vifferman
4th January 2010, 21:08
No, it's not the tale of the aftermath of a dangerously hot chili dinner, but the "Inside story of MotoGP", by Rick Broadbent, a sports writer for The Times. It was a thoughtful gift from my wife for my birthday or Christmas (forgive me if I forget which one, but they're kind of inextricably entwined....)
Anyway, it's quite an elucidating and educational read, and covers the MotoGP period, and its main players. Interspersed with chapters covering the fortunes of its main protagonists are others dealing with Mike "The Bike" Hailwood and Giacomo Agostini, and other players in their battles, such as Phil Read, Mick Grant, Bill Ivy, Gary Hocking, Jim Redman and our own Ginger Molloy.
Being a journalist, Broadbent has put together descriptions of races, after-race parties, anecdotes and stories, fleshed out by interviews with those involved, so you get a pretty good insight into the premier racing scene, and what occurs behind it, the motivations of the stars, and so forth. When writing about some of the 'bit players', Broadbent tends to have a bit of a lean towards Brtish riders, which I guess is understandable, given that they are more accessible to him, and he's probably a patriot, so we don't find out much about riders like Randy de Puniet, the Jap riders, etc. However, it's also fairly up to date, as it was published in 2009.
I found out all sorts of "behind the scenes" stuff I didn't know about Rossi, Aaron Slight, Stoner, etc etc. Despite being a big Rossi fan, my estmation of him as a person has gone down quite a bit, as he sounds like a bit of an arsehole.
I'm not quite finished reading it (I'm up to chapter "Lap12", which is one of those intermediate chapters dealing with Mike Hailwood's 1978 Isle of Man TT comeback) so I can't tell you what happens in the end, but I suspect the hero gets the girl. Or the trophy. Or probably both.
Whatever - I recommend this book as a good read for those interested in MotoGP.
So that would be most of us.
Anyway, it's quite an elucidating and educational read, and covers the MotoGP period, and its main players. Interspersed with chapters covering the fortunes of its main protagonists are others dealing with Mike "The Bike" Hailwood and Giacomo Agostini, and other players in their battles, such as Phil Read, Mick Grant, Bill Ivy, Gary Hocking, Jim Redman and our own Ginger Molloy.
Being a journalist, Broadbent has put together descriptions of races, after-race parties, anecdotes and stories, fleshed out by interviews with those involved, so you get a pretty good insight into the premier racing scene, and what occurs behind it, the motivations of the stars, and so forth. When writing about some of the 'bit players', Broadbent tends to have a bit of a lean towards Brtish riders, which I guess is understandable, given that they are more accessible to him, and he's probably a patriot, so we don't find out much about riders like Randy de Puniet, the Jap riders, etc. However, it's also fairly up to date, as it was published in 2009.
I found out all sorts of "behind the scenes" stuff I didn't know about Rossi, Aaron Slight, Stoner, etc etc. Despite being a big Rossi fan, my estmation of him as a person has gone down quite a bit, as he sounds like a bit of an arsehole.
I'm not quite finished reading it (I'm up to chapter "Lap12", which is one of those intermediate chapters dealing with Mike Hailwood's 1978 Isle of Man TT comeback) so I can't tell you what happens in the end, but I suspect the hero gets the girl. Or the trophy. Or probably both.
Whatever - I recommend this book as a good read for those interested in MotoGP.
So that would be most of us.