Greatest Rider of all Time

http://www.elmundodeportivo.es/web/gen/20080929/encuesta_53550396245.html?id=53550396245

As always, very slanted towards the current star on a popularity high
due to his new title. If you'd asked a year ago, things woud have been
more contested

I am floored that Hailwood -who won the Motociclismo version of this-
isn't on the list. He still gets my vote, even though I think Roberts,
Agostini, Lawson, Rainey, Doohan and Rossi also have strong cases. And
Spencer and Schwantz should also be there for their brief outbursts of
insane brilliance.

Why Hailwood? Just coming out of long retirement and blowing up the TT
on a Ducati is one of the craziest feats ever accomplished.

 

For me, Rossi cemented his place in history by a) switching from Honda
to Yamaha and winning a championship and then b) making a comeback
after not winning a championship for two years.

I've got the greatest respect for Hailwood - the first time I went to
the Isle of Man was a day trip to see the '78 F1 race - but for me
Rossi has already accomplished more.

 

Mark N says:

I agree and add that in spite of his reputation of being
a lackluster, if prickly, interviewee, some of my best
remembrances of Eddie Lawson are his terse responses
to stupid questions:

After not making it to the podium when Rainey was celebrating
winning a championship he was asked
"how does it feel to give up the number one plate"
"It sucks"

Asked by a fellow competitor how he is getting around
corner X
"Flick the bitch"

Asked by a motomag editor what he learned about car
control after a brief four wheel dirt tracker test:
"Steer and stomp"


Go fast. Take chances.
Mike S.

 

Me too.

<snip>

And wasn't it Lawson who said "Wait til you see God, then brake" ?

 

Schwantz - Eddie was agnostic on the brakes...

 

Not to get too technical, but Eddie did actually make it to that
podium, he just left when it took Rainey a long time to get there.
That was when he was getting very frustrated with what was happening
with his machine on Team Roberts (he was Wayne's teammate). Eddie got
a bit of a bad rap for doing that for some reason, but in fact the
championship had been gone for months, after breaking his heel at the
2nd round at Laguna and missing half the season. I don't think his
leaving had anything to do with Wayne taking his championship, rather
it was all about his disappointing race. At the previous round, where
Schwantz crashed and Eddie followed Wayne home in 2nd he was very
cheerful on the podium, celebrating with Wayne.

 

heh.

 

Of course, which is why it's such a bar-room standard

I was a huge Lawson fan when I first started following GPs, and
nothing has changed my view of him. Despite us disagreeing on much
else, I'm with you completely on Eddie.

The other thing about Ago is he's one of the few top riders who
crossed the line from what's now thought of as the 'classic' period (4
strokes round the Isle of Man, Imatra, etc) to the 'modern' period (2
strokes round purpose built circuits). The fact that he could excel
at both counts for something, in my view.

 

That's kind of true, he was the first guy to win a championship on a
two stroke, of course. But his last year was, what, '77? If you look
at the circuits they used that year and the ones that they used ten
years earlier when he battled Hailwood, they both included the rings
o' Salzburg and Hockenheim, Assen, Spa, Imola, Brno, Imatra. 1967 also
had Dunrod, Monza, Mosport in addition to the IoM (which the
elimination of Ago was critically involved, right?), and 1977 had Paul
Ricard, Anderstorp, San Carlos and Silverstone. Imatra was actually in
the series thru '81. What I would think of as really striding the
divide would be more someone who camne up around 1970 and lasted until
the American revolution and the factory takeover in the mid-80s. But
there's really no one of real note who did that in the premier class,
right?

 

Barry Sheene?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Sheene
http://www.motogp.com/en/MotoGP+Legends/profiles/Barry+Sheene
First Grand Prix 1970 125cc Spanish Grand Prix
First 500cc 1974 Probably. 6th in the championship
Last Grand Prix 1984 500cc San Marino Grand Prix

I think he only raced at the IoM once on a private Suzuki 125. But I
could be wrong about that.