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Fear is part of the attraction of racing at 320km/h, Australian MotoGP star Casey Stoner admits. He says that trying to stop his Ducati at the end of Phillip Island’s straight in the forecast wet weather at this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix will be “scary” but acknowledges he enjoys the adrenaline-fuelled fear of the unknown.
The 2007 MotoGP world champion, who will be chasing a fourth straight Australian crown on Sunday was, like all riders, shocked at Misano in Italy last month when the sport lost one of its fastest and most popular young riders, the Japan’s Shoya Tomizawa.
Nineteen-year-old Tomizawa was killed in a horrific accident during the San Marino GP when he was unavoidably hit by following riders Alex de Angelis and Scott Redding in the Moto2 support race.
Even in the face of this death all the MotoGP riders took to the grid and raced later in the afternoon and none, Stoner included, has had any thought of stopping their careers.
Most have raced since they were kids and the ever-present fear factor is part of the instant gratification of racing and winning in MotoGP.
Of the Tomizawa tragedy Stoner said: “What happened to Shoya is something that every rider knows is part of the risk involved.
“I think it is something that as a rider you live with and, it sounds bad to say, but it is part of what gives you the adrenaline rush and why guys love to do it.
“Racing gets your heart racing and your blood pumping and that slight bit of fear that you feel is what keeps you going. Unfortunately when it happens (a fatality) it’s not what we want but if there was no fear involved then there would be no real desire to race.
“There wouldn’t be the passion that you see in young riders who try and pursue their dreams. I think that’s what keeps us all here to be honest.”
Now the sport is much safer than in the 1950s and ’60s when riders faced almost weekly deaths of friends and fellow racers. Stoner has spoken about this with legendary rider, British Jim Redman – a six-time world champion and Isle of Man TT winner.
“I spoke to Jim Redman a few years ago and he was saying you didn’t know if your friend on the grid next to you was going to finish the championship or not,” Stoner said.
“Those days were a lot harder than now. But it is something that they had to accept. They often had to console wives and girlfriends and things were a lot worse.
“But at the same time they continued to do it because it is what they loved and it made their blood pump. It is possible you can leave this world doing something that you love and you’ve dreamt about your whole life.
“In some ways that is a nice way to go, if you’re doing something that you love rather than doing something you dislike.”
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