James Hunt and Barry Sheene…

I've watched that a few times!

I was 18 in 1977 so was invincible. Had a car, a motorbike, smoked Marlboro and had a job - in an insurance company. Maybe that's where it all went wrong.

I know that today’s woke world wouldn’t allow this but I wish a bit of this 1970s spirit was in F1 of today.
I’ve attended motor racing since the 1960s and then it was a sport that any interested person could attend, walk through the pits, talk to the drivers and have a drink with them in the bar afterwards. Entrance tickets used to have the message “motor racing is dangerous “ printed on them.
Today the cost to attend is ridiculous, you can’t get near the drivers and it’s better watched on television.

Thanks for posting that. I'd seen some of the content before but that was well worth a watch. Interesting insight from Max (M not V).

Off topic.

Thank you most kindly - enjoyed that.

so true!

Seen them both in action at Silverstone in the 70's, Barry Sheene was my absolute boyhood hero (I was 14 in 76 when he won his 500cc championship) and probably still is. I started riding motorbikes at 16 and still am at 62, he was a role model for my youth. he was a clever guy, for all his playboy image, astute with his time as well as his money.
When he won his championship, the riders were largely paid by the circuits for appearance money, then bonus's for winning, so he won the series with (i think) 3 races to go and asked the final 3 circuits for more money so the fans could see the newly crowned champion racing. They refused so he stayed at home, not risking injury or wasting time going. In another example, one of his most famous quotes was " Don't wait for your ship to come in, swim out and meet the bloody thing".
A total legend in the truest sense of the word, RIP Bazza, gone but certainly not forgotten.

Back then a hero was someone that smoked and drank a lot. Lots of dolly birds (70s term) from ciggy companies flooded the paddock.
Not suprising there were so many photo ops for people to build into some epic fantasy now.
Both died quite young thanks to buying into the unhealthy image. Footballers like george best were also briefly on top before dining out on the image for years and years.
wouldnt even get on the grid/pitch now as f1/motogp/football are pretty serious places of work.
I guess the only option is mad fashion choices lol.
Safety only improved in motorcycle racing when kenny roberts came along. He said sheene was not happy kr was rocking the boat as he had it good compared to all the poor losers further down the grid. Hardly flattering.