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[Billywhizz]

Top bloke

This is the fifth anniversary of the death of Britain's last MotoGP champion. Barry Sheene died back in 2003 after losing his battle with cancer.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/motorbikes/2835297.stm

His final years were spent on the Gold Coast after he moved to Australia in an effort to mitigate the effects of arthritis, the result of so many broken bones.

The London-born biker won back-to-back MotoGP titles in 1976 and 1977 on the 500cc bikes which were then used but he was almost as famous for falling off as he was for riding them at great pace.

One incident in particular captured the public imagination. In the British GP at Silverstone in 1979 he enjoyed a ding-dong battle with Kenny Roberts. After overtaking the American late in the race Sheene looked back nonchalantly over his right shoulder, took his left hand off the clutch and flicked a V sign at his opponent while travelling at over 100mph down the back straight. The then commentator Murray Walker rather sweetly refers to the gesture as "a wave".

Sheene was not only a great rider but he is widely credited with popularising what was once seen as a minority sport. He was also a canny businessman and he was one of the first sportsmen to earn substantial money from endorsements.

For all that he was a biker first and foremost.

RIP Bazza
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Sheene