Barry Sheene at the Long Beach Grand Prix (1977)

• Larry Lawrence
Imagine Marc Márquez winning a MotoGP race, then Ducati packing up to fly straight to America so he could compete in a Formula 1 support race. Sounds unbelievable today, but that’s exactly what happened in 1977. Fresh off his victory at the season-opening 500cc Grand Prix in Venezuela, Barry Sheene took his factory Suzuki to the streets of Long Beach, California, just weeks later. This incredible shot captures Sheene threading his works bike between the guardrails during the support race for the Long Beach Grand Prix F1 event. He finished third behind Skip Aksland and Gene Romero—but went on to claim the 500cc World Championship that same year. A different era indeed! (Photo: John Ulrich) 
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