terça-feira, 19 de abril de 2016

GARY NIXON

Still racing after all these years

1977 - Had 19 years as a professional racer changed him, he was asked, and he quickly replied. "Gosh, I think I'm the same".






For Nixon, 35-year-old veteran that he's become, to be leading the series standings going into the next-to-last race, was merely impossible. He was an unsponsored privateer racing a year-old Kawasaki on some of the world's fastest Grand Prix circuits, most of which he'd never seen before. He was racing against Europe's greatest names: Agostini, Cecotto, Sheene, many of them on the backs of factory or independently sponsored 180 mph bikes. For Nixon to be defeating such tracks, riders and machines was clearly impossible, yet he'd been doing it all season.

Gary Nixon started racing when he was 15-years-old– professionally at 17.





The history books should also reflect Gary Nixon as the 1976 World Formula 750 series champion, and the first American to win this honor– but Nixon was screwed by the bureaucratic governing board’s late decision to throw out a controversial race during the season. This would cost Nixon precious points, and ultimately the title.