1992: Alex Barros talks things over with then team-mate Eddie 'four time' Lawson. file photo

Spend more than a decade in one occupation and usually you get pretty competent at it, or maybe you're there because your dad did the legwork so you can enjoy a cushy life of nepotism. Alex Barros can look back at his GP career and know that, largely, he's put himself on the grid (although the Brazilian Honda importer has come through in a pinch a time or two).

Barros is currently ex- Superbike champ Nick Hayden's team-mate at Repsol Honda and is certainly the wiley veteran of the top-tier GP class, as he dates back to the Mamola-era at Cagiva. Cagiva nor Mamola are competing in GP today.

Barros must have some informal record for having the largest number of ultra-fast team-mates in his career. The Brazilian has been teamed with everyone from Mamola, Ron Haslam, Kevin Schwantz and even Eddie Lawson.