CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
P132
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
I
don't want to sound completely
antique, but when you have
been following GP racing as
long as I have (from boyhood,
naturally), you see quite a few
riders dubbed Greatest Of All
Time.
My first GOAT was Mike
Hailwood, and like many other
oldies I cling to that impression,
no matter what has come since.
But the fact that Mike the Bike
won a Spanish magazine poll for
this title some ten years ago says
more about the pollsters and
their victims than the riders who
came before and after him.
Now the 2015 season, Grand
Prix racing's 67th, has begun
in the unearthly false daylight
at Qatar, and the prospect of
the latest GOAT becomes all
the brighter. Marc Marquez had
already done enough in his first
two MotoGP seasons to become
a serious candidate, and even if
he is not the Losail winner (this
was written before the race) few
would bet against him taking a
third MotoGP title in a row.
Unless the previous GOAT has
something to say about it. The
rejuvenation of Valentino Rossi
last year was not enough in
itself, but if he can continue the
trend at the same pace...
There were of course GOATs
before Hailwood (long-past
names like Stanley Woods,
Jimmy Guthrie, Geoff Duke and
John Surtees spring to mind);
and a fair old slew of them since,
starting with the rider with the
most Grand Prix victories of any-
one. Not even Rossi has been
THE GOAT
