Motorbike racers
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I am also a loyal follower (I haven't missed a 500 / MGP race since 1994!).
Traditionally, Spain and Italy have had several advantages which together have produced a flood of young talent. Firstly, the climate means that motorcycles are a bigger market than in most northern European countries. This means more sponsorship from major companies.
Also, the national championships have ben better organised, cheaper and more suited to developing talent. Did you know that you can start raing in Spain at 6 yrs old, and that there are series in which for around 3 - 4k you can enter every race (4 or 5 per year) with a loan bike?
Also, small bike manufacturers in southern Europe were more dedicated to competition bikes, Polini, Metrakit, Derbi etc....
There are other factors, which also spurred things on, Angel Nieto being largely responsible for getting racing onto national TV at a time when there weren't many international Spanish sports stars.
The UK had Barry Sheene, then when he retired we forgot all about it until Foggy came along!
Traditionally, Spain and Italy have had several advantages which together have produced a flood of young talent. Firstly, the climate means that motorcycles are a bigger market than in most northern European countries. This means more sponsorship from major companies.
Also, the national championships have ben better organised, cheaper and more suited to developing talent. Did you know that you can start raing in Spain at 6 yrs old, and that there are series in which for around 3 - 4k you can enter every race (4 or 5 per year) with a loan bike?
Also, small bike manufacturers in southern Europe were more dedicated to competition bikes, Polini, Metrakit, Derbi etc....
There are other factors, which also spurred things on, Angel Nieto being largely responsible for getting racing onto national TV at a time when there weren't many international Spanish sports stars.
The UK had Barry Sheene, then when he retired we forgot all about it until Foggy came along!
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Sadly not. I am restricted to what goes on TV, and the odd race track-side.
I used to like going to WSB races in the UK and Assen, but since I left the UK I have only seen a few Moto GP events track-side.
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19,395 Posts
The Jarama race track is near you, isn't it? Don't they have motor bike racing there?
Jarama - RacingCircuits.info
Saw it from the plane a few days ago when flying back. I'm sure we don't usually fly over....
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Jarama has several problems for modern motorcycle racing:
Firstly the run off areas are too small for it to be homologated for any major competitions, secondly, the owners / operators, RACE, used the surounding land for property developments in the 90s and now there are strict noise restrictions due to the complaints by residents of those properties (go figure, you buy a house next to a race track, then complain abut the noise...)
The track layout is great, but I have never seen any racing there. Before moving away I used to go with my own bike quite regularly for track days, but I haven't been for a while now with the bike. The tarmac isn't so great now but it is still fun. I also go once a year with the classic car club I belong to for the "open day", where owners of classic cars can do a few laps.
Madrid desperately needs a modern circuit to entice the big competitions back from Cataluña, Jerez, Valencia and Alcañiz, but despite various plans being proposed in recent times (Pinto, Barajas etc) nobody is prepared to put up funding in the current financial climate.
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Maybe somebody should think about building one instead of all these "Las Vegas in Madrid" type proposals:smile:
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