Many who witnessed the British MotoGP round last weekend would have noticed the presence of popular Hollywood actor Brad Pitt during the event.
Although it is normal for celebrities to grace MotoGP race events with their presence, not many are true fans of the race itself, unlike Brad Pitt, who expressed his undying love for MotoGP last week at the Silverstone circuit.
Speaking to ShortList, a lifestyle magazine in the U.K, Pitt said, “It’s just phenomenal. These guys are so poetic and beautiful, and yet they’re on the edge of complete and utter destruction. It’s incredible, incredible, incredible.”
“When I first started, wherever I was, I had to find an outlet who was going to broadcast it and at what time, including in the middle of the night. Now you can just go to motogp.com to watch it live. Nothing gets in the way of Brad Pitt watching the flag drop on race day: I’ll watch with whoever wants to watch with me, my wife, my kids – everyone’s welcome. But I’m definitely watching,” he said.
“I’ve always loved the bike. Over a car any day. These bikes are the ultimate – the space shuttles of the motorcycle world. I started watching a bit in the Nineties, the Mick Doohan years – the great Australian racer. But it wasn’t until Rossi’s time around 2001 that I came maniacal about it. I don’t think I’ve missed a race since,” Pitt’s admiration for the sport the same as even the most fanatical fan.
When asked about his championship predictions, Brad Pitt said that it is still too early, as the title race is still wide open between Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, and Marc Marquez.
When asked who his favourite rider was, Pitt said that he would always remain neutral, enjoying the sheer thrill of the racing itself: “I love Lorenzo, because his focus is absolute – this fighter pilot focus, He’s incredible. And then Rossi is just great. There’s a mythology around all the riders. They’re gladiators to us. These guys have to make decisions at 200mph in milliseconds. It’s just thrilling to watch.”
“You attach your life to it, and either it goes the way you want it to, or it goes against you. The gods are with you or they’re not. The millions of us who follow sports have had that experience. That ride of heartbreak and success, heartbreak and success, heartbreak and success. It’s hard to pull yourself away from that,” Brad Pitt is a MotoGP fan for life.
Pitt stars as a narrator of the upcoming MotoGP film – ‘Hitting the Apex’.