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But it was with Sheene that he was first involved with in grand prix racing; and he worked also with Barry's Suzuki teammate Pat Hennen, who in 1976 be- came the first American to win a premier-class grand prix, before a promising career was cut short in 1978 by a serious crash in the Isle of Man TT. With Honda and Yamaha lead - ing the way, Suzuki was always the underdog of the Japanese tri- umvirate in terms of budget and facilities. This imposed special challenges, and as team man - ager, Taylor gained a reputation for skillful diplomacy between Japan and the European side, and wherever else it was required. Avant: "He was very worldly and very pragmatic. With Suzuki he was always under duress… he had to make decisions on the ground in Europe that the larger companies made in Japan. And he made it look easy." A rider pairing that would have changed racing history was thwarted in 1989—in an interven - tion by Barry Sheene. An untold story was confirmed at Goodwood last year when Mick Doohan revealed to Kevin Schwantz that they were almost teammates. He had a verbal agreement with Garry Taylor to join Suzuki when it was ga - zumped by Honda. Sheene, living in Australia, told Mick that Honda was a better bet, and promised to fix the situ- ation. Taylor told me recently: "Barry called me, said that Mick was very superstitious, and had dreamed that joining Suzuki would be very dangerous." Taylor knew it was nonsense but—always pragmatic—had no option. "A contract is worthless if either party doesn't want to keep it," he said. In Mick's place on the Pepsi- Suzuki, he signed Ron Haslam. Doohan joined Rothmans Honda and went on to five world cham - pionships. Schwantz, who himself came close to joining Yamaha at the end of 1989, had no idea of how close they came to being team- mates. "Well, that would have been a strong team," he mused. Suzuki Riders Speak Rob McElnea (1984-85, 1988) After Suzuki pulled out, they left a full factory team to match Honda's, and Garry gave me the chance. It was a means to an end—his own little team. But it was brilliant for me. There wasn't a lot of money, but it was the best time of my life. Second time around with Kevin, my contract wasn't renewed… but that's how it was. He was a good friend to me. Niall Mackenzie (1986, 1990) In 1981, when I was invited to the Yamaha ProAm series, Garry gave me the sign-on sheet and a ProAm cap. Our paths crossed again with Suzuki in 1986. I'd committed to Armstrong in 250, but I asked for a one-off ride at Silverstone, and it led to more… so he gave me my break in 500s. [Niall signed a letter of intent for 1987 but was poached by Honda.] Garry was good to me, and I crossed him. I never expected to ride a Suzuki again, but he gave me another opportunity in 1990. I had my best season [fourth overall]. Garry was fun, at the races and outside. He didn't mind having a party. Kevin Schwantz (1987-1995) My take is that you're not manag- ing the team at the races. Every- thing is already set by the begin- ning of the season. Garry was just there at the back of the garage in case an issue came up. He would stand back and watch. He made sure everything kept operating. He could see I was pretty unhappy as the season went on in 1991, and it was Garry's doing to get Stu Shenton in for 1992. With the experience he brought, that was the biggest step, and 1993 was our year. Kenny Roberts Jr. (1999-2005) The overall thing with Garry— you'd known him five minutes and it felt like you'd known him forev- er. In 1998 (riding the uncompeti- tive Modenas) I knew I was going to have to find a different path. I knew Garry casually, and I said to him: I'd like to talk about next year. From that time on, he knew what Warren Willing and I had to do, and he protected us: kept a barrier with Japan on stuff for testing that we didn't want. It was a very delicate situation. He did it well, and he did it nonchalantly, so we got our way in the end. And to keep that thing together, with less budget and fewer engineers, took something special. CN P114 CN II IN THE PADDOCK