Agostini – 15 times world champion and racing on public roads?
Mike Hailwood – able to win anything, in any conditions and against any opposition?
Rossi – beating the toughest racers on the planet and on equal machinery must be the greatest of the modern era – but Vale has never won a TT?
But for me, one beacon stands out since the start of motorcycle racing. What greater achievement can there ever be than winning three Grands Prix in one day, on three vastly different motorcycles – Jim Redman’s triple win at the 1964 Dutch TT?
Doing 500km (over 300 racing miles) and three hours of racing in one day – every second a battle for every inch of the track against the best riders in the world and competing with the ultimate in factory machinery – is beyond comprehension today. This is how it happened.