Overview of the late icon Barry Sheene Rizla Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen unveiled the one off paintworks of the great Barry Sheene he will use for the Moto GP at Philip Island. Barry sheene the 52-year old who was awarded the MBE in 1978 had cancer of the throat and stomach. Chris Vermeulen said that Barry Sheene was a great help for me at the start of my career and was the only reason I got set up in the first place. Barry won the world 500 cc motorcycle championship 2 times in 1976 and 1977 but was just as famous for recovering from many crashes on the track. Sheene was the best know face in the seventies and regarded immortal on the track with massive high speed crashes and was a frequent visitor to the hospital with metal plated in both knees 26 screws in his leg and left wrist. Barry was diagnosed with cancer of the throat and stomach in 2002 and said he will fight it “although this is a complete pain in the Arse, it happens to a lot of people who get over it.” he said. Barry would often attract the headlines with his playboy life style and later moved overseas to a warmer climate for the purpose of easing the pain for his crippling arthritis. Vermeulen says he hopes the crowd cheer a lot and hope I can ride as well as he did. I just feel it's a fitting tribute to a truly great rider and a wonderful man to know as a friend and as a racer. RIP Barry.