BRAKING NEWS
Mcguinness honoured, buy Stoner’s bike, Lorenzo the Masked Singer.
Going into the season I didn’t have any thoughts about winning the championship,’ says Tony Serra, sounding much like any other racer reminiscing about his club championship win. The difference is that when Tony won that title in 2013, he was 74 years old. He still holds the world record for the oldest motorcycling class champion. Now aged 81, Tony has decided it’s time to call it a day. ‘My racing coach Ed Sorbo had been needling me,’ he tells Bike from his home in California, ‘saying I was getting too old, that if I crashed I was going to get really hurt. And in the past year that has been in the back of my mind, so I’ve decided it’s time to turn into a spectator.’
Another reason is that over the last few years Tony has begun feeling the aches that afflict most sportsbike riders four decades younger. ‘About two years ago I started feeling it physically. The races I was doing [250GP class in California, riding a TZ250] only lasted 20 minutes or so, so it wasn’t too bad. But when I won the championship in 2013 I didn’t feel tired at all. ‘I wasn’t the fastest guy out there then, but I was the most consistent – I’d pass the fast guys when they were in the dirt. The year after I won the championship I came second because one of those fast guys didn’t crash as much as I needed him to.’ Tony chuckles, modestly omitting to mention that when he took the title he won by 51 points and finished on the podium seven times.
Perhaps one reason for Tony’s enthusiasm, passion and longevity is that after racing in the 1960s he took a 38 year break to raise a family and forge a career. ‘I raced from 1964 to 1970,’ he says. ‘Initially on a modified 250 Ducati Diana that was pretty quick, then I bought a factory Motobi and raced that for a while. I was raising a family and pursuing my career, so I gave up, but always longed to go back to it. It took me a long time [he was 68 when he returned] but I finally made it.’
John Mcguinness was justifiably chuffed to be awarded an MBE in the New Years’ Honours list in recognition of his 23-times TT wins and, probably, his ability to give hilariously candid press conferences (type his name and ‘foreskin interview’ into Youtube). ‘I’m humbled to receive an MBE. When I started racing never in a million years did I think I’d go on to achieve the success that I have let alone be recognised and honoured by the Queen,’ said Mcguinness. He joins an elite crew of fellow motorcycling Mbeers including Barry Sheene, Mike Hailwood, Carl Fogarty, Jonathan Rea and Phil Read.
One step up from an MBE (Member of the British Empire) is the OBE (Officer of the British Empire) where you’ll find Joey Dunlop and John Bloor and one notch up from them is bike and car world champ John Surtees with a CBE (Commander of the British Empire).
To rise any higher means getting knighted, and no professional motorcyclist has ever got there. Interestingly, among the sporting knights there are 11 sailors, two netballists and 15 rugby players. We suspect they didn’t spend their careers defying death and driving supplies to orphanages in their spare time like Joey did.