VOL. 52 ISSUE 23 JUNE 9, 2015 P27
Gilles outbid me for Chris Ham-
margren's helmet that he wore
in the Motocross des Nations
the year the Swedes won. I
was so bummed; I really wanted
that helmet. I was sitting next to
Danny "Magoo" Chandler. Gilles
walked up; I had not seen him in
at least 15 years, which did not
stop me from giving him a hard
time about beating me out of that
helmet. He told me that he didn't
want the helmet, he was just bid-
ding it up for charity and if I paid
them my bid amount I could have
the helmet and the charity made
twice as much money! That was
the kind of person he was.
When he and Debbie showed
up at one of our reunion par-
ties a couple of years ago, he
was not in the best health, but
said he was improving. He said
he could not ride dirt bikes any
more, but had been vintage road
racing and taken up flying his
own plane. I asked to see his
AMA Hall of Fame ring, since
he had been inducted in 2009.
He proudly showed it to me; he
wore it on a chain around his
neck. He told me that he had
had a triple bypass in 2003 and
a kidney transplant a couple
years after that. He was beam-
ing with pride when he pointed
to Debbie and said she had
saved his life, donating one of
her own kidneys. I was in awe
of the love that they shared and
she was by his side all night, just
as she was on Monday when he
passed away.
I spoke with Debbie and she
wanted everyone to know that in
lieu of flowers, Gilles asked that
people donate to the AMA Hall
of Fame. Gilles was a good man,
a great friend and a motorcyclist
to the end.
Steve Bauer
DUNLOP BAILS TO BMW
C
urrent Isle of Man Senior TT
Champion Michael Dunlop
has sensationally walked out of
his Milwaukee Yamaha team and
will instead compete on a BMW S
1000 RR machine in the Super-
bike, Senior and Superstock TTs.
The 11-time TT victor has
struggled to get on the pace of
Bruce Anstey, Guy Martin and
John McGuinness so far in prac-
tice and sat down in 13th place
with a lap of 124.519 mph after
Wednesday's practice session in
the Yamaha R1M's TT debut.
"I would like to thank Milwau-
kee Yamaha for their support in
bringing me into their team and I
am genuinely sorry to be making
this decision, but unfortunately
I don't think there is enough
time left with the sessions we've
already lost at the TT to be truly
competitive and get the bike to
the level we need to in order to
win races here," Dunlop said.
Following Dunlop's decision,
made after only three laps of
the TT circuit at the 2015 event,
Milwaukee Yamaha released the
following statement.
"Milwaukee Yamaha has today
[Thursday], released Michael
Dunlop from his contract with
immediate effect.
"Milwaukee Yamaha, its staff
and sponsors have worked tire-
lessly to prepare a race winning
package especially with the
introduction of the new R1M.
The development of the bike
is advancing well, a testament
to results on the short circuit
worldwide. Despite having all
the ingredients for TT success—
rider, bike and team—Michael
has taken the decision not to
continue with the program and
for that reason we have released
him from his contract." CN
Apparently Dunlop's Yamaha con-
tract wasn't worth the paper it was
written on...
