To the untrained eye, our engineers on the track and at the MTC seem to be taking it easy this week, considering how much time they’ve spent watching modern and classic MotoGP and WSBK races. At the factory, or 35,000 feet across the Atlantic, it was bikes all the way – but it’s not free time. At least not quite. Our information on the Losail International Circuit is limited and so the team is keen to search the footage for any clues that might make the weekend easier. Lines, speeds and strategies are of course completely different – but understanding elements such as bumps on the route, the height and type of curbs, even the severity of the asphalt, are all useful information.
For the riders, it goes without saying that observing the bikes is a matter of course. Both Daniel and Lando are big bike fans and, for once, go on a new route with a little more information than the team around them. Lando, of course, cites Valentino Rossi as his original racing inspiration, and last week he texted The Doctor just before his last race. Daniel tends to be a little more practical. At home on the farm in Western Australia, he’s rarely far from a dirt bike.
You are not the first McLaren drivers to be fascinated by two wheels. In fact, you rarely meet a rider who doesn’t like the motorcycles, so here is a selection of those who kick their kicks with their hands on the accelerator.
Mike Hailwood
Mike Hailwood, also known as “Mike the Bike”, was a two-wheeler legend long before he rode for McLaren in 1974, winning 14 times at the Isle of Man TT between 1961 and 1967 and 14 victories. Hailwood drove sporadically in Formula 1 between 1963 and 1971, but full-time from 1972-1974, with Surtees in ’72 -’73 and McLaren in ’74. While Emerson Fittipaldi and Denny Hulme won victories for McLaren, Hailwood contributed to the team’s first success in the constructors’ championship with third place in South Africa. However, his season was canceled when a fall at the Nürburgring led to a serious broken leg and the retirement from the sport.
John Surtees
While he’s not a McLaren factory driver, it would be rude not to mention the great John Surtees, the only man to become world champion on both two and four wheels. Surtees won the 1956 500 championship and doubled in 1958, ’59 and ’60 with both the 350 and 500 titles before moving to F1 in 1960. He won six Grand Prix and 1964 the world championship for Ferrari. He formed his own team in 1970 and drove a McLaren M7C for the first half of that season before his own Surtees TS7 was finished, scoring a point with client McLaren at Zandvoort.
John Surtees gets back on his bike at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (2009)
Mark Blundell
Mark had been McLaren’s test driver in 1992 and had dovetailed this work with his sports car involvement and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Peugeot. He had a similar program in 1995 when he competed in the Gulf McLaren F1 GTR at Le Mans and finished third in a difficult season for the F1 team, along with six points alongside Mika Häkkinen. Mark hadn’t made it through the kart ranks, however, but was a top motocross school boy driver with a national ranking and a string of wins before Formula Ford called …
Kimi Raikkonen
Like Gilles Villeneuve before him, Kimi Raikkonen’s exploits with the hand throttle tend to focus more on snowmobile racing, but he’s also a big fan of motorcycles and posts several videos of himself getting big air on a motocross machine. He also started the IceOne Motocross outfit to compete in the FIM Motocross World Championship, which has resulted in Kimi being photographed on a range of Kawasaki and Husqvarna motorcycles for the past decade. On the road, however, he’s better known for driving a variety of bespoke cruisers and choppers with “Iceman” paintwork.
Kimi Räikkönen rides his “Iceman” chopper (2006)
Jacky Ickx
According to Jacky, however, his interest in motorsport began on two instead of four wheels when his father, a car journalist, bought him a 50 cc Zündapp motorcycle. He soon won national and European trials titles in the 50cc class before switching to limousine racing in the Belgian championship. He won that too. Jacky only contested one race for McLaren, the 1973 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. Although he was completely unfamiliar with the car, he still made it onto the podium.
Fernando Alonso
Fernando’s two-wheeler adventures tend to be pedal boats, but, unsurprisingly given his nationality, he’s more than capable on a motorcycle too. During his second tenure at McLaren, and although he didn’t praise the Honda F1 powerplant very much, he took the opportunity to show up at the Honda Open House in Motegi and dropped his knee on an RC213V while doing Moto six times GP accompanied world champion Marc Márquez for a few laps on the famous track.
Fernando Alonso tries the Honda RC213V (2016)
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton has always been a keen biker, but he had a special bond with the Ducati brand, first driving an 851 and shooting a Ducati Monster 900 frequently in Monaco. Admiration was returned and shortly before his death Ayrton signed a contract establishing the Ducati 916 Senna special edition, the proceeds of which will benefit his charitable foundation. Ducati continued to live up to its name with more Senna models to follow. Most recently, a Ducati 1199 Panigale S ‘Senna’ was only sold in Brazil – although one of Sotherby’s auctioned off in Europe led Max Biaggi to finally secure the motorcycle after a fierce bidding competition with Felipe Massa.
Martin Brundle
Martin likes his bikes – and that’s largely McLaren’s fault. Martin tells the story of how, after riding a moped as a teenager in the mid-1970s before getting a car driver’s license, his next experience on a bike was on Randy Mamola’s 500cc World Championship machine at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya . Martin and Randy were filming in Marlboro, with Martin driving his 1994 McLaren MP4 / 9 and Randy driving his Roberts-Yamaha. At the end of the shoot, Brundle borrowed Randy’s boots, leather, and bike and has never looked back … although he’s generally a little more comfortable in the saddle these days.
Martin Brundle suit and boots before a classic motorcycle run (2002)
… and finally James Hunt
1976 World Champion James Hunt has always had strong ties to the motorcycle scene, especially through his friendship with 500cc World Champion Barry Sheene. Shortly after retiring from Formula 1, Hunt appeared in advertisements for the Triumph Bonneville and accepted a bike as payment. Interestingly, Hunt didn’t have a motorcycle license …
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