Sunday’s race was poignant because it marked the fifth anniversary of Marco Simoncelli’s fatal accident and the 56th birthday of three-time 500cc world champion Wayne Rainey, who was paralysed from the chest down when he crashed out of the San Marino GP at Misano in September 1993.
For these reasons (and also many more) it was sickening to witness a minority of Phillip Island spectators celebrating a rider crashing to earth at 80mph, like a bunch of neanderthals punching the air at a Donald Trump rally.
These people tell me via social media that it is the normal thing to cheer when your favourite rider’s rival crashes, just as you cheer when your football team scores a goal. It is not normal; in fact it’s repugnant.
No, no, they say, they only cheer when a rider crashes and doesn’t get hurt. So how does that work? Presumably they jump for joy as the rider tumbles through the gravel trap; then if he does end up curled up in agony, nursing a broken wrist, collarbone or worse, they withdraw their cheers. Sheer geniuses, these people.
I apologise for being direct, but these pretend MotoGP fans are clueless morons who don’t have the intellectual capacity to differentiate between motorcycle racing and football. For the avoidance of doubt, MotoGP riders do not earn their living by running around a field at 20 miles an hour.