Few occupations are as stress-inducing as motorcycle racing . Few require so much self-sacrifice and commitment . And then there is the undeniable personal risk . So does the release of all that stress after retirement bring about any kind of personality or character change in the ex-riders ? We asked a few retired WorldSBK competitors how they have - or have not - changed as people since they retired .
The life of any top line motorcycle racer is both a very particular and highly peculiar one . All professional athletes , irrespective of their sports , have to train , spend lots of time on their craft , focus on improving their performance and then go out and show what they can do against their rivals . On demand , of course , not when they may or may not feel like performing . They do all this under the expectation of success from themselves and those who support them .
For motorcycle racers of all kinds , there are also the obvious and inherent risks to life and limb involved , whether you are skimming brick walls on a pure road racing environment or sliding your knees , shoulder , elbows etc on the apex rumple strips of the most modern and safety conscious FIM approved racetrack imaginable .
No form of motorcycle racing is truly safe , even if it is much safer than it was in the past . To mere mortals like us , being a pro bike racer is a truly extraordinary way to make a living . And we must also realise that nobody is paying the competitors to simply to turn up and flash their corporate colours and sponsor logos around . The companies that help pay for racing can get the same valuable seconds of public exposure just by buying advertising hoardings and TV time .
The brutal fact is that those who make it to the top are not even paid to ride motorcycles at very high speed .
Factory riders are literally paid to win races , not ride in them . Not merely compete for podiums but bag them regularly .
Reality dictates that the best they can do sometimes is ‘ just ’ compete , but in WorldSBK , for example , when you are racing a modified flagship model of each manufacturers ’ commercial products , you also have more than a personal sponsor ’ s expectations riding with you . Literally and figuratively . You can , arguably , make a whole brand look bad if you cannot perform as expected .
Being a top WorldSBK rider takes a special kind of person , especially when you consider they also have to have the amazing riding skills and race craft to pull off those big time race wins .
Can you imagine then the kind of strong characters that professional motorcycle racing attracts ?
With that pressure to perform , in public and under constant personal risk , do truly top riders undergo something as profound as a personality change after they retire ? After all , they don ’ t need to demonstrate all those remarkable elements in their makeup anymore . There is now no race they feel they must train for then win next weekend . And unless they take up free-falling from aeroplanes without the aid of a parachute as a hobby , almost nothing in ‘ civvy-street ’ provides the same literal personal danger and adrenaline kick as being a bike racer .
So is it any surprise that some of them almost Zen out after retirement , after the removal of all those pressures , internal and external ?
One example is a particular stand-out in the WorldSBK scene .
The previous GOAT in WorldSBK until Jonathan Rea came along is Carl Fogarty . Carl the racer was , as he himself understands