Mad Max
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I would often stay up late at night to watch the motorcycle racing, the highlight being the GP race, however one night I happened to watch the 250’s and to be honest it was far more entertaining than the big GP bikes, and one rider stood out above the rest that was Max Biaggi, he rode like a man possessed, his control of a motorcycle that at times was totally out of control was phenomenal.
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Some of Biaggi’s overtaking manoeuvres were unbelievable; he didn’t see the gaps, he made them by sheer audacity. He was harder on the brakes than anyone else and appeared to have a death-wish at times by overtaking where any other rider’s survival instinct would kick in and force them to back out and see common sense. But I don’t think that the survival instinct stood a chance against Biaggi’s will to win..!!
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The image is of Max on his infamous 250 Aprilia in 1994.
The race was Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix; the two main protagonists in the epic battle for the lead were Max Biaggi and Ralph Waldmann. At times it seemed the only place the battle was going to conclude was in the gravel traps, it had to be the most exciting race I had seen for years, eventually Biaggi literally stuffed the bike into a gap that wasn’t there, Waldmann was caught off guard and Biaggi took the lead. Unfortunately the dog fight had taken its toll on Ralph Waldmann’s tires so he was in no position to respond..
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The research for this painting took ages as this was prior to Google images, but the one benefit is that I ended up sat on Max’s bike at the Birmingham bike show.
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Acrylic and Ink airbrushed on line board.