FEEL, FINESSE & FOCUS

Kork Ballington often wonders why motorcycle racers from the 1970s like him don’t suffer from post traumatic stress syndrome in the same way as some soldiers who fought in war. He lost 45 mates during the 10 years he spent racing at high levels.

The first, in particular, had a huge impact on him. It was 1973 and his Kiwi mate Kim Newcombe was living the dream by challenging for the premier-class title against wildly talented rivals such as Giacomo Agostini and Phil Read.

Agostini and Read were mounting their challenges on dominant factory-backed MV Agusta four-stroke machinery, while Newcombe was riding a prototype he had developed himself around a 494cc horizontally opposed two-stroke Konig boat engine. After four podiums including one win, and with just one round left of the championship to run, Newcombe was offered start money in the non-championship British International 1000. The chance of a season-ending dividend was too good to miss, and together with