Some have blamed K-27's Capt Pavel Leonov over the accident, but CWO Mazurenko says the captain faced a life-or-death choice.

BBC: Eyewitness: Tragedy of Soviet nuclear submarine K-27

Those memories were stirred by the fact that Waldmann, now 43, actually rode on Sunday in place of the injured Russian rider Vladimir Leonov.

BBC: Matt Roberts' MotoGP column