Half a century ago it wasn’t easy being a grand prix motorcycle racer, unless you had the backing of Count Domenico Agusta, founder of MV Agusta, whose patronage made Giacomo Agostini the most successful grand prix rider of all time. An American journalist who spent a few days living la dolce vita with the Italian heart-throb described Ago’s life thus: “to race and skid and crash and then make love and drink wine”.