Monday, February 6, 2012


This is my final Daytona crash photo sequence (unless someone sends me another one). And, I guess technically, it's not a crash sequence since it doesn't show the ultimate crash. But, I think you can see the inevitability of a crash.








This is from 6 March, 1995. Jim Redman (six time world champion, winner of 45 world championship GPs, and the first rider to ever win 3 GPs in a day) was racing for the first time in 26 years on the Team Obsolete MV 350 three cylinder. I was riding a MV 350 four cyl. Before the race, I suggested to Jim that we play around and put on a show, but on the last lap, I was going to go for it. This may have been a bit presumptuous on my part, but I was on the later (say '71 vs '67), faster bike and Jim was 63 and hadn't raced in 26 years. So, that's what happened: we played around and put on a show and on the last lap, I went for it. Approaching turn #5, the last turn in the infield, I come up on a back marker. I guess he braked too hard while leaned over too far and asked too much of his front tire. I tried to tighten my line and go inside him, but it was too late and I hit him and I went down too. He broke his scapula, if I remember correctly. I was fine and added an MV to the long list of exotica I have crashed. Redman motored by to win in his come back race. He promptly retired from racing again, going out as a winner. He did do many parades and demonstrations with T/O on the Honda 250 six and MV's.
The silver lining of crashing at Daytona is that there tend to be a lot of photographers around to document it. It's all Hollywood, you know.

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