Randy Mamola, the one-time “Clown Prince” of MotoGP and co-founder and tireless charity worker for Riders for Health, became the 27th MotoGP Legend at COTA, in a ceremony both good-humoured and tearful.

Mamola is the first in the Hall of Fame never to have won a championship in any class.

But on the other side he was not only a massively popular showman in his era, from 1979 to 1992; but also four times title runner up. With 13 wins in the 500 class Mamola far outranks previous US inductees Kenny Roberts Jr. (eight wins) and Nicky Hayden (three). Other Legends, including modern-era fatalities Daijiro Kato and Marco Simoncelli, have zero premier-class wins, although winning titles in the smaller classes.

Mamola spoke at length about the influence of Kenny Roberts (Senior) on his career, and on racing in general, and about how he dealt with never quite winning the title. “I am one of the best riders that ever raced a motorcycle; I am one of the best riders to have thrown his leg over the screaming 500s,” he said.

He spoke of how Roberts had pioneered the two-seater GP bike, and how “I’ve taken more than 6,000 people on that over the past 18 years.”

And he spoke with intensity about his work with charity, first with Save the Children and then as a prime mover for Riders for Health, using motorcycles to provide health care in rural Africa. “We are reaching 15 million people, but to me that is still small, because my dream is to make it more,” he said.

Footnote: Rising star Johann Zarco made no bones about his disapproval, speaking at the pre-event press conference. “I would say it is not fair that he became a legend because he is not champion in the best category, so the title means hardly anything. He invested himself to make the sport good, but …

By MotoGP