Written by Marco Lucchinelli is an Italian former professional, and legendary, Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, who in 1981 won the FIM 500cc World Championship with Suzuki. He is known for being fast … very fast, and he lived his life that way too. Lucchinelli had a taste for the seamier things in life and was known for his predilection for hardcore narcotics which culminated in his arrest on suspicion of running an international drug cartel.
Juan Garriga, known for his aggressive riding style, won three 250cc Grand Prix races and finished in second place in the 1988 work championship. Like Lucchinelli, he was seduced by the drug underworld and in 1998 was arrested and charged with drug trafficking and possessing illegal weapons, resulting in a two-year sentence.
Australian Mick Doohan is touted as one of the greatest motorcycle racers of all time. His aggressive style and his apparent lack of fear drove him to the top until a major crash in 1999 ended his career. In 2006 Doohan made headlines when was arrested after assaulting a bouncer at a Darwin strip club called the Honey Pot.
American motocross and supercross star Jason Lawrence was charged with assault, serious battery, and mayhem in 2009 after already having been suspended from racing indefinitely and fined $25 000 for conduct detrimental to the sport.
Former Australian professional motorcycle road racer, Anthony Gobert, exhibited tremendous potential and talent but had his career disrupted by his struggle with drug abuse. Nicknamed ‘The Go Show’ he famously requested a dancing girl for the pit!
Described best as “… an electrifying sport, requiring a unique skillset and courageous dedication to the sport. In MotoGP, riders perform hundreds of synchronized, physics-bending laps, grazing the tarmac at high speeds – in drag racing, they complete the quarter mile in the blink of an eye, mounted nearly supine on a fire-breathing bike. Incredible engineering also plays a large part in race success.”
Is this wild and willful behavior endemic in motorcycle racing? Is it because of a culture of wild behavior and risk-taking? Does the sport attract this sort of personality or does it cultivate it? Is enough attention paid to the stability of the culture during the racers’ formative years?
The perceptions of a dangerous masculine sport perhaps give license to a set of behaviors that include immersion into the world’s underbelly. Studies suggest that conformity to masculine norms in sports often “correlates to a ‘toxic Jock’ identity that may signal elevated risk for health-compromising behavior”. ‘Toxic masculinity’ inflicts cultural pressures on boys and men to behave in a ‘manly’ way which “perpetuates domination, homophobia, and aggression”. This psychology feeds a negative and dangerous culture of wild, adrenaline-seeking behavior on and off the track.
Perhaps more guidance could be offered within the teams and reinforced by sponsors, managers, coaches, particularly in the riders’ early careers so that a positive culture can be reached without dampening the killer instinct necessary to play in such a dangerous arena.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3107047/
https://www.hotcars.com/answering-common-questions-motorcycle-racing/
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-toxic-masculinity-5075107