Stoner to run 27 or 1?

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2007/Oct/071009a.htm

"Ducati deserves it"...like he won't mind running it?? What a good mate....

 

Barry Sheene was the first GP racer to demand that he keep his Lucky #7 for all of the races. In those days (or so I read) you were given a number at the race track for that event. Barry liked his #7 so much (along with his Donald Duck on the helmet) that he forced the issue. I also read somewhere that Rossi didn't take the #1 plate out of respect to Barry's tradition of running the same number no matter what the finishing position. But I read that at the time of Sheene's demise, so that quote might have been pure PR.

There's a great glossy mag out that is titled "Barry Sheene" or somesuch that I picked up at Barnes and Noble (or whatever big box book store it was). It's pretty much straight up hero worship, but there are some great stories and really good pics in it.

 

I've been learning about the olden days of GP by watching the year in reviews on racing-underground.com. Great if you like to see the "legends" in action. I saw the '84 and '87 seasons just recently. Mammola, Lawson, Spencer, Schwantz, Gardner, Sheene... Those bikes were evil with the hit of the powerband.

 

Did you tell your kid?

 

I would agree there are few reasons not too, I think switching teams is one of them.