P120
CN
III TRACKSIDE
Y
ou can measure a racer
by the number of wins
he accumulates. But
can you measure a man by
how he deals with them?
There were many heartening
things about Jack Miller's As-
sen victory three weeks ago. It
was a win for an underdog, a
reversal of recently unkind for-
tune and a welcome change
to the established order of
things.
At least as great as any of
these were the young feller's
own reaction and celebrations.
They ranged from emotional
humility directly after the race
to ebullient outpourings of
unruliness some time later,
marked by strong drink and
strong language and enlivened
(as I shall probably never tire
of mentioning) by draining a
bottle of Mezcal, and then eat-
ing the pickled worm from the
bottom.
Proper old-school. Just like
a real motorcycle racer. And
just like a real person.
You will not see anything
like this when Marquez wins.
Or Pedrosa. (If only). Lo-
renzo makes an effort, with
the return at Le Mans of his
Lorenzo's Land gravel-trap
flag. Alas, there is something
mechanical about it, and di-
rectly afterwards he becomes
Mr. Sensible again, analyzing
rather than glorying in his win.
Rossi does make his happi-
ness a little more obvious, but
if anything unruly happens it is
behind the closed doors and
HOW TO WIN A GRAND PRIX RACE
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
