Who are the true legends of motorbike competition?

pic: Elliot Doering
By Dan Moakes
June 27 2005

For their series on ‘The World’s Greatest Sporting Legend’, Sky television assembled three big names from Formula One racing to put forward their nominations from motorsport. Bernie Ecclestone, Eddie Jordan and Nigel Mansell came up with six names for viewers to vote for.

The shortlist included Mansell himself, along with his modern rivals, Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher; and also Stirling Moss, John Surtees and Mick Doohan. One could easily question the wisdom of selecting so few individuals to represent any field of sporting endeavour, of course, but there is also plenty of scope to argue for the inclusion of any number of other big names not mentioned. Or to get into debate about even attempting to compare competitors from different eras, what with the technological changes the sport has seen over time.

Viewers sent e-mail and text messages praising their favourites from the names above, or citing the likes of Juan Manuel Fangio, Jim Clark, Gilles Villeneuve, Mika Häkkinen and Juan Pablo Montoya as potential candidates - as well as Murray Walker; and Mike Hawthorn was mentioned in the studio. One might add names such as Alain Prost, Mario Andretti and Rick Mears, or pre-war heroes like Tazio Nuvolari, Achille Varzi, Bernd Rosemeyer and Rudolf Caracciola. But inevitably this site is concerned with racers on two wheels.

John Surtees may forever be known as the only man to win World Championship motoring titles on both two and four wheels, but he is by no means the only man to taste success in both categories. Mike Hailwood and Johnny Cecotto are also brought to mind. And in the case of Mick Doohan: of course he was the performance measuring stick in 500cc Grands Prix during the late 1990s, but in the first part of that decade there were four or five talented men of at least equal significance to the Australian, some of whose achievements are arguably more praiseworthy. And what of the men on 250 and 125 machinery?

Viewers’ communications rightly heaped accolade on such star riders as Barry Sheene, Joey Dunlop, Carl Fogarty and Valentino Rossi, but no mention was made of the most successful GP duo Giacomo Agostini and Angel Nieto. Nor did modern greats such as Kenny Roberts, Freddie Spencer, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey or Kevin Schwantz get a mention. There are many further important riders from a variety of motorcycle racing disciplines, including dirt-track, endurance, and road racing, that are worthy of consideration, as there are from other four wheel categories.

So, are Surtees and Doohan the best, or do you rate Rainey and Rossi more highly? And are they better than Senna and Schumacher? Vote in our poll now, or join the debate on our message board.