COULD JIM REDMAN HAVE COMPETED WITH TODAYS sUPERSTARS?

Question

350 Seemed to be his Forte

Answer 1

Today's racing is so different then what Redman and Co were at the top.

The idea of using your knee to help go round a corner was un heard of untill the greats like Roberts SNR & Sheene started to try it out.

Yes, Redman was [ still is ] a legend, but todays top riders are another level of talent.

Its sometimes a shame to see so much technology coming into the sport, but its the way the sport has to progress.

I feel that the riders of current, the Rossi's / Bayliss's etc would beat the old stars on anytype of bike in any era.

Answer 2

I agree with Wiggysan. good answer. Its the same Ago Vs Rossi question. same answer.

Evolution

Answer 3

I think it is every bit as valid to ask if today's super stars could have competed with Jim Redman?

There is no question at all that he was every bit as talented in his own right as those competing today.

It is a bit like asking if Reubens would have been as good an artist as Andy Warhol

Edit - in this instance I don't agree with our friends wiggysan and proc. I do not believe that the modern riders are especially on a different level or that the greats of today are especially greater than those of the past. If Jim Redman, Mike Hailwood, Phil Read, Giacomo Agostini, John Surtees, Geoff Duke etc were 21 year olds right now then they would absolutely be competing on the same level as two of my personal heroes - Vale and Troy. There is no real logic in an argument that because the technique has changed to ride the bike and they have got faster that the riders must be better. If it were the case then in twenty years time what will the conclusion have to be about Vale?