Fausto Gresini (Honda)is MotoGP’s first prominent casualty – which in itself is terrible enough. All the more astonishing, therefore, the terrifying naivete of a former competitor of the deceased team boss, who recently also contracted Covid-19.

The disturbing Covid-19 confession of a former GP driver

Even in Austria very many citizens do not know August, known as “Tut-anch” Auinger. In contrast to the first and so far only world champion Rupert Hollaus from this country. He had a fatal accident in Monza in 1954, before he could be honored as the first title holder of the Alpine republic. For more about this man see our richly illustrated history. In contrast, the gaunt, former 125 cc Gustl was more of the gray mouse of racing. That is why he “only” won 5 Grand Prix races in his career, because of his amateur existence he often took on inferior material against the best in the world. We have his book in our library, in which he impressively described how private drivers like him lived from hand to mouth back then. They often traveled to Grand Prix events without a start guarantee and had to hope that they would only be admitted. This man recently announced that he had Covid-19 just like Fausto Gresini. Almost more disturbing than the fact, however, leaves the naivete which then spoke from his words.

The book (full throttle) about the life and racing career of the former Grand Prix racing driver is just as much worth reading as the work about Rupert Hollaus. We have read both and can only recommend them. It’s about a time when the men on two wheels still had a very high death rate and there were no rookie cups. Almost all drivers were still working on their machines themselves and what is particularly worrying nowadays is that they always help each other out in the paddock if one of them had problems! This is called sport, dear readers, and a sporty attitude, whereas today 99.9% of it is all about money. If the man had had financial support such as Tom Lüthi (to deliberately not mention a Spaniard or Italian), we claim that he would have become at least 250cc vice world champion.

August Auinger and his Corona naïveté give food for thought

This report is not about the course of his illness. There are enough stories about it in countless media that should stimulate even the most frivolous people to think. At this point it is enough to point out that the man went through hell and for a long time did not know whether he would survive it alive. But that wasn’t what frightened us, as bad as it was with him, but his descriptions afterwards. Among other things, he told a little later that he had been to an event that took place according to the usual security precautions. With PCR tests, masks and so on, apparently on the assumption that almost nothing could happen to them. He promptly infected his wife afterwards, which almost drove him crazy. You have to keep in mind that the man is anything but stupid. Gustl is certainly much more intelligent than many of his fellow citizens who sometimes take to the streets as “Corona opponents” or, like their Chancellor “Shorty” (his name is Kurz), have long since been abandoned by all good spirits.

August Auinger – In his country, racing never had a high priority and famous racing drivers like Jochen Rindt (actually a German with an Austrian license) and Niki Lauda came from a wealthy family, not like the fast Gustl.

The supposed security – the mistake the majority commits

We state that this report is not at all about criticizing Auinger or putting him in a bad light. His traditional astonishment at the disease despite the precautionary measures is, however, appalling and therefore definitely worth a report. Like the majority of our fellow human beings, Gustl seemed to have complete confidence in the safety of PCR tests and masks. He was certainly aware that Fausto Gresini and, many months before him, Valentino Rossi had become infected despite such aids. We have already pointed out several times that a test is a pure snapshot, nothing more. You can become infected 5 minutes after being tested and the possibility of errors cannot be ruled out.

Barry Sheene (Suzuki) – the first megastar and absolute crowd-pleaser with the world-famous number 7 and the obligatory cigarette during the break, the Englishman died of cancer far too early. As a co-commentator, he was injured and praised Auinger’s clean driving style, which was actually too big for the smaller machines, while pausing in a 125cc race on TV. But the Austrian usually didn’t have the money for the larger categories.

The supposed security does not exist – a lack of caution costs human lives
Precisely for this reason, and because of the ongoing new virus mutations, any vaccination or previous illness is no guarantee that you can be absolutely sure. In this respect, Auinger’s naïveté is unfortunately not an isolated case, but the absolute rule. Anyone who travels unnecessarily or otherwise among many other people is a risk for themselves and others. The shape and color of masks and PCR tests are irrelevant and whoever is vaccinated can still be the virus carrier. Actually, this shouldn’t be that difficult to understand and that’s exactly why the venue Qatar means an additional, incalculable risk for MotoGP. Let’s hope it goes well anyway and there will be no more sandstorms!