Wayne Gardner AM
Wayne Gardner at the 1989 Japanese GP
Nationality	Australian
Born	(1959-10-11)11 October 1959 (age 66) Wollongong,New South Wales, Australia
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1983–1992 First race 1983 500cc Dutch TT Last race 1992 500cc South African Grand Prix First win 1986 500cc Spanish Grand Prix Last win 1992 500cc British Grand Prix Team Honda Championships 500 cc –1987 Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 102 18 51 19 19 1074

Wayne Michael GardnerAM^[1] (born 11 October 1959) is an Australian former professionalmotorcycle andtouring car racer. He competed in theGrand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from1986 to1992, most prominently as a member of the Honda factory racing team where he became the first Australian to win motorcycling's premier class in1987.^[2] His success on the world motorcycleroad racing circuit earned him the nicknameThe Wollongong Whiz.

After his motorcycle racing career, Gardner competed in touring car racing from 1993 to 2002. Both of his sons,Remy and Luca, are motorcycle racers.

Gardner was born inWollongong,New South Wales, Australia. He began his racing career in 1977 at the age of 18, riding a second-handYamaha TZ250 bike in the Australian championship and finishing second on debut atAmaroo Park. He went on to record his first win a few weeks later atOran Park Raceway.^[3] In 1981, Gardner was hired byMamoru Moriwaki to race in the Australian Superbike championship aboard the MoriwakiKawasaki Kz1000s.^[4] Gardner and co-rider John Pace qualified their Moriwaki Kawasaki onpole position at the prestigious 1981Suzuka 8 Hours, ahead of all the major factory racing teams.^[5]

Fellow racer,Graeme Crosby gave Gardner his first opportunity to race in Europe.^[6] Although Crosby was contracted to ride forSuzuki, he decided to sponsor Gardner to compete in the British Superbike championship ridingKawasakis run by the British Moriwaki concession owned by Crosby.^[6] On the way to Europe, Gardner rode the Moriwaki Kawasaki to an impressive fourth-place finish at the 1981 DaytonaSuperbike race behindYoshimura Suzuki riders Crosby,Wes Cooley and Honda'sFreddie Spencer.^[7] Moriwaki and Gardner proceeded to compete in the British championship, winning their first race in England.^[8] Gardner entered the final race of the season with a chance to win the title but, an engine misfire relegated him to third place overall in the championship.^[8]

Gardner's impressive results on the Moriwaki Kawasaki eventually earned him a contract with theHonda Britain racing team. He rode a Honda to a fourth-place finish in the 1982Formula TT championship.^[9] Gardner made his 500 cc Grand Prix debut with the Honda Britain team at the1983 Dutch TT during which he was involved in an accident with reigning world champion,Franco Uncini.^[6] Uncini fell off his bike as he was exiting a corner and as he tried to run off the track, he was struck on his helmet by Gardner's bike.^[6] Uncini went into a coma but, subsequently recovered from his injuries.^[6] Gardner failed to score any points in the two Grand Prix races he had entered in 1983.^[2] In 1984, he won the British 500cc national championship for Honda and was able to compete in five Grand Prix world championship races.^[2][6][10] He scored points in all five of the Grand Prix races in which he was able to compete in during1984, including an impressive third-place finish at theSwedish Grand Prix, earning a seventh place in the final championship standings.^[2]

Gardner's performance earned him full support in1986 from theHonda-HRC factory racing team alongside teammate Freddie Spencer.^[6] He won his first Grand Prix race at theSpanish Grand Prix, before going on to win two more races and finish second in the championship behindEddie Lawson.^[2] In1987, Gardner became the first Australian to win the500 cc World Championship, winning seven of sixteen races and wrapping up the title with a win in the penultimate round inBrazil atGoiânia.^[2] Gardner's race engineer in 1987 was fellow AustralianJeremy Burgess who had previously worked with 1985 World Champion Freddie Spencer.

In defense of his title in1988, Gardner was hampered by theHonda NSR500 not being easy to ride. He finished second in the championship behind American Eddie Lawson who rode for the factoryMarlboroYamaha team.^[2] He still managed wins inthe Netherlands,Belgium,Yugoslavia andCzechoslovakia, and would have won at thePaul Ricard Circuit inFrance 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 theinaugural running of theAustralian motorcycle Grand Prix atPhillip Island in1989. The Wollongong Whiz gave the home crowd something to cheer as he won his home race in 1989, just edging outWayne Rainey andChristian Sarron.^[2] Unfortunately his season came unglued at the next round atLaguna Seca where he crashed and broke his leg, causing him to miss half of the season.^[2][3] From the 1985 season, Gardner raced for the factoryRothmansHonda team and was joined on that team by fellow AustralianMichael Doohan in1989. Ironically, Eddie Lawson also joined Rothmans Honda in 1989 and went on to win his fourth World Championship.^[3]

Gardner had a frustrating season in1990. After winning atJerez 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 teammate Mick Doohan and World Champion elect Wayne Rainey.^[2] For over half the race, Gardner had to contend with the fairing 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.^{[11][12][13][14]} Gardner retired from motorcycle racing following the1992 season but stayed closely involved with the sport, helping various riders likeDaryl Beattie early in their careers. He rode at special events like theGoodwood Festival of Speed on classic Honda motorcycles and raced again at the Goodwood race meeting against fellow bikersJames Whitham, the lateBarry Sheene and ex-Formula One driverDamon Hill.

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Wayne Gardner's first foray into car racing came when he was to race aFormula Holden in the final round of the1990 Australian Drivers' Championship which was run as a support race tothat yearsAustralianFormula One Grand Prix, driving aShrike 002 built and developed for the category by the students of theCroydon Park Institute of TAFE inAdelaide 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 anOpen-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 theRalt 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.^[15] He began histouring car career in 1992, driving the Raider Motorsport built Bob Forbes RacingHolden VN Commodore SS Group A, leased by Graham Moore for the1992 Tooheys 1000 atBathurst. 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. Also in 1992, Gardner raced 4 events in the German DTM for the Jagermeister-sponsored Linder Team running the #20 BMW E30 M3 Sport Evolution alongside team mate Armin Hahne, with little success.

In 1993, Gardner was recruited to drive aVP Commodore for theHolden Racing Team in the1993 Australian Touring Car Championship, the first year of the 5.0 litre touring cars which later became theV8 Supercars. In November 1993, Gardner won one of the Group A support races at theAustralian Grand Prix inAdelaide, after earlier in the year finishing thirdTooheys 1000 co-driving withBrad Jones.^[16] Many incidents while driving for theHolden 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'sSandown 500, though the real reason was that Gardner had been openly talking to bothHolden andCoca-Cola about starting his own team.

For the1994 season, Gardner formed his own team,Wayne Gardner Racing (sponsored by Coca-Cola), where he raced for three seasons with teammate,Channel 7 commentatorNeil Crompton. The team's low point came at the Bathurst round of the1995 ATCC in March. Soon after the start of the first heat, Crompton was hit by theVP 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 the1995 Tooheys 1000, before he and Crompton went on to finish 3rd in the race, while their teammates Brad Jones and former Bathurst winnerWin Percy finished 5th, only a few seconds behind.

Gardner's ATCC highlight was winning the 1997Calder Park round, held under lights atCalder Park Raceway. Following the withdrawal of their major sponsor Coca-Cola who chose instead to invest in the upcoming Sydney Olympics in 2000, thus losing a rumoured $2 million a year in sponsorship which made it basically impossible for the team to function financially, the team folded after a partial 1999 season with a leased car fromPerkins Engineering, but he continued racing V8 Supercars until 2002, with the highlight of takingpole position for theFAI 1000 at Bathurst in 2000, in appalling conditions. Wayne Gardner also took a surprise win in the first round in the V8 Supercar Championship's inaugural season in 1997, atCalder Park Raceway. It was surprising, as Gardner had announced that due to a lack of available funds, it was unlikely that he would race the full1997 season, and he wasn't considered a race or championship favourite.

Gardner also made a foray into theAll Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, racing a worksToyota Supra in 1996, and raced in this competition until his retirement from motorsport in 2002.^[17][18] He won a round of the championship in 1999 (atFuji Speedway) and 2001 (atSportsland 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 the1998 24 Hours of Le Mans. Gardner was entered in theRiley & Scott with Philippe Gache and fellow ex-motorcycle riderDidier de Radiguès. They qualified 26th, but failed to finish due to engine problems after completing 155 laps.^[19]

• Following his victory in the 1987 500 cc World Championship, Gardner was made aMember of the Order of Australia (AM) in the1988 Birthday Honours for service to the sport of motorcycle racing.^[1]
• TheFédération Internationale de Motocyclisme honored him as a MotoGP Legend.^[20]
• He was inducted into theSport Australia Hall of Fame in 1991.^[21]
• He received anAustralian Sports Medal in 2000.^[22]
• The main straight atPhillip Island Grand Prix Circuit is named the Gardner Straight in his honour.

Points system from 1969 to 1987:

Points system from 1988 to 1992:

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

Year	Team	Co-Rider	Bike	Pos
1985	Team HRC	Wayne Gardner Masaki Tokuno	Honda RVF750 RC45	1st
1986	Team HRC	Wayne Gardner Dominique Sarron	Honda RVF750 RC45	1st
1991	OkiHonda Racing Team	Wayne Gardner Mick Doohan	Honda RVF750 RC45	1st
1992	OkiHonda Racing Team	Wayne Gardner Daryl Beattie	Honda RVF750 RC45	1st

In part sourced from^[23]

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Co-drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class pos.
1992	Strathfield Car Radios	Graham Moore	Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV	A	119	26th	21st
1993	Holden Racing Team	Brad Jones	Holden VP Commodore	A	160	3rd	3rd
1994	Coca-Cola Racing	Neil Crompton	Holden VP Commodore	A	99	DNF	DNF
1995	Coca-Cola Racing	Neil Crompton	Holden VR Commodore		161	3rd	3rd
1996	Coca-Cola Racing	Neil Crompton	Holden VR Commodore		160	4th	4th
1997	Wayne Gardner Racing	Neil Crompton	Holden VS Commodore	L1	89	DNF	DNF
1998	Wayne Gardner Racing	Paul Stokell	Holden VS Commodore	OC	149	13th	12th
1999	Wayne Gardner Racing	David Brabham	Holden VT Commodore		157	14th	14th
2000	Ford Tickford Racing	Neal Bates	Ford AU Falcon		45	DNF	DNF
2001	Larkham Motor Sport	Mark Larkham	Ford AU Falcon		106	DNF	DNF
2002	Stone Brothers Racing	David Besnard	Ford AU Falcon		-	DNS	DNS

Year	Team	Co-drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class pos.
1993	Palmer Tube Mills	Ian Palmer Ross Palmer	Honda NSX	C	253	3rd	1st

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Co-drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class pos.
1998	Solution F	Philippe Gache Didier de Radiguès	Riley & Scott Mk IIIFord	LMP1	155	DNF	DNF

Wikimedia Commons has media related toWayne Gardner.

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

• Australian motorcycle racers
• 500cc World Championship riders
• Supercars Championship drivers
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• Members of the Order of Australia
• Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal
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• 1959 births
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• Porsche Supercup drivers
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