Caption:

We can only guess what it is that Barry Sheene

and Graeme Crosby find so amusing about Randy Mamola's knee sliders in this 1981 assembly area shot. As you can see from the DIY knee protection used by both Suzuki ace Crosby and Yamaha's Sheene the knee slider generation was still in its infancy, but clearly American Mamola's radical hang off style called for something a little more substantial. What the image does illustrate is that Grand Prix racing was still a whole lot of fun and while things got serious out on the track, in the paddock even the top riders could still enjoy a laugh and joke.