Mick Doohan & the Honda NSR500. Easily the most well - matched bike & rider combo in Grand Prix Motorcycling history. Doohan was an absolute cannibal of a rider. Superb, accurate & utterly relentless. Thoroughly deserved everything he won. In an era of great riders and brutal machines, he was the most brutal machine out there. 'Onya Mick. 🤘😎🤘
You are right as these guys were men and racers . My hero was Freddie Spencer and I have met him , but if not for Gardner & Doohan we would have been ignored on the world stage . It will never be that good again thats right and that snotty Rossi with remarks about Stoner made it into a school yard spat sport.
Well, I agree that it was a great time with those US and Australian riders, but now the level is higher! Look what Marquez does.... those saves, spectacular each race!! For me this is the golden age of racing as I consider MM93 the GOAT!!
The greatest era of bike racing. I consider myself fortunate to have seen them race a few times at Laguna Seca, and watched much of the rest of the races on TV starting in 89 going through the early/mid 90s.
nsr's back then were making over 180 hp and lighter than nowadays gp bikes imagine what they would be today had they not pulled the 2 strokes out of the race.
I have nothing but respect for Mick, he went through some serious pain and suffering for the sport. But it was all a bit tedious towards the end of his career - he just won every weekend, the girds became depleted and the 500s were done.
He was so talented that he made the rest of the field look like amateurs. The only problem I had was as a spectator that the races were pretty boring as Mick was so far ahead .
Well this is just what happens when a legend puts on the leathers and steps over one of these monsters. Me personally I enjoy watching this man's legendary stint in the world championship, there's no one like him
No, he did not win a tital until all three had finished. WG injured retired 92, Schwantz was never the same after Rainey`s crash retired 94, and Wayne Rainey ended up in a wheelchair mid way through 93. Sorry to break hearts, but mick was only a B grader, the real brains of the outfit was a bloke called Jerry Burgess........
iLike Vagina sorry dude, but he was only ever a b grader, and a very lucky one at that. People don't like to hear that but it is the truth. Had beattie stayed with Honda he would have won just as much as mick if not more, but he did not want to rock the boat so he took the offer with Robert's. Mick was a very vey lucky boy from the gold coast all the cards fell his way. Read who Jerry Burgess rates as the best, it's not mick!
You're kidding, right? I'm guessing you never actually saw Mick race. I was at Winton in Victoria the first time he rode the MYDT superbike. He came second to Dowson (who had been riding the Yamaha for several years) in the first race & won the 2nd. I was also at Oran park for the Australian round of the 1988 World Superbikes & Mick destroyed the field to win both races convincingly. He also won the 2nd race at the Sugo round that year by more than 20 seconds. In 1992 he was winning the 500 GP championship by a huge margin when he broke his leg at Assen & despite missing 4 rounds & barely being able to walk (let alone wrestle a 500cc GP bike around a track) for the last 2 rounds, still only lost the championship to Rainey by 4 points. By your calculations, if Mick was a B grader then so was Rainey, Schwantz, Gardner, Lawson, Biaggi, etc... - all of whom won championship titles.
5 Years on the best machine on the Grid , and with zero intentions to leave and win on another ...just like current Doran Repsol Honda chosen one .... the smiling pest troll
Dude watched his leg turn BLACK bruh, right in front of his face, in 92.Had to endure those dead skin wipe downs. He wuz wuppin dat ass so HAARRDD that when he returned only lost to Rainey by four points. 93 Would have been totally different. Could have EASILY been seven in a row. NO PAIN KILLERS YO!!! ABSOLUTE BEAST!!!!
FISHURMOMBALL Doohan was a really great rider, he really dominated. What's not covered here is that he would have won championships earlier had he not almost killed himself at Assen. He missed the entire following season, to come back and win 5 straight on a bike with no rear brake pedal, he had to use a thumb lever on the left near the clutch lever. Doohan has a higher winning and podium percentage than Rossi, but it's impossible to compare different eras and technologies. In his time Doohan was easily the best, as was Rossi early on until guys like Stoner could get under Rossi's skin
Well said Ronan. I watched Mick right from the start of his career. He not only dominated but he did so in an era when 500 GP bikes were at their most difficult to ride. He flourished under these conditions and used the psychological advantage of his skill to destroy his rivals like never seen before. He actually chose to use the screamer engine knowing it was harder to ride. When he won on it he knew his opposition would think that was the reason he was winning. Mick knew when his rivals demanded the same equipment it would give him an even greater advantage. The greatest rider from the greatest era of GP racing.
This reminds me of the good old days-- when men went off to war and men rode and drove machines and were in rodeos. Now they send boys off to war and put little boys on motorcycles. Oh well I was never good enough nor did my sorry ass parents do anything to promote my skills.
They've always sent boys off to war, also quit making excuses. I'm getting into the sport at 32. Quit being a fucking pussy and go do it. PS I'm a transgirl that makes porn for a living. But you gotta man the fuck up.
The bike was better than others towards the end of the 90s, but Doohan beat other riders at the start of the 90s in single races when the Honda was not considered the best. Also it seems that Doohan could ride the bike better especially when they swapped back to the screamer engines.
My favorite rider since I started watching regularly in '89. Unique style, balls of steel. To me, better than Rossi for sure (though different eras). Better than Ago. Up there with Hailwood for sure.
