His contemporary was Paul Nash, also a sprinter, who would later equal the world record for 100 metres (ten seconds, at that time). Nash, of course, won every time they raced. Although faster than anyone before him, Price could never expect better than second.
An honourable position, of course. But in the cruel world of professional motorcycle racing, second is just the first loser.
Which brings us neatly to the reason for the reminiscence. Diminutive Dani Pedrosa. Always the bridesmaid.
Dani, now 32, was one of a trio of pre-teens picked out by a Spanish-backed scheme to develop young talent. It was backed by Telefonica Movistar, and run by GP winner Alberto Puig, now managing the factory Repsol Honda team. The first fruit, in 2001, was a trio of 125 riders: Pedrosa, Joan Olive and Toni Elias. Olive has since retired; Elias won the first Moto2 title in 2010, and now races successfully in the USA.
Little Dani, so small his feet barely touched the ground, was massively the most successful. He won eight 125 races and in 2003 also the championship. He moved straight to 250s, and won the title twice over the next two years, in 2005 defeating Casey Stoner by better than 50 points.
It was still a bit of a surprise when Honda took him straight into their top factory team, to partner eventual 2006 champion Nicky Hayden. Dani was too small for a big 990, went the universal refrain. He’d be like a rat on a greyhound.