If you’re going to be in Australia
later this month, get yourself over to the Albert Park Grand Prix
circuit and you’ll see one of the greatest GP500 riders of all
time and a couple more who were no slouches.
Mick Doohan, unquestionably the most
successful and famous of Australian road racers, will be joined by
Wayne Gardner and Daryl Beattie for some demonstration laps at the
2010 Formula 1 Grand Prix auto race on Saturday and Sunday, March
27-28.
Doohan won five GP500 championships
from 1994 to 1998. Gardner won the 500 championship in 1987. Darryl
Beattie won the Suzuka 8 Hours race with Gardner in 1992, then
partnered with Doohan on the Honda GP500 team in ’93. He had some
success, including finishing the 1993 season in third place (behind
Kevin Schwantz and Gardner), but then crashes impaired his
competitive abilities.
Doohan will also drive the Mercedes E63
AMG in the Ultimate Speed Comparison against a Formula 1
McLaren-Mercedes and a V8 Supercar.
The Albert Park Grand Prix takes place
just south of Melbourne.
Only Giacomo Agostini has won more back-to-back GP500 championships (or more in total) than Mick Doohan. In the late ’60s and early ’70s, the Italian (who would have guessed?) superstar won seven in a row, then switched from MV Agusta to Yamaha and won another in 1975.
