In 1981 Wayne Gardner launched his international career with Moriwaki Engineering. Now, thirty years later the famous Gardner/Moriwaki pairing are set to further cement their historical partnership.

Team Gardner prepares to relocate to Barcelona Spain to advance the road racing careers of Gardner’s young sons, they have been appointed as Moriwaki Engineering’s only factory team in Europe.

Thirteen year old Remy Gardner will step up to the Spanish road racing championship, the CEV Buckler and under the experienced direction of his father will help develop the MD250GP3 (Moriwaki Dream 250cc GP3) for the new MotoGP category. Eleven year old Luca Gardner will also train and race a Moriwaki MD250H (pre-GP) in the Mediterranean Championship later in the year. Remy raced the MD250H to take 2nd place in in the Mediterranean Championship in his debut season of road racing.

Continue reading: Gardner and Moriwaki team up again

....

0 comments

MotoGP fans will be in for a special treat when the Australian GP rolls around the weekend of October 14th to 16th, because GP and Australian legends Wayne Gardner and Mick Doohan will be riding a series of demonstration laps at the iconic Phillip Island circuit.

The day will carry extra significance for Gardner, who won the first two Australian Motorcycle Grands Prix at Phillip Island in 1989 and 1990, as he will also be joined by his 13 year-­old son Remy.

Remy, who is currently competing in the 250cc Moto3 class in the Spanish Campeonato Mediterraneo de Velocidad with a Moriwaki 250 and won round 4 of this highly competitive junior championship, will be riding alongside his father with Honda’s Moto3 bike, the NSF250R.

Moto3 4-strokes will be replacing the current 125cc GP class in 2012.

It’s always a great pleasure to ride the Phillip Island circuit, it’s an enjoyable layout and really fast which I love. I enjoyed a lot of special moments of my career there,” said the former 1987 World Champion. “I see it as a real honour to ride on my home track in front of my fans with my son, I’m expecting it to be a really special moment in my life. It’s great to be able to share a place and a sport that I am so passionate about with my family”.

And on riding side by side with his son, Gardner declared, “He’s too fast for me now so I prefer not to race. He’s cheeky and wants to prove he can beat me. It’s lucky I will be on a 1000cc and he will be on a 250cc.”

....

1 comment

We’ve already done a couple of posts on the next generation of up-and-coming racers that we like to keep an eye on and eventually see if they can make that promising step forward into international racing

Dakota Mamola, Luca Marini (step-brother of Valentino Rossi, and the kid was a big hit when he was interviewed by Piero Chiambretti last year) and Remy Gardner. Remy is as you already know is the son of the 500cc World Champion Wayne. Thirteen year old Remy has already made one step forwards and will be contesting in Spain’s 2011 CMV (Campeonato Mediterraneo de Velocidad) under the Monlau Competition team banner, that sees kids from 12 to 14 compete un de-tuned 125cc bikes.

Spain is currently dominating the world with the sheer number of racing schools and junior championships produces an incredible amount of talented youngsters who dream of racing in the premier class in the very near future, hence the choice of the Gardner family.

The enthusiastic Remy, who is also going to be competing in Australia’s MRRDA series and in Dirt Track and Longtrack competitions said, “I really want to get fit and healthy before I start racing this year and I’ve been getting up early before school to cycle, run or surf every morning, and eating healthy to make sure I’m ready to do my best for our sponsors. I can’t wait to get to Spain and race. It’s all I dream about now. I know I’m going to have work really hard to keep up with my schoolwork and study on the plane going over and back – thanks to Virgin Blue that’ll be much easier! But I’m ready to work as hard as I have to, so Mum and Dad let me keep going away to race.”

Continue reading: Remy Gardner to contest in Spanish CMV championship

....

3 comments

Wayne Gardner should give up writing his weekly column on MotoGP his website and seriously turn into a full fledged MotoGP journalist, because he seems to be affable enough to have an inside line to people that count in the paddock.

While Aprilia has always denied that they are thinking of going to MotoGP when the rules change in 2012, BMW through Davide Tardozzi, before he got shafted said the same thing, but according to the former World Champion, some Honda officials have told him the opposite.

“Now, you won’t have read this anywhere else, but it was also confirmed to me by Honda representatives that Aprilia and BMW will definitely be participating in MotoGP from 2012. That’s huge news. It already looks like the regulation changes have brought about the desired effect - more bikes on the grid.”

Since Honda more or less rules the MSMA, this tidbit could actually be true.

Source | waynegardnerapproved.com

....

0 comments

In his weeky review post on the Wayne Gardner Approved website, the former Australian world champion apparently had a very revealing chat with Casey Stoner during last week’s Australian GP weekend.

Gardner wrote on his website: “Want to know the real reason Casey decided to leave Ducati for Honda? Frustration. I had a long chat with him down at the island and he told me that while everyone thinks the factory undertakes constant modifications throughout the year, nothing could be further from the truth. He said that during the past two-years they’ve never had any serious development once the season’s started. Basically, what they start with is what they finish with - just unbelievable. He added that Ducati simply doesn’t have the budget or manpower to respond to problems that arose during the season.”

This certainly clashes with the idea we have of Ducati Corse’s racing department, where we thought that being a small factory and a shorter chain of command compared with the Japanese manufacturers, that any problems could be dealt with almost immediately.

Hit the source link to read more of Gardner’s opinions and his take on the Puig vs Suppo infighting rivalry in Honda.

Source | waynegardnerapproved.com

....

0 comments

We all have our opinions on the Rossi-Lorenzo clash on and off track at the Motegi GP, but what did two former World Champions of the caliber of Wainey Rainey and Wayne Gardner who were no strangers to hard racing, think about it what they saw?

Here’s their thoughts on the duel that certainly revived a somewhat boring race, until those final two laps.

“I just think it was good hard clean racing,” Wayne Rainey said. “OK, they bumped. That’s the way I remember it, the way you’re supposed to race. I don’t know everybody’s saying, but I just thought it was a great race.” and “That’s the way racing should be, the way I see it, I think if you’re going to race hard. I just see that as hard racing. OK, it happens to be between two teammates, but Lorenzo decided to race Rossi there at the end and it looked like Rossi saw there was an opening and he went for it and then they bumped.”

Continue reading: Wayne Gardner and Wayne Rainey on Rossi-Lorenzo clash

....

0 comments

Here’s an interesting interview with 1987 World Champion Wayne Gardner on Thursday Night Live. The Australian champion talks about the current MotoGP championship, how tough it was breaking into racing, Casey Stoner and Ducati and also introduces his two sons.

Gardner’s two sons Remy (12) and Luca (10) are dirt trackers and have already competed in several Australian Junior Dirt Track championships and Remy was selected to represent Australia at the Honda NSF100 Cup European Final in Albacete, Spain on 22-24 October and he’ll also be racing against Luca Marini, Valentino Rossi’s half brother, who competes in the Italian NSF100 Championship.

So check out the other video after the jump of dad Wayne instructing his two kids (Remy with #46 and Luca on the #88) before they hit the Marulan Driver Training Centre in New South Wales.

Continue reading: Wayne, Remy and Luca Gardner Interview

....

0 comments

Gran Prix legend Wayne Gardner has uploaded on his Youtube channel the entire 1989 US 500 GP race at the famed Laguna Seca circuit.

The race saw Gardner crash out while fighting for third and break his leg while Wayne Rainey on his Roberts Lucky Strike Yamaha would take a very comfortable win, but it also includes in part 2 what American journos have called the worst USGP ever because of what happened to Bubba Shobert on the cool down lap that ended the American’s racing career that day.

Part 2 after the jump.

Continue reading: 1989 US 500 GP Race Videos

....

0 comments

From 1985 to 1995, this two part video highlights the golden and legendary era of the 500cc Grand Prix racing where you can re-watch those fantastic riders and legends that go by the names of Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Rainey, Eddie Lawson, John Kocinski, Mick Doohan and Wayne Gardner and many others.

Watch the joys and pains of those who brought us such magnificent racing on those mean machines, so hit the play button.

Part 2 after the jump.

Continue reading: Memory Lane: 500cc Racing from 1985 to1995

....

0 comments

World famous mechanic and Valentino Rossi’s crew chief has left a long interview with SuperBikePlanet in which he reveals many aspects of his long and rich career with riders like Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan and Freddie Spencer. Jeremy Burgess discusses some fascinating moments of MotoGP history and the riders themselves. Some quotes from the interview, on being chief mechanic at Honda for Wayne Gardner:

“Honda, as a company, if they saw that you could offer more to them, or you had the potential to do more, if you didn’t do that, you weren’t doing the best for Honda. So it basically came down, when he explained it to me, “you don’t have a choice. You’re either going to be the chief mechanic for Wayne Gardner, or you’re shirking your issues.”

On the difference between Gardner and Doohan, Burgess says:

“To draw the parallel of him [Gardner] and Mick (Doohan), Wayne you would have to go and tell him that “you can beat those guys. You beat them last week. You can do it. You can do it. You can do it.”

Continue reading: Jeremy Burgess on everything: after working with Doohan, anyone's easy

....

0 comments

Wayne Gardner, the 1987 500cc World Champion and four time winner of the Suzuka 8 Hours and motorcycle icon of the ’80’s alongside the likes of Kevin Schwantz, Eddie Lawson and Wayne Rainey, got to try seven different Superbikes marques at the Portimao track.

Gardner who turned fifty October 11th, gave his first impressions to Italian website GPone.

What did you think about these bikes?

“Each of them has a different personality and most of all the characteristics are very particular. I was impressed by the Yamaha which was very difficult to ride: my compliments to Ben Spies that brought it to victory, he did a great job. I was also impressed by the BMW’s, while the Kawasaki is the one that has the most potential. On this circuit, I had fun on the Ducati, it seemed made for those up and down hills that remind me very much of the English tracks, like Brands Hatch.”

Source | gpone

....

1 comment

Mick Doohan was one of several athletes that was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame last Thursday evening in a lavish 25th anniversary gala dinner in Melbourne.

Doohan, who last year he opened a nightclub the CatHouse Restaurant and Lounge at the Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, will become just the third motorcycle racer to be inducted into the hall of fame, behind Kel Carruthers and once rival and teammate Wayne Gardner.

Carruthers was world 250 GP champion in 1969, Gardner was 500cc champion in 1987, and Doohan who was 5 times GP World Champion from 1994 to 1998.

When recently asked by Australia’s Herald Sun why Aussies have made such an impact in motorcycle racing at an international level, Doohan replied:

“The motorsport capital is Europe and that’s a long way to go for Australians, so there’s no point in doing it half-heartedly. If you’re going to go you’ve got to give it your best shot - I think that’s the attitude most Australians have when they go overseas for anything. It’s a big effort to get there and a long, lonely journey back if you haven’t succeeded.”

Source | bikenews

....

1 comment