EX-FORMULA 1 ace Fernando Alonso has revealed he was 'terrified' each time he took a spin on a MotoGP bike, including with multiple world champion Marc Márquez as his guide.
Alonso, who retired from the sharp end of motorsport last year – but has never entirely ruled out a return – had a crack at MotoGP in 2015 and 2016, and again in Motegi for a Honda end-of-year event for all its riders.
“I tried to step on the gas more, but MotoGP is really, really fast. It's scary,” says twice-world champion Alonso.
He once rode with Márquez who, in 2013 and aged just 20, became the youngest-ever rider to net a championship in his rookie year.
“Márquez rode a Super GT and I rode the MotoGP – the first time, he marked the line and told me some tricks,” the Asturias-born legend reveals.
“At one point, on the straight, I lifted my head up, and the wind almost blew me off my bike, so I didn't try that again.”
The ex-McLaren driver's terror on two wheels may have turned into something of a relief for Toyota boss Glyn Hall – on whose team Alonso has since made his mark in endurance.
At the end of last year, Hall famously said: “My biggest fear is that Alonso has no fear.”
Turns out he does, after all.
Alonso has hinted that changes are afoot in his career next year, but has not given details.
“I know what I'll be doing in 2021, and I hope you'll all hear about it soon,” he said, cryptically.
The racing driver's long-held goal of becoming only the second driver in history – after the UK's Graham Hill – to net the so-called motorsport 'triple crown' has been put on hold with all sporting events worldwide at every level being called off due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Alonso already has a Le Mans 24-Hour and Monaco Grand Prix win under his belt, and now only needs to win the Indianapolis 500 to join Hill on the race-driving pedestal.
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