too intense, delivered with a
resigned expression: "It's only a
motorcycle race.")
Yet there are others for whom
this superficial badge of honor
really means something. Some
riders. More importantly, all
manufacturers. A picture of your
bike with the champion's mark is
more than just a vanity talisman.
It's an advertising coup.
The British GP, as well as
events leading up to it, threw
the matter into sharp focus. At
Silverstone, the often mistak
-
enly underrated Enea Bastianini
claimed a
clear double win and
put himself firmly into the run-
ning for the championship.
His
dominant performance
may have been a little unex
-
pected. But not really, when you
T
he number-one plate, ac-
cording to Mick Doohan, is
nothing
more than a target
for the other riders. "When
you're on the bike, you can't
even see it."
The great multi-champion
always had a gift for cutting
through the crap. (Another of
his pithy sayings, when some
interlocutor was getting a bit
P138
CN II IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
Ducati has
another rider with
eyes very much
on the MotoGP
Championship:
Enea Bastianini.
DUCATI'S
DUCK SOUP
