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Start Your Free Trial Today ><\/a><\/p>\n But for all that focus on the past and present, the 60-year-old has an eye on Australia\u2019s two-wheel future, too. <\/p>\n It\u2019s why he\u2019s putting his weight behind a push to get a young Aussie back on the international pathway to MotoGP, after his first tilt on the world championship stage came to an untimely end last year. <\/p>\n MORE MOTOGP NEWS<\/p>\n \u2018FOUR SLAPS IN THE FACE\u2019<\/a> Why Italian rising force has MotoGP\u2019s kingpins worried<\/p>\n CALENDAR SHUFFLE<\/a> Middle East war prompts Qatar postponement, later season end<\/p>\n Wollongong 21-year-old Jacob Roulstone spent the 2024 and 2025 seasons in the world championship\u2019s entry-level Moto3 category, a cut-throat class of teenagers scrambling for results and attention under the careful scrutiny of MotoGP\u2019s heavy-hitters.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a tough enough gig for a native European; coming from Australia, it\u2019s degrees of times more difficult. <\/p>\n Which is why Doohan wants to help. <\/p>\n Roulstone is seeking a return to the world championship, where he competed in Moto3 in 2024-25. (Photo by Mirco Lazzari gp\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n Doohan and Roulstone will take to the stage at the \u2018Master and The Apprentice\u2019 fundraising event in Sydney this weekend<\/a> to help Roulstone\u2019s European Moto2 championship campaign, which begins in late May in Catalunya, Spain. <\/p>\n The seven-round series features five tracks on the MotoGP world championship calendar, and can be a springboard to an entry or re-entry to the world championship, as compatriot and multiple Moto2 race-winner Senna Agius can attest.<\/p>\n As Doohan sees it, it\u2019s the least he can do to keep a storyline going that has links to before his own time on the world stage. <\/p>\n \u201cJacob\u2019s doing a bit on Superbikes here in Australia and going well, and the young guy is very talented \u2013 he just needs the support and a little bit of a break to get through,\u201d Doohan told Fox Sports\u2019 Renita Vermeulen on the \u2018Pit Talk\u2019 podcast. <\/p>\n PIT TALK PODCAST: Renita is joined by Australia\u2019s five-time 500cc world champion Mick Doohan to talk about the state of Australian motorcycle racing ahead of Jack Miller\u2019s 200th premier-class start in Brazil, and explains why he\u2019s helping support young Aussie Jacob Roulstone on his quest to return to the world championship grid. Listen to Pit Talk below.<\/p>\n \u201cWith Jacob \u2026 we\u2019ve known each other for a little while and he\u2019s clearly a talented young guy. In his early years in Europe, I helped him out a little bit. If I can support him to get back there a little bit quicker than he\u2019s planned to, then that\u2019s all the better for him, plus it inspires the next group of young guys coming through behind him.\u201d<\/p>\n ‘Mature’ Acosta still chasing first win | 03:47<\/p>\n THE TALL TASK FACING AUSSIE PROSPECTS<\/p>\n Doohan has sympathy for the way Australian riders now need to make it to MotoGP. <\/p>\n His own path seems a world away from the way riders like Jack Miller \u2013 set to start his landmark 200th premier-class race in Brazil this weekend, a record for an Australian rider \u2013 along with Agius and Moto3 rider Joel Kelso have had to make their way to the epicentre of the sport in Europe, and be good enough and financially secure enough to be able to stay. <\/p>\n MORE MOTOGP NEWS<\/p>\n THE NAME FOR FAME <\/a> How future Aussie MotoGP star became a fan favourite in Brazil<\/p>\n REVEALED<\/a> The \u2018secret\u2019 Supercars meeting behind Adelaide\u2019s shock Aussie MotoGP poaching<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s completely different now than what it was many years ago \u2026 I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s more difficult, but the opportunities are difficult,\u201d Doohan said. <\/p>\n \u201cFor one, it\u2019s a lot more expensive. The manufacturers don\u2019t pick you up at such an early age, as they did back in the 80s when I was [Roulstone\u2019s] age. I was racing in Japan, and then the Japanese manufacturers would pick you up and take you to Europe. I was expedited really quickly through, as were a few other Aussies. The whole platform has changed, and now it\u2019s really about the whole family moving to Europe. <\/p>\n \u201cCasey Stoner was really the first of that next generation to make it through that next step \u2026 the whole family packed up and went to the UK. I\u2019d asked [former world champion] Barry Sheene who the next guy was, as I was helping out with the sport for Dorna, and they were looking for the next great [Australian] hope coming through. There\u2019d been Wayne Gardner, Kevin Magee, Daryl Beattie, myself and so on \u2026 they needed the next young guy to keep it going, keep the Australian riders in there. <\/p>\n \u201cCasey then went into Spain and then into the junior championship like Jacob is doing, so it is possible \u2026 it\u2019s just a lot more work, a lot more stepping stones to get through, and the budgets are massive. Quite often, it\u2019s got more to do with the funding available than pure talent. It\u2019s very rare in this day and age, in either four wheels or two, to get through on pure talent \u2026 it\u2019s possible, but it\u2019s very rare.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a big commitment for a family. Forget about the airfares, the accommodation and everything else \u2026 on the competition side of it you\u2019ve got tyres, a team you\u2019ve got to support, crash damage \u2026 you\u2019re talking anywhere from, in Australian dollars, your starting point is $400,000 through the multi-millions if you want to get through to MotoGP. <\/p>\n \u201cBack in days gone by, it was all supported by the factories, but now it\u2019s such a business. The Spanish and the Italians, they outweigh the Aussies 50-1, and they generally come with a backpack full of money.\u201d <\/p>\n Doohan is hopeful for the longer-term prospects of 20-year-old Agius, already a two-time Moto2 race-winner<\/a> \u2013 \u201che seems to be going from strength to strength \u2026 it would be great to see him be picked up or on somebody\u2019s shortlist for MotoGP and I think he\u2019d probably go better on something like that [than Moto2] \u2013 and feels Kelso, 22, is \u201cfast and he\u2019s always in there, and it would be interesting if he can step up to Moto2 and then see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
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