Hey Jerry,
I sometimes ponder about Jim when he went to Spain for that GP.
I think it was a one-off. And that he was a relatively unknown nobody. He would've had some support
from the factory (of course) but would largely, I suspect, have been on his own.
I can picture him wandering around town ... hanging about ... trying to make
a friend here or there.
If an Aussie had been a backpacker, he could have buddied-up with him no worries, and he'd
have been glad of the company. Can you imagine that - killing a few days with Jim, while waiting for
the weekend. (Neither of you having any idea at all about what was to unfold on race day)
At Barrabool, he told us that his history up to that weekend had been a bit sort-of flat-tracky.
And that in the race,he was picking up an extra gear on the corners and going out speedway-wide
(it was a broad track) while the GP riders kept it tight and point-to-point.
He said that because he was high-speed broadsliding, he was spraying the big crowd with debris.
That, plus the fact he was on a Spanish bike, sent the crowd absolutely ape-shit.
I would have loved to be with him on that Sunday night, as he shook his head in disbelief, and reviewed
that famous day.
And, as we all know, after he effectively won the day, Bultaco changed his one-off ride into a
contract for the GP season.
What a freakin' LEGEND.
