Everybody has their heroes, idols or just someone they look to for inspiration in their day to day activities. These people listed had at one time or another given me my guiding light. Some of these people may be known to you and some you may not have heard of before but all of them are motorcyclists who have made an impact on me.

1. RENZO PASOLINI

Born on July 18, 1938 in Rimini, Italy is remembered for the many acts in his motorcycling career. In most of the races he took part in, he is the only rider that was capable to beat Agostini. Nicknamed Paso, he was a popular figure on as well as off the track. His riding style is best described as unusual. Riders following him often described it as unpredictable. His racing lines fooled many as his lines were mostly what are best for him in that particular situation.

One incident was at the Isle of Mann TT. Taking a bend at the TT Pasolini avoided a lamp post and managed to squeeze along a narrow passage between the lamp post and a brick wall whilst leaving part of his motorcycle color on the wall. There were awe and disbelieve that he managed to get back onto the track whilst not losing a position. The radio announcer talked about the lucky escape Renzo had. When he came around for the second time spectators were all ready to see how Renzo would take the bend. He gave the spectators there a fantastic show by repeating his first lap maneuver. This was again repeated in the 3rd lap. Now is that genius or what? Renzo you are my no 1 favourite rider. No one has come close till now..

Renzo whose father was also a motorcyclist began to moto-cross in 1958. He was an outstanding athlete showing great interest in boxing and the way he takes corners always had spectators standing up as he looked like he was going to fall.

Started road racing in 1962 on an Aermacchi 175 winning ahead of Agostini. After a 2 year break for national service Renzo participated in several races winning some and losing some. In the 1965 Italian Championship final race to went on to win on a Benelli 500-4. This marked the beginning of rivalry with Hailwood (Honda) and Agostini (MV)

In 1971 he left to join Aermacchi (then owned by Harley) but did not performed as time was spent in testing and developing the bike. The 1972 seasons saw Renzo losing the 250 world title to Jarno Saarinen by one point.

Renzo died on May 20 1973 in a mishap at Monza. He had earlier pulled out of the 350cc race due to mechanical problem with 4 laps to go. In the following 250 race a mishap occurred in the first lap. Several riders were involved. Renzo and Jarno Saarinen died in that mishap.

Ducati named a bike the Paso in 1986 in honour of Renzo Pasolini.

2. Mike Hailwood

Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood, was born on 2^nd April 1940 in Great Milton in Oxfordshire respected by many including fellow competitors. Known as "Mike The Bike" he has a natural riding ability. He was one of a few who switched to F.1 and later came back to bike racing and with success. His father was also a racer and also a motorcycle shop owner thus Mike was literally brought up with motorcycles.

His first race was at Oulton Park on 22 April 1957 when he was hardly 17 but finished in 11^th place. His first win was in endurance i.e Thruxton 500 with co-pilot Dan Shorey. By 1961 Honda signed up Mike to race 4 stroke 4 cylinder machine. He won the world title in that year. The following season saw Mike riding for MV and became the first rider to win four consecutive 500 crown. Later Honda lured Mike back and won for Honda 4 more titles in 250 and 350 cc.

Hailwood will be remembered for his strings of wins at Isle of Mann and his lap record on a Honda 500-4 stayed for 8 years. When Honda pulled out of racing in 1968 they gave Hailwood £50,000 (about £650,000 in today’s term) for a deal NOT TO RIDE for another team. Hailwood then switched to car racing.

Hailwood was an achiever. What he achieved in motorcycle racing he did in auto racing though not of same level. He was awarded a George Medal for helping Clay Regazzoni from his burning car at the 1973 South African GP. He left F.1 after injury sustained at the German GP in 1974

The Isle of Mann in 1978 saw Hailwood return to motorcycle racing. Many did not expect much from him as he was off racing for almost 8 years. Riding a Ducati 900SS he won. The following year after another go at the TT he retired at 39. In his career Hailwood had gone from single cylinder 4-stroke to 250 four and 350 and 500 two-stroke and 900 cc. Motorcycle technology went leaps and bounds but Hailwood managed to take those in his stride.

Hailwood died on Saturday, 21 March 1981, in a car crash when his car hit a truck making an illegal turn.

3. Johnny Cecotto

Alberto "Johnny" Cecotto was born on January 25, 1956 in Caracas, Venezuela. He was the son of Italian immigrants, he was one of the few people to have competed in both motorcycle and Formula One Grand Prix.

Cecotto had won the Venezuelan National Championship in 1973 and 1974. He took world limelight at Daytona in 1975. On board a standard Yamaha TZ750 Cecotto competed as an unknown and started last in grid. In the race, he moved up from last position to 3^rd by the race end.

From Daytona he went to Europe and competed in 250 and 350 races in 1975 and became 350 world champion by beating Agostini.

In 1976 he returned to Daytona with Yamaha support and won from Kenny Roberts. In that year he lost to Walter Villa for the 350 title. Then mishaps after mishaps came for him until 1978 when he took the world Formula 750 crown. In 1980 he decided to switch to car racing.

Cecotto’s debut in car racing was with Minardi in F.2 in 1980 but was not until 1983 that he caught the eyes of the big teams but it was not as successful as his motorcycle career. In 1984 he joined Toleman racing with Ayrton Senna as his team mate, however in the British GP he crashed breaking both legs. After recovering he went into Touring Car championship. Johnny now devotes his time for his son’s rising motorcycling career.

4. Giacomo Agostini

Giacomo Agostini was born on 16 June 1942 in Brescia, Lombardy, Italy in a wealthy Italian family. His father’s disapproval of his motorcycling interest did not stop him from first getting into hill climbs and then to road racing. No matter what, the son eventually got his way. In 1963 he won the Italian 175 cc crown on a Morini and as fate would have it, the Benelli factory rider left for Benelli so Ago was a natural choice. In 1964 Ago became the Italian 350 champion.

His win opened the eyes of Count Agusta who signed him to partner Mike Hailwood for the 1965 season. Ago was seen to win the world championship over Honda’s Jim Redman but in the final race in Japan his bike broke down thus giving the title to Redman.

After the season Hailwood left to join Honda and Ago was made top rider and he did not disappoint MV as he took the 500 title (1966) and six more times after that. He also got the 350 title 7 times over. In the 1967 title chase he battled Hailwood in one of the most dramatic battle in Grand Prix history. Agostini won the race and the championship.

In 1974 Agostini joined Yamaha and in his race won the Daytona 200. He also got the 350 title and the 500 title the following year.

5. Mitsuo Itoh

Suzuki rider Mitsuo Itoh was the first Japanese and first Asian to win in a class at the Isle of Man TT races. Itoh came out winner in the 50cc class on a circuit foreign and on a motorcycle from a country which had 15 years earlier was destroyed by war. Itoh set aside the difficulties and set his mind to getting a task done. Suzuki won the riders and manufacturers championship in both 50cc and 125cc class in 1962. Till today he remained as the only Japanese to have won at the IOM TT.

Itoh was an engineer at Suzuki and had early exposure to racing in hill-climbs. At that time there was no asphalt racing track in Japan thus Itoh was shocked when Suzuki offered him a ride at the IOM. There was no such thing as a Suzuki race team or whatever. Riders were chosen from employees and racing was just another task.

Itoh's bike, a 50cc Suzuki code RK67 was equipped with a 14-speed gearbox to enable high revs of up to 20,000 rpm. Itoh was quoted later that for the IOM his bike could do with another 2 gears! FIM later restricted the number of gears.

Itoh was responsible for developing the GT 3 cylinders series namely the GT380, GT550 and GT750.

6. Jarno Saarinen

Jarno Karl Keimo Saarinen was born on December 11, 1945 in Turku, Finland. Saarinen's early success was in ice track racing but he was also a speedway racer. Fiddling with engine was nothing new to him as he had studied mechanical engineering.

In 1970 at 25 Saarinen began Grand Prix racing career and finished fourth 250cc class. In 1971 Saarinen made his mark when he became 3^rd in 250 and 2^nd in 350 world championship.

Yamaha saw a gem and immediately signed him to ride pre-production TZ. Saarinen won the 250 title in 1972 and runner-up in 350. In 1973 Saarinen rode a 350 Yamaha to win the prestigous Daytona 200 against a field of 750’s. For the world series Saarinen was given a new bike, a Yamaha 4 cylinder 2 stroke 500cc.

However 1973 did not turn out as expected. At Monza on May 20^th 1973 he was involved in a pile-up at the first bend. Jarno Saarinen dan Renzo Pasolini died in that pile up.

7. Percy Tait

After national service where he got valuable knowledge in motorcycle handling Percy Tait joined the Triumph Motorcycle works in 1950 at a tender age of 21. Like any new kid without much experience he was assigned to the assembly line. Later he worked his way up to the experimental department where his then boss encouraged him to race. Thus a professional motorcycle racer was born. Tait eventually got the job of test rider at Triumph. He was once quoted that he has ridden a million miles testing Triumph. Later he joined the works team under the famous Doug Hele. Tait was responsible for testing and giving feedbacks on the Triumph Trident.

Tait racing achievement was at Spa-Francorchamps 1969 Belgian GP. Tait was on a Triumph 500 and came second behind Agostini. This was achieved after driving through the night to Belgium on a Ford Transit cramped with the Triumph 500 and 2 mechanics. They slept in the van parked at the track. Later in the year he teamed up with Malcom Uphill to win the Truxton 500 endurance.

In 1976 Tait was hired by Suzuki to develop the 500cc bike eventually ridden by Barry Sheene. Tait raced stopped after a crash in the 1976 Production TT. Tait then went on to run a Suzuki dealership until 2002 when he went on to sheep breeding. A champion will always be one. Tait became a champion breeder and won several awards for his effort.

8. Thierry Sabine

Thierry Sabine was known as the founder and creator of the now famous Paris to Dakar Rally now referred to as the Dakar. Sabine was an avid motorcycle rider and an adventurer. He was born on 13^th. June 1949 .

Whilst taking part in the Abidjan-Nice Rally in 1977 he got lost in the Libyan desert on his motorcycle. It was then that he got the idea for a race across the Sahara. This race will be able to test all riders professional or otherwise can get to terms with themselves and test their endurance especially when they are there alone in the desert. Not wasting much time, in December of that year he arranged for a race which started in Paris and end in Dakar. It was like a reccee event. The following years Sabine spent on organizing the Paris-Dakar.

The 1986 Dakar started in Paris on 1^st January with 486 competitors. Sabine followed the race on board a helicopter when it crashed in Mali on Tuesday 14^th January 1986 killing Sabine. Killed together with Sabine were French singer Daniel Balavoine, the pilot, a journalist and an engineer.

9. Cook Neilson

As a young man I used to run to the mamak magazine shop along Hutton Lane in Penang to get a copy of my favourite motorcycle magazine and I used to look forward to reading Cook Neilson’s articles.

Neilson, born on 24 August 1943 was a writer and a motorcyclist extraordinaire. He became known after winning Daytona on his Ducati 750SS in 1977. Neilson first wrote for Cycle magazine in 1967 and was credited to Cycle’s success.

Neilson had 38 starts and 19 wins in his racing career all on Ducati 750SS. He was never selfish for he had always shared his knowledge through his writings and what's more was that his writing style was easy to follow. Many other magazines tried to copy his style of writing but you can always tell the original from the copycats. In fact for a while I wanted to be writer just like Cook.

10. Burt Munro

Chasing your dream is something which we at one time or another want to undertake. Some of us do not dare to take the challenge, some did but gave up halfway and some pursued 'theirs’ their life long.

New Zealander Burt Munro was one who pursued his, no matter what. He pursued his dream for 25 years before getting a chance to realise it.

I like reading about world records and the book of list. I noted that Burt Munro had a record in the record book and he did it not with new motorcycle with new technology but with an Indian which was no more in production then. Then much later in 1979 I read about his achievements in chasing his dream. The spirit of chasing dreams became part of me though not successfully as Munro did. Just a couple of years back a movie about him was made. The movie, ‘The worlds Fastest Indian’ is a must see for motorcyclists. Everyone thought he was mad, but he eventually proved them all wrong. I remembered a phrase in the movie when Burt was telling his young neighbour ‘You live more in five minutes on a bike like that, going flat out, than some people live in a lifetime.’ These words I’d always want to use when people asked why I ride but never got to it.

Burt Munro was born in Invercargill, South Island, New Zealand in 1899. As a child he was a fighter. His 2 elder sisters both died at birth. A doctor then said that he may not live more that 2 years. Guess this made him a fighter with full guts and determination. His record in 1967 still stands as the fastest Indian.