Brad Pitt reveals Mick Doohan fandom on F1 press tour

Brad Pitt has spoken of his admiration for an Aussie sporting great, who overcame an almost career-ending injury to become a world champion.

Turns out Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt is a fan boy of an Aussie sporting icon.

Pitt, a keen motorbike rider, has been a fan of five time world 500cc champion Mick Doohan for decades.

Pitt revealed his admiration for Doohan on Dax Shepard’s podcast Armchair Expert.

“I’d kind of watched (motorbike Grand Prix racing) a little bit in the Mick Doohan period when he was winning MotoGP and this is a crazy story because he had a horrible accident in the early ‘90s, a horrible accident in the race,” Pitt said.

“They were going to take his leg (off). He said ‘Don’t, please don’t, don’t.’ They revolutionised this thing that’s now common practice where they fused his two legs together to get blood supply and it worked, he got up and won five championships.

“And now his son is Jack Doohan who was driving for Alpine (F1 team).

Mick Doohan won five consecutive 500cc World Championships.

Brad Pitt at the world premiere of F1 at Times Square in New York. Picture: AFP

Doohan suffered the shocking injury in a practice crash before the 1992 Dutch Grand Prix.

Pitt and Doohan do know each other in person.

Pitt and his then wife Angelina Jolie stayed at Doohan’s Gold Coast mansion when Jolie was working on her film Unbroken in 2014 and Doohan was spotted at the time ferrying Pitt around in his helicopter.

Pitt is currently on the media promotional circuit for his current blockbuster film F1 which is set in the high octane world of Formula 1 racing.