|
Wayne Michael Gardner 〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Gardner, Wayne Michael, OAM )〕 (born 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.〔(Wayne Gardner career statistics at MotoGP.com )〕 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.〔(Wayne Gardner at Wayne Gardner.com )〕 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.〔(1985 Suzuka 8 Hours results at Moto Racing Japan )〕〔(1986 Suzuka 8 Hours results at Moto Racing Japan )〕〔(1991 Suzuka 8 Hours results at Moto Racing Japan )〕〔(1992 Suzuka 8 Hours results at Moto Racing Japan )〕 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. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wayne Gardner」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|