Down Under On Top

- Mat Oxley

AUSTRALIA PUNCHES above its weight in motorcycle racing. The country is the world’s 53rd most populous nation but stands fifth in MotoGP’s all-time winners list, behind Italy, the USA, Britain and Spain. Most of Australia’s 125 premier class GP victories have been scored by three men: Mick Doohan (54 wins), Casey Stoner (38) and Wayne Gardner (18). One day, a new Aussie star may surpass this trio, but no one will ever take away Gardner’s claim to fame: he was the first Australian to win the premier class world championship.

Gardner secured the title aboard his Rothmans Honda NSR500 in September 1987, deposing Marlboro Yamaha’s Eddie Lawson. The Gardner/Lawson rivalry dominated the late 1980s scene. The pair disliked each other because their characters were diametrically opposed – Lawson was shy, and dry as dust, while Gardner was loud and proud.

The fiery young Aussie came to GPs via a circuitous route: from Aussie superbikes to Japan, Daytona, Britain and finally Europe. He didn’t so much climb the racing ladder as claw his way from one rung to the next. And good luck to anyone who got in his way.

His aggression and his refusal to accept defeat were something to behold, catching the eye of Honda Britain, who signed him up for domestic duties in 1982. The following year, Gardner got his first GP start, but Honda Britain had no budget for Continental forays, so the 23-year-old had to empty his own pockets to take his bikes and crew abroad. That’s how much he wanted it.

Three years later, HRC signed Gardner to the Rothmans Honda 500 squad, alongside reigning champion Freddie Spencer. He was supposed to be Spencer’s understudy, but the American was struggling with injuries that would blight the rest of his career. However, Spencer returned for 1987, presumably fully fit.