in a last-corner drama. His
assailant in 2009 was then (and
now again) teammate Valentino.
