Anybody else remember the UJM? Described in the late 1970s by a moribund Norton, this feeble insult to the Japanese conquerors stood for Universal Japanese Motorcycle - the by then ubiquitous inline four.In racing engineering also, the more things develop, the more similar they b...

Rossi the best rider?Here's a conundrum. Everyone thinks Rossi is the best rider. But everyone believes Hayden deserved to win the World Championship.How can this be so? Must be because Nicky is as exceptional as Rossi, in his way. He thoroughly disproves that old standby: nice g...

Jezza, on the 'safer' 800The 800s have been galloping around at Valencia, Sepang and Jerez - and taking everyone by surprise. Down on top speed and acceleration, their lap times are as good as the 990s', and sometimes better.Nobody expected this - not until the end of next year. ...

Pedrosa, a target for Rossi's head gamesMotoGP wouldn't be much of a human sport if the participants didn't play head games. Riders have their own ways of psyching out the opposition. Some are quite transparent, others more subtle. I treasure a yarn from the last privateer world ...

Quite probably, reckons Mike Scott, the GP paddock pitbullControl tyres for MotoGP? “Only a proposal,” smiles Dorna chief Carmelo Ezpeleta reassuringly, but everyone is sure this Draconian move is already a done deal with the blessing of Bernie

WANT TO reach the top in bike racing? Then take a selection of passports with you, not so you can get to the foreign circuits, but to get the job in the first place.That's odd? Surely it's riding talent that puts the factory riders on the factory bikes? They win all the races, af...

500cc Grand Prix motorcycle racers want the same thing. To win races. They also want something else - though in the end it is part of that too.They all want a Honda V-four. And those of them that already have one want a better one. All the way until you get to Valentino Rossi. An...

This month, I have to share an experience I have already shared with several celebs, sportsmen and a handful of colleagues. The result was little short of a transformation of my understanding of racing, and a blistering blast to blow that blase feeling clean away.After two laps o...

Like it or not - and why wouldn't you - we are heavily into an era of personality in racing. I predict this will survive even the surge of technical interest that the new proto four-strokes will bring with them. People, some of them (not including Michael Barrymore) are more inte...

There is a new trumpeting sound to be heard at the GPs. It comes not only from the high-level four-into-one tailpipe of Yamaha's new four-stroke GP bike, but also from the same factory's publicity machine. Though, after the first few races, this has become somewhat muted.To some,...