MICK DOOHAN’S LAST RIDE
The distinctive Repsol Honda had been fastest in the morning’s free practice. The afternoon counted for grid positions, but lunchtime rain had dampened proceedings. Now the first 500 qualifying session was almost half done, with the puddles drying and the lap times dropping.
Doohan spent the first 23 minutes “just monitoring what the other guys were doing. No point just burning fuel. If the guys started to go a bit quicker, then I’d go out and see,” he told me from his Gold Coast home in Australia, recalling the incident in every detail.
The five-times champion was getting up to speed as he started his third flying lap. Orange and blue big-bang Honda NSR growling, he flew past and disappeared out of sight into the first corner. About 30sec later, everyone in the pits heard a mighty thump against the barriers behind the start of the grandstands.
It was the sound of the end of an era. Doohan ruled racing with a rod of
