Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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VOL. 54 ISSUE 34 AUGUST 29, 2017 P125 tragic for her family, I had no further opinion about the late princess. Neutral. Apolitical. Or, if you like, apathetic. I was much more absorbed in the racing—wondering whether Mick Doohan, hav- ing tied up his fourth title two weeks before in Britain—could be bothered to win the race (he could, claiming his 11th win in a year when he set a record of 12, since broken only by Mar- quez). And whether Valentino Rossi might secure his first title in the 125 class. (He did.) Another historical reference: Max Biaggi won the 250 race, on the way to his own third successive 250 crown. But I sensed the chance to score some points. Three races earlier, at the Nürburgring, Dorna had initiated an unprecedented ceremony—one minute's silence on the grid. This was not a motorcycle racing matter, but to mark the cold-blooded murder by Basque separat- ist group ETA of a kidnapped politician, one Miguel Angel Blanco. Held hostage, he was shot in the back of the head when the Spanish government refused demands to transfer ETA prisoners to local prisons. Nasty. A national scandal, and as it transpired a politically pivotal moment. But an en- tirely Spanish affair. It was not only me who questioned the relevance of this tribute at the German GP. So now I stormed into the press office, and asked the Dorna-appointed boss, a re- doubtable Italian lady, whether we could have a minute's silence for Diana. She returned smiling ingratiatingly, even sym- pathetically, and said: "Carme- lo Ezpeleta has said yes, you can have a minute's silence. In the press room." No. Not good enough. I wanted the whole track in- volved. As it had been in Ger- many. "Renata," I fumed. "This death has no effect whatsoever on me personally. But if we can have a minute's silence at a grand prix for a Spanish politi- cian, we can have an effing minute's silence for a British princess." "Mike," she said. "I never know when you are joking or not." I replied straight-faced: "It doesn't matter if I am joking or not." Thus, at my behest, a crowd of 80,000-plus on a distant Czech hillside marked Diana's passing in eerie silence. Bro- ken only by the snorts of me trying to suppress laughter. So perhaps I am a bit to blame, for a practice that has become so commonplace in GP racing that hardly a week- end passes without another minute of silence—for a terrorist attack somewhere, or maybe an earthquake, or famine, or train smash, or something ghastly somewhere else. Sometimes they are double- deckers, commemorating more than one event. It's a wonder, among all these silences, anyone gets a chance to talk to anyone else at all. Sometimes of course they are entirely apposite. It is right that racing should mourn one of its own. This year we have stood in silence for Angel Nieto and (for 69 sad seconds) Nicky Hayden. Although not for John Surtees, nor last year for Geoff Duke, which seems a bit unfair, but then neither of them had anything to do with Dorna. Nor could anyone forget the minute of engine-revving noise for Marco Simoncelli, a couple of years ago. But these sincerely respect- ful moments are undermined by the fact that they are now so commonplace. Sentiment is cheapened by repetition. I suppose we shall have to brace ourselves for more minutes of silence over the rest of the GP year. And I suppose we should also be thankful when they are irrel- evant. It's better that way. CN