[ST] Barry Sheene

["Het Architecten Consort bv bna - M. Clarijs" <mclarijs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

NatuurJust read the following news.

- --Markus

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Motorcycling ace Sheene dies

Staff and agencies
Monday March 10, 2003


Barry Sheene, Britain's former world motorbike champion, has died after a
long battle against cancer.
The 52-year-old twice won the 500cc world motorcycle championship in the
1970s and became famous for overcoming numerous crashes on the track. At one
stage he raced with metal plates in both knees and 28 screws in his legs and
left wrist.

His former publicist Andrew Marriott decribed Sheen as "a real hero".

"I spoke to him a month ago and I realised that this was a race he wasn't
going to win but he was determined to fight for it."

Sheene's bravery and will to win helped him recover from two
life-threatening injuries. The most dramatic was a 200mph crash at Daytona
in 1975 which broke his thigh, right wrist, forearm, collarbone and
fractured six ribs. He also suffered compound fractures to several
vertebrae.

Undaunted, he was back racing within six weeks with an 18 inch steel rod
holding his left thigh together.

Seven years later, Sheene was taking part in an open practice four days
before the British GP at Silverstone. After colliding with a fallen machine
at 160 mph, he was thrown from his bike, which burst into flames. Two broken
legs and wrists were added to Sheene's roster of injuries. But fewer than
three months later he was again back on the track.

Sheene was at his happiest receiving the plaudits of his adoring fans.

His talent, coupled with a hatred of losing, took him to two 500cc world
championships. He was awarded an MBE in 1978.

Away from the track, Sheene was making headlines. He ran off to Salzburg in
Austria with a married woman who later became his wife. They had two
children together.

Eventually his legion of injuries began to catch up with him. His body
becane crippled with arthritis and moved to Australia's Gold Coast, hoping
the warmer climate might ease the pain. The final blow was delivered in july
last year when he was diagnosed with throat and stomach cancer.

He died in hospital on Queensland's Gold Coast. Sheene leaves a wife,
Stephanie, a daughter Sidonie, 18, and a son Freddie, 14.

Former formula one commentator Murray Walker said the world was a poorer
place following Sheene's death. He said: "I am a very sad man today, because
Barry Sheene was not only one of the most brilliant motorcyclists who has
ever lived, but he was a lovely man. He was brilliantly cheerful. He had a
core of steel."

Four times world superbike champion Carl Fogarty said Sheene "packed more
into his 52 years than most people would have put into 100".

"He was the inspiration for millions," Fogarty told Britain's BBC Radio 5
Live. "He was the guy who made motorbike racing famous. There were other
world champions from Britain who achieved more on the track but he brought
it to the public attention. His lifestyle helped make him a hero. It is a
sad day for his family and for motorcycle racing."




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