“I’m still very surprised and feel very lucky that I have been recognised,” Daryl Beattie said earlier this week when we told him our annual Heritage issue would announce his induction into the AMCN Hall of Fame.
We interviewed Daryl in early February so he has had a couple of months to digest the news. But it’s still the same old Daryl who said to us when we first phoned him: “Why do you want to interview me? I’m just a 46-year-old washed-up Grand Prix rider with five toes missing.”
He may be humble but Daryl can’t deny the stunning statistics of his brief but potentially stellar GP career.
In, 1993, his first full championship season, he stepped onto the top of the podium after just six races and finished third in the points chase. Since then only Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez have done better.
Then, in 1995 Daryl finished second behind mighty Mick Doohan, our joint first inductee into the AMCN Hall of Fame with Keith Campbell.
Daryl was on track for a long and successful GP career when a series of accidents forced his early retirement aged just 27 years. Rather than disappearing from the racing scene Daryl reassessed his life to become a true ambassador of Australian motorcycling.
Every year AMCN looks long and hard at Australia’s motorcycle racing history and beyond the obvious to award our Hall of Fame inductee.
In our judgment, Daryl is the shining example of how a person can move from a high-risk, high-profile sport into a worthwhile daily life. AMCN isn’t alone on this subject. Just after we decided to gong “our Daz” the mainstream media began wide-ranging discussions on the transition sports stars have to make when an all-consuming career ends.
Read Daryl Beattie’s inspirational story in the Heritage issue of AMCN. On sale now, it’s packed with great reading.
