Old Guys – Do they get better with age?

“It’s time to start acting your age son, and leave that fearless gung-ho business to the young ones … Time you spent more time with the ones closest to you before the rheumatism sets in and you can’t run around with the kids anymore.”

That might be the case for normal folk like you and me, but these racers are a long way from normal. Because at a time when they should be thinking about protecting their old and brittle bones, they’re evolving with the world of new technologies, adjusting to emerging riding styles and higher performance, they’re getting faster and faster – and they’re still bloody winning races.

The truth is, fast old bastards have been around since, well, a 38-year-old Les Graham won the inaugural 500cc world championship way back in 1949. But the world was different then; riders had to earn the money to go racing to earn the results that would get them noticed. And all this in a world that was much larger than our internet-enabled one is now.

Earning that sort of money took time, much more time than the energy drink-funded, get-em-while-they’re-young palaver we have today. And while so often it can result in premature burn-out – Australia’s double world champ Casey Stoner had had a gut-full of the world championship by the time he was 27 and called it quits – for a touched few, it means careers can now span decades.    

For these riders, many who have more money than they’ll ever need, and more accolades than most of us could ever dream of, are still driven by the battle, the determination and the desire to win races. 

Bruce Anstey

A 10-year-old Bruce Anstey was peering wide-eyed between the hedges on a family holiday at the Isle of Man in 1978 and witnessed Mike Hailwood make his historic TT comeback aged 38. Now, 38 years later, Bruce Anstey is a cancer survivor, he’s one of road racing’s most successful ever riders and he doesn’t look like slowing down any time soon.

“I was pretty determined and just thought I’d go for the lap record,” is how Anstey described his stirring ride during this year’s Classic Superbike TT on board a two-stroke Yamaha YZR500, (briefly) setting a new lap record of 128.995mph (207.6km/h) on a 20-something year old motorcycle. And the laid-back Kiwi has always been a pretty determined go-for-it kinda guy, having notched up 13 Isle of Man TT wins since he first stood on the top step at the hallowed Mountain circuit in 2002. And 13 would indeed prove lucky, for the 13 seasons between 2002 and 2015, Bruce Anstey stood on a podium at each and every Isle of Man TT, North West 200 and Ulster Grand Prix road racing event. He’s a star on the track and a gentleman off it.

And let’s not even talk about his 45-year-old mate John McGuinness who, if it wasn’t for a seriously broken leg as a result of a fast get-off at this year’s North West 200, probably would have added to his unprecedented TT win tally of 23. And he would have most definitely added to his hugely impressive podium tally of 45. That’s one podium for each of his years on earth, notched up at the toughest road race on earth. Incredible.

Fast Kiwi

Nickname –  Smiley

First race – Cemetery Circuit Wanganui, 1990

Last race – Classic TT, 2017

Career span – 27 years

Claim to fame – Laid-back road racing legend

Greg Hancock

Greg Hancock was racing in the Speedway Grand Prix series a year before Valentino Rossi made his debut in the 125cc World Championship. During the last 23 consecutive seasons, in a sport where the world’s best compete in a couple of high-profile domestic series’ as well as the demanding world series, Greg Hancock has lined up at the tape of 1187 world championship heats, claimed 437 heat wins, has made the final 88 times to finish on the podium 66 times of which 21 were hard-fought wins. At the end of the 2016 season, his 22 years of hard work culminated in his fourth world title, crowned right here on Aussie soil at the season finale at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium, almost exactly one year ago.

Hancock finished fourth overall in his debut year, went one better in 1996 and, in just his third attempt, lofted a well-deserved world championship trophy in 1997. Incredibly, 19 seasons later and aged 46, Hancock would repeat the feat to become the 2016 Speedway World Champion, his fourth title. In July this year, the 47-year-old speedway great dislocated his shoulder three times in three days and withdrew from the 2017 season. No word of retirement, though, oh no.

“My focus now is on getting my shoulder fixed as soon as possible and working hard on my recovery so I can come back next year 100 per cent fit and ready for another big season.” He’ll be 48 years old.

Sliding Yank

Nickname  – The Grin

First race –  1988 League

Last race –  2017 British SGP

Career span –  29 years

Claim to fame – Four-time Speedway world champ

Graham Jarvis

In July this year, 42-year-old Graham Jarvis became the notoriously difficult Red Bull Romaniacs’ most successful rider when he notched up his sixth victory in 11 attempts.

He’s no stranger to winning, as he’s one of the most successful Trials riders in the world, too. He won his first-ever club event in 1985 when he was 10 years old and was British Trials Champion on five occasions. He won the hugely competitive Scottish Six Day Trial four times and, despite missing out on a Trials World Championship, Graham Jarvis won the infamous Scott Trial a total of nine times, which is more than any other rider in the event’s 103-year history.

When Jarvis’ glittering Trials career came to an end, he didn’t opt to take up golf, to relax and enjoy a life outside the demands and rigours of top-level motorcycle racing. No, Jarvis thought he’d try his hand at something different: Hard Enduro.

Beside his unprecedented record at the Red Bull Romaniacs, he’s notched up five Hell’s Gate wins, five Sea-to-Sky victories and his three Erzbergrodeo wins, all of which have cemented the likeable Briton in place as one of the most successful Enduro riders in the world.

Gritty Brit

Nickname – G-Force

First race – 1992 British Trial

Last race – 2017 Sea-to-Sky

Career span – 25 years

Claim to fame – Trials and Enduro legend

Valentino Rossi

When Valentino Rossi won the 2017 Assen TT this year, he was 65 days older than Mike Hailwood was when he recorded his Isle of Man TT win in his famous 1978 comeback. You might think of thirty eight as an age to stage a motorcycle racing comeback, but the only comeback Valentino Rossi has had of late is the record-breaking time between suffering a double fracture in his right leg and coming back to race.

He has far too many records to mention, but his longevity in the sport is unprecedented. His Assen win extended his winning span across all three classes to 20 years, 10 months and 11 days, having tasted his first victory at the 1996 Czech Grand Prix. To put that into perspective, Valentino Rossi won his first Grand Prix when ECSTAR Suzuki rider Alex Rins was just nine months old. His teammate Maverick Viñales had just turned one and Jack Miller may have just started crawling.

Not only is Valentino Rossi’s longevity in the sport remarkable, but 21 years later he’s as determined, as focussed and as competitive as he’s ever been to take his world championship tally to a perfect 10.

Gp goat

Nickname – The Doctor

First race – 1996 Malaysian 125cc GP

Last race – 2017 Japanese GP

Career span – 21 years

Claim to fame – Grand Prix god

Marco Melandri

As everyone oohs and aahs over Valentino Rossi’s longevity (me included), it’s easy to forget that Marco Melandri made his 125cc GP debut one year after Rossi in 1997, before his first full season the following year in 1998. As AMCN went to print and 19 years after his 125cc GP debut, Melandri was sitting fourth in the 2017 World Superbike Championship standings following 10 podiums from 17 starts on his factory-backed Ducati Panigale 1199.

He enjoyed 17 podiums in his two years in the 125cc category, seven of them wins, before moving to the intermediate category where his talent gained momentum with a further 25 podiums, 10 of them victories, to claim the 250cc world title in 2002. He was promoted to the premier class in 2003 but struggled to find his feet in the category until 2005 when he finished runner-up to (you guessed it) Valentino Rossi. Two more seasons of podiums and top-10 places (and who can forget the one-handed power slide to victory at Phillip Island in 2006) earned him a berth in the Factory Ducati squad in 2008 alongside Australia’s Casey Stoner where, when unable to achieve the same results as his teammate, he was shuffled off to a psychologist and eventually out of the team. Ironically, after a three-year racing hiatus, Melandri is back under the wing of Ducati Corse where’s he’s getting results and recently inked a deal for the 2018 season.

Young Gun

Nickname  Supermarco

First race 1997 Czech 125cc GP

Last race WSBK ‘17 France

Career span 19 years

Claim to fame 2002 250cc World Champion

The Fastard Phenomenon ain’t  new …

Ancient history

42 / Jack Findlay

Aussie legend Jack Findlay’s first world championship race was at the German Grand Prix in 1958. Some 19 years later he became the second-oldest bloke to ever win a Grand Prix, with victory at the 1977 500cc Austrian Grand Prix, aged 42. His last race was the 1978 West German Grand Prix, giving the Victorian one of the longest careers in Grand Prix history. A bronze statue of Findlay was erected in 2006 in the park of his home town of Mooroopna, now renamed the Jack Findlay reserve.

Modern history

38 / Mike Hailwood

It was the return of one of the biggest names in motorcycle racing, at one of the most famous tracks, and on one of the most beautiful motorcycles ever built. At 38 years of age, 12 years after his last world title motorcycle race, Mike Hailwood made his hugely publicised return to the Isle of Man TT. With a young Bruce Anstey peeking through the hedges and when Valentino Rossi was still a glint in his father’s eye, Mike Hailwood achieved his most famous victory.

Recent history

41 / Max Biaggi

Italian legend Max Biaggi made his Grand Prix debut way back in 1991 and won the first of his four consecutive 250cc world titles three years later in 1994, aged 23. Sixteen years after his GP debut, aged 39, Max Biaggi won the 2010 World Superbike Championship. Just to prove his better-with-age thing wasn’t a fluke, he’d back it up again in 2012 with 11 podiums, five wins and his sixth world championship. He was 41 years old.

Rickety rookies

In real life, late-20s isn’t old, in fact it’s a long way from even middle-age. But in MotoGP it is old. A few years ago, the idea of a rider near 30 going into MotoGP was unheard of.

But that all changed a year ago when 26-year-old double Moto2 champ Johann Zarco signed for the Yamaha Monster Tech3 squad; with him came experience, methodology, patience and impressive results. And since the flying Frenchman led the opening round of the 2017 MotoGP World Championship in Qatar, eking out a two-second gap by just his fifth ever lap in the premier class, now everyone wants in on the rickety  rookie.

Thomas Luthi

At 31, the Moto2 front runner must have thought any hopes he had for a berth in the premier class were dashed. But at the end of August the Swiss rider inked a deal with Marc VDS Honda to ride the satellite RCV213 in 2018 beside Moto2 rival Franco Morbidelli in an all-rookie affair. 

Takaaki Nakagami

Jack Miller, only 22, recently had his 100th GP start (and 45th in MotoGP), so it’s easy to see why 26 may be seen as old. And that’s how old Japanese rider Takaaki Nakagami will be when he lines up in his first MotoGP race next April. He’ll be riding for the satellite LCR Honda squad alongside Cal Crutchlow.

Xavier Simeon

The Belgian will join Tito Rabat at the Avintia Ducati squad in 2018, making his premier-class debut at 28. He’s been a familiar name in  Moto2 since 2010 and has scored four podiums, including his sole win in the 2015 German Grand Prix.

Words Kellie Buckley

Photography Gold & Goose and AMCN archives