Wayne Gardner

Wayne Gardner
Wayne Gardner at the 1989 Japanese GP
Nationality	Australian
Born	(1959-10-11) 11 October 1959 Wollongong, New South Wales
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1983 - 1992 First race 1983 500 cc Dutch TT Last race 1992 500 cc South African Grand Prix First win 1986 500 cc Spanish Grand Prix Last win 1992 500 cc British Grand Prix Team(s) Honda Championships 500 cc - 1987 Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 100 18 51 19 19 1074

Wayne Michael Gardner AM (born (1959-10-11)11 October 1959 in Wollongong, New South Wales) is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and touring car racer. His most notable achievement was winning the 1987 500 cc Motorcycle World Championship, becoming the first Australian to win motorcycling's premier class. His success on the world motorcycle racing circuit earned him the nickname The Wollongong Whiz.

Motorcycle career

Gardner began his racing career in 1977 at age 18, riding a second-hand Yamaha TZ250 bike in the Australian championship and finishing second on debut at Amaroo Park. He went on to record his first win a few weeks later at Oran Park Raceway.

He made his debut in 500 cc Grand Prix racing at the Dutch TT at Assen in 1983 with the Honda Britain team, though he failed to score a point that season. He rode for the team in 1984 in only five of the season's twelve races, and finished 7th in the championship with 33 points, gaining his first podium at Anderstorp in Sweden.

Wayne Gardner scored his first Grand Prix race win at the Jarama circuit in Spain in 1986, before going on to win two more races and finish second in the championship behind Eddie Lawson. In 1987 became the first Australian to win the 500 cc World Championship, winning seven of sixteen races and wrapping up the title with a win in the penultimate round in Brazil at Goiânia. Gardner's race engineer in 1987 was fellow Australian Jeremy Burgess who had previously worked with 1985 World Champion Freddie Spencer.

In defense of his title in 1988, Gardner was hampered by the Honda NSR500 not being easy to ride. He finished second in the championship behind American Eddie Lawson who rode for the factory Marlboro Yamaha team. He still managed wins in the Netherlands, Belgium, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, and would have won at the Paul Ricard Circuit in France had he not suffered mechanical problems only a third of a lap from the finish while holding a 2-second lead.

Gardner's 1987 World Championship saw a sharp rise in the popularity of Grand Prix Motorcycle racing in Australia, with increased television and print media coverage. This led to the inaugural running of the Australian motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island in 1989. The Wollongong Whiz gave the home crowd something to cheer as he won his home race in 1989, just edging out Wayne Rainey and Christian Sarron. Unfortunately his season would come unglued at the next round at Laguna Seca where he crashed and broke his leg, causing him to miss half of the season. From the 1985 season, Gardner raced for the factory Rothmans Honda team and was joined on that team by fellow Australian Michael Doohan in 1989. Ironically, Eddie Lawson also joined Rothmans Honda in 1989 and would go on to win his fourth World Championship.

Gardner had a frustrating season in 1990. After winning at Jerez in Spain, he missed three rounds through injury and only managed 5th in the World Championship. He did finish the season on a high note though, winning his second straight Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island from team mate Mick Doohan and World Champion elect Wayne Rainey. For over half the race, Gardner had to contend with the faring of his Honda threatening to part company with the bike after some of the front mountings had broken.

Gardner also won four Suzuka 8 Hours races in 1985, 1986, 1991 and 1992.

Gardner retired from motorcycle racing following the 1992 season but stayed closely involved with the sport, helping various riders like Daryl Beattie early in their careers. He rode at special events like the Goodwood Festival of Speed on classic Honda motorcycles and raced again at the Goodwood race meeting against fellow bikers James Whitham, the late Barry Sheene and ex-Formula One driver Damon Hill.

Four-wheel racing career

Wayne Gardner
Nationality	Australian
Born	(1959-10-11) 11 October 1959 Wollongong, NSW, Australia
Retired	2002
All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship
Years active	1996-2002
Teams	TOM's
Best finish	6th in 2001 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship
Previous series
1993-2002	V8 Supercar

Wayne Gardner's first foray into car racing came when he was to race a Formula Holden in the final round of the 1990 Australian Drivers' Championship which was run as a support race to that years Australian Formula One Grand Prix, driving a Shrike 002 built and developed for the category by the students of the Croydon Park Institute of TAFE in Adelaide where the race was held. After only arriving in Adelaide on the opening day of practice having spent the previous week in Japan testing his 1991 NRS500 Grand Prix bike, Gardner had qualified in a credible 11th place for his first competitive drive in an Open-wheel car. However, a crash into the wall just past the chicane at the end of the pit straight when he spun on coolant that had been dropped by the Ralt RT20 of Drew Price, heavily damaged the front of the car. He was hopeful that the car could be repaired for the race, but his chances ended when another car also spun on the coolant and crashed into the Shrike damaging it beyond immediate repair.

Following his retirement from the 500 cc championship at the end of 1992, Gardner turned his interests to four-wheeled motorsport. He began his touring car career in 1992, driving the Raider Motorsport built Bob Forbes Racing Holden VN Commodore SS Group A, leased by Graham Moore for the 1992 Tooheys 1000 at Bathurst. The Moore/Gardner Commodore finished the crash shortened race in 26th place after qualifying 21st. Gardner's first drive in the race happened to be soon after the circuit was hit by rain which lasted for almost two hours, and his cause was not helped by the Commodore's windscreen de-mister not working which saw the screen fog up making visibility, already poor due to the heavy rain and fog on The Mountain, almost impossible.

In 1993, Gardner was recruited to drive a VP Commodore for the Holden Racing Team in the 1993 Australian Touring Car Championship, the first year of the 5.0 litre touring cars which would later become the V8 Supercars. In November 1993, Gardner won one of the Group A support races at the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide, after earlier in the year finishing third Tooheys 1000 co-driving with Brad Jones. Many incidents while driving for the Holden Racing Team in 1993 led to him being given the nickname "Captain Chaos", and it was thought that his continued on-track clashes was what had led to his brief suspension from the team for that year's Sandown 500, though the real reason was that Gardner had been openly talking to both Holden and Coca-Cola about starting his own team.

For the 1994 season, Gardner formed his own team, Wayne Gardner Racing (sponsored by Coca-Cola), where he raced for three seasons with team mate, Channel 7 commentator Neil Crompton. The team's low point came at the Bathurst round of the 1995 ATCC in March. Soon after the start of the first heat, Crompton was hit by the VP Commodore of Phil Ward. This pushed him straight into Gardner's car and both of the Coke sponsored cars ended their race in the wall before they got to Hell Corner on the first lap (Ward continued on with little to no damage). The team recovered though and Gardner sensationally won the start and led the opening laps of the 1995 Tooheys 1000, before he and Crompton went on to finish 3rd in the race, while their team mates Brad Jones and former Bathurst winner Win Percy finished 5th, only a few seconds behind.

The team folded after a partial 1999 season with a leased car from Perkins Engineering, but he continued racing V8 Supercars until 2002, with the highlight of taking pole position for the FIA 1000 at Bathurst in appalling conditions. Wayne Gardner also took a surprise win in the first round in the V8 Supercar Championship's inaugural season in 1997, at Calder Park Raceway. It was surprising as Gardner had announced that a lack of available funds would likely cause him to not race the full 1997 season and he wasn't considered a race or championship favourite.

Gardner also made a foray into the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, racing a works Toyota Supra in 1996, and raced in this competition until his retirement from motorsport in 2002. He won a round of the championship in 1999 (at Fuji Speedway) and 2001 (at Sportsland SUGO). He also had the distinction in 2001 of being the only Toyota driver to finish every race that season, and he also finished every race in the points.

Gardner made a one-off appearance at the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans. Gardner was entered in the Riley & Scott with Philippe Gache and fellow ex-motorcycle rider Didier de Radiguès. They qualified 26th, but failed to finish due to engine problems after completing 155 laps.

Honours

• Following his victory in the 1987 500 cc World Championship, Gardner was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1988s Honours List.
• The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme honored him as a MotoGP Legend.
• He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1991.
• He received an Australian Sports Medal in 2000.

Grand Prix career statistics

Points system from 1969 to 1987:

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Points	15	12	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1

Points system from 1988 to 1992:

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Points	20	17	15	13	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Class	Team	Machine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Points	Rank	Wins
1983	500cc	Honda Britain	NS500	RSA -	FRA -	NAT -	GER -	ESP -	AUT -	YUG -	NED NC	BEL -	GBR NC	SWE -	RSM -				0	-	0
1984	500cc	Honda Britain	NS500	RSA -	NAT 4	ESP -	AUT -	GER -	FRA -	YUG -	NED 5	BEL 7	GBR 6	SWE 3	RSM -				33	7th	0
1985	500cc	Rothmans Honda	NSR500	RSA 3	ESP 4	GER 6	NAT 3	AUT 15	YUG 3	NED 3	BEL 4	FRA NC	GBR NC	SWE NC	RSM 2				73	4th	0
1986	500cc	Rothmans Honda	NSR500	ESP 1	NAT 16	GER 2	AUT 2	YUG 3	NED 1	BEL 4	FRA 5	GBR 1	SWE 2	RSM 2					117	2nd	3
1987	500cc	Rothmans Honda	NSR500	JPN 2	ESP 1	GER 10	NAT 1	AUT 1	YUG 1	NED 2	FRA 4	GBR 2	SWE 1	CZE 1	RSM 3	POR 4	BRA 1	ARG 3	178	1st	7
1988	500cc	Rothmans Honda	NSR500	JPN 2	USA 2	ESP 3	EXP 5	NAT 2	GER 8	AUT NC	NED 1	BEL 1	YUG 1	FRA 4	GBR 2	SWE 2	CZE 1	BRA 2	229	2nd	4
1989	500cc	Rothmans Honda	NSR500	JPN 4	AUS 1	USA NC	ESP INJ	NAT INJ	GER INJ	AUT INJ	YUG INJ	NED 6	BEL NC	FRA NC	GBR NC	SWE 3	CZE -	BRA 7	67	10th	1
1990	500cc	Rothmans Honda	NSR500	JPN 2	USA NC	ESP 1	NAT 4	GER INJ	AUT INJ	YUG INJ	NED NC	BEL 10	FRA 2	GBR NC	SWE 3	CZE 2	HUN 4	AUS 1	138	5th	2
1991	500cc	Rothmans Honda	NSR500	JPN 5	AUS 4	USA 7	ESP 7	ITA -	GER 5	AUT 4	EUR 3	NED 3	FRA 10	GBR 5	RSM 4	CZE 4	VDM 5	MAL 2	161	5th	0
1992	500cc	Rothmans Honda	NSR500	JPN NC	AUS -	MAL -	ESP -	ITA DNS	EUR -	GER 3	NED -	HUN 6	FRA 2	GBR 1	BRA 4	RSA 2			78	6th	1

Car racing results

In part sourced from

Year	Title/ Event	Position	Car	Entrant
1993	Australian Touring Car Championship	14th	Holden VP Commodore	Holden Racing Team
1994	Australian Touring Car Championship	12th	Holden VP Commodore	Wayne Gardner Racing
1995	Australian Touring Car Championship	9th	Holden VR Commodore	Wayne Gardner Racing
1996	Australian Touring Car Championship	7th	Holden VR Commodore	Wayne Gardner Racing
1996	All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship: GT500	10th	Toyota Supra	Toyota Team SARD
1997	Australian Touring Car Championship	9th	Holden VS Commodore	Wayne Gardner Racing
1997	All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship: GT500	20th	Toyota Supra	Power Craft
1998	All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship: GT500	17th	Toyota Supra	Team Power Craft
1999	All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship: GT500	12th	Toyota Supra	Toyota Team LeMans
1999	Shell Championship Series	40th	Holden VT Commodore	Wayne Gardner Racing
2000	All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship: GT500	9th	Toyota Supra	Toyota Team LeMans
2001	All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship: GT500	6th	Toyota Supra	Toyota Team TOM'S
2001	Shell Championship Series	53rd	Ford AU Falcon	Larkham Motor Sport
2002	All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship: GT500	7th	Toyota Supra	Toyota Team TOM'S
2002	V8 Supercar Championship Series	49th	Ford AU Falcon	Stone Brothers Racing

External links

• Wayne Gardner's official website
• An interview with Wayne Gardner at Faster and Faster

Preceded by Eddie Lawson

500 cc Motorcycle World Champion 1987

Succeeded by Eddie Lawson