My fastest accident was probably
DW 6\GQH\ 0RWRUVSRUW 3DUN D IHZ
years back during my race debut, and
the cost of that was a few broken
ULEV DQG PRUH EUXLVLQJ WKDQ D 8)&
dressing room. I had to lie on the
couch for almost two weeks.
7KH 0RWR*3 EORNHV GR QRW OLH RQDQ\
couches after they crash. The current
world champion, Marc Marquez, hit a
wall a few years back during practice at
PRUH WKDQ NPK , EHOLHYH LW ZDV
the fastest ever motorsport accident.
,W VHQW KLV UDFHVXLW WHOHPHWU\ LQWR
meltdown because it was unable to
UHFRUG WKH DPRXQW RI *IRUFH KH
copped. Marc put a Bandaid on his
FKLQ FKDQJHG KLV VXLW DQG FDPH ÀIWKLQ
the race the next day.
Jorge Lorenzo broke his collarbone,
ÁHZ RII WR KDYH VXUJHU\ DQG ZDV EDFN
WR PDNH 4XDOLI\LQJ WKH IROORZLQJ GD\
with a bunch of plates and screws
holding his arm to his body.
And it’s impossible to forget Mick
Doohan, his leg broken so badly it had
to be sewn to his other leg for weeks
so it wouldn’t die of blood deprivation,
FUXWFKLQJ KLV ZD\ WR KLV WZRVWURNH
ZLGRZ PDNHU *3 ELNH DQG UDFLQJ
like there was nothing wrong
with him at all.
Both Valentino Rossi and Jack
Miller were nursing very recently
EURNHQ OHJV DW WKH 3KLOOLS ,VODQG
this year. Rossi was about three
weeks into his recovery and
Jack about two into his.
Did that slow them
down? Did it shit.
Jack led for a few
laps, as did Rossi,
who eventuallyTHE DEFINITION
OF TOUGH
I
’M WRITING THISpretty
much straight after the Australian
URXQG RI WKH 0RWR*3 , PD\
have calmed down by the time you read
it, but it’s also likely I’ll still be buzzing
a little bit. It was, as they say in the
classics, a race for the ages – after all, at
one stage, two men, both with recently
EURNHQ DQG VWLOOKHDOLQJ OHJV IXOO RI
cruel hardware, were dicing ruthlessly
for the lead.
0RWR*3 UDFHUV DUH QRW SK\VLFDOO\ ELJ
men. They are not hung with muscle, or
etched with tattoos – though some of
them do carry a bit of ink – and to pass
them in the street you would not really
look at them twice unless you were a
IDQ RI WKH VSRUW 6R , JXHVV WKH\·UH QRW
your archetypal hard men as far as their
physical appearance goes.
But I’m thinking they have to be
some of the toughest men who’ve ever
walked the earth.
I’ve crashed a few times in my riding
career. I’ve even pitched myself off
D UDFHWUDFN D IHZ WLPHV 6R , DP QR
stranger to pain. And when it comes,
I need to lie down for a few weeks,
then spend a few more gimping
around while my injuries heal.
My worst accident a few years
back saw me on the sidelines
for about six weeks. A double
compound fracture of my left
DUP DQG D EURNHQ & YHUWHEUD
(happily stable) will do
that to you. I did
that to myself
at about
NPKWRRNDYHU\KDUGIRXJKWVHFRQG
place. His leathers were smeared with
molten rubber from Marquez and
Zarco riding their motorcycles into
him during the race.
I cannot comprehend this. It lies
outside my normal cognitive parameters.
6XUHWKHVHJX\VJHWWKHEHVWPHGLFDO
WUHDWPHQWK\SHUEDULFFKDPEHUVSDLQ
killing injections (though not in all
cases), and great physio – after all, they
really are racing for cattle stations –
but come on. Broken bones, bruised
organs, and battered muscles still hurt
like a thousand bastards and lying on
the couch being served ice cream by
a considerate wife or girlfriend until
you’re feeling better is how normal
people operate.
But of course these blokes are not
normal people. They are motorcycle
racers. And motorcycle racers, even the
ones who aren’t ever going to be good
HQRXJKULFKHQRXJKRUZHOOFRQQHFWHG
HQRXJKWRJHWDUXQLQ0RWR*3DUH
WRXJK3K\VLFDOO\DVZHOODVPHQWDOO\²
and it would be impossible to overstate
the mental toughness they possess.
6RKRZPXFKWRXJKHUWKHQDUHWKH
elite gladiators who race at the very
highest level of the sport? The men
ZKRULGHPLOOLRQGROODUSURWRW\SHVDQG
UHDFKVSHHGVRISOXVNPKDQGOHDQ
DQJOHVRIGHJUHHV"7KHPHQZKRDUH
doing this while similar men are also
doing the same thing scant millimetres
away from them, and scanter millimetres
away from all sorts of disaster?
I don’t know how much tougher, but
an educated guess would say by several
orders of magnitude.
I don’t understand it. I never
will. I can’t. It lies beyond the ken
of normal people, which is why
someone coined the term “Aliens”
for the likes of
5RVVL 0DUTXH]6WRQHU3HGURVD
and Lorenzo.
It’s a very apt term. Because
for all intents and purposes, these
men are indeed aliens beside the
rest of us. They are the living
incarnation of tough.
And I am impossibly
privileged to watch men such
as these battle as they do.
We all are. DBORIS
WORDS BORIS
MIHAILOVIC