Latest / Rusty's Garage / Wayne Gardner (Part 1)

Transcript

Wayne Gardner (Part 1) · Rusty's Garage

• 0:02
  A listener production.
• 0:14
  I'm automotive commentator and journalist Greg Rust and this is Rusty's Garage.
• 0:32
  Today I've road tripped south from Sydney to the gong, Wollongong.
• 0:38
  It's about a 90 minute drive and I've come here to interview the whiz, Wayne Gardner, an Aussie sporting icon, the first from down under to win the prestigious 500cc World Motorcycle Championship.
• 0:51
  He did that back in 1987 and it put wheels in motion for a race at Phillip Island that has become entrenched in the calendar.
• 1:00
  His wins there, when the AusGP got off the ground in the years that followed his title, were the stuff of legend.
• 1:07
  Big crowds invaded the track for the post-race celebrations.
• 1:11
  It was huge, as the late Darrell Eastlake would say.
• 1:14
  Reliving that period and the impact it had was the subject of a recent documentary movie too, simply called Wayne.
• 1:22
  We don't limit our podcast chat to two wheels.
• 1:25
  He raced supercars for a time, had his own range of performance road cars...
• 1:30
  raced awesome gt machines in japan where he's still a demigod and now his son remy is following in his footsteps racing bikes now wayne loves a chat so do i so we've split this one into three parts when we sat around some of the memorabilia wg has collected along the way it wasn't that far from where it all began
• 1:53
  Rusty, you know, amazingly, this is actually where this area just here in North Wollongong is exactly the place.
• 2:02
  In fact, just a couple of one street away is where my whole career started, where I found the $5 motorcycle.
• 2:10
  Crazy.
• 2:12
  and I went halves of my mate, $2.50 each, and then got my mum, raced home and told my mum on my push bike and told my mum that I bought a motorbike and she told her what and it had no back wheel and a rusted-up engine and she said I was mad and I said, no, no, no, it's got potential.
• 2:31
  And she came down and picked it up and I sat in the boot of the car with it
• 2:36
  all the way, it was a HQ Olden and I sat in the boot all the way home.
• 2:40
  You could in those days because there was no seatbelt in it.
• 2:43
  And I loved that thing to death, that bike.
• 2:45
  And my mate's father was an engineer and he worked at Verney's Engineering in Wollongong and Barry was my business partner, as you could call it.
• 2:55
  So, yeah, this is where it all started, this area, and now I own property down here and warehouses and so on.
• 3:01
  So, yeah, it's done a complete circle, and I'm back home here now obviously for the Christmas, New Year period and to see my family and property developments that I do as well.
• 3:11
  You always enjoyed two-wheeled stuff as a young bloke.
• 3:14
  Let's talk bicycles for a moment because that kind of engineering side of you came out as a young man wanting to modify bikes and to have the right machine for good wheelies, I think, wasn't it?
• 3:26
  Yeah, that's right.
• 3:28
  Look, I've always thought a little differently.
• 3:30
  I've been, I suppose, a young man.
• 3:32
  I have an entrepreneurial brain or feeling for it.
• 3:37
  In fact, it all started when I was a little kid apparently.
• 3:40
  Every toy that my mum and dad gave me, whether it was Lego or whatever they gave me in toys, I'd pull them apart first thing to see how it worked.
• 3:51
  So I was always intrigued at how do things work and so that mentality is still in me now.
• 3:58
  And, of course, then my dad used to be a truckie, and he had many failures on the truck, so he had a welder, an old welder sitting in the garage.
• 4:08
  And, yeah, one day I had a Malvern Star Mustang, and I used to wheelie that around, and that was all good.
• 4:14
  But then I looked at the old bike that we had, and it had suspension.
• 4:19
  I thought, why don't push bikes have suspension?
• 4:21
  That seems, like, obvious.
• 4:22
  Mm-hmm.
• 4:23
  So there wasn't – it was never heard of then.
• 4:25
  It was the first time.
• 4:26
  So I got the hacksaw out and the welder and made up a swinging arm for it and took the shocks off my motorbike and put it on my pushbike.
• 4:35
  Actually, I took one shock off and made a monoshock out of it because I realised that it's only going to be – it's only a light bicycle.
• 4:42
  And it worked perfect.
• 4:43
  And everyone said, wow, where did you buy that?
• 4:46
  I said, no, I made it.
• 4:47
  So –
• 4:48
  That entrepreneurial thinking has started at the age of 13.
• 4:53
  And then, of course, I think then I designed gloves for manufacturers having the built-in protection of carbon fibre pieces because I had broken fingers and things like that, so I really wanted to fix that.
• 5:05
  Then I designed boots after breaking my leg that were more solid and more strict.
• 5:09
  But the big problem in that era of the 80s and 90s was that the technology hadn't caught up to my ideas before.
• 5:17
  So, but now if you look at all the latest Alpine stars and some of these big manufacturers now, they're all using that style of stuff.
• 5:24
  So, you can see that I was really a forward thinker.
• 5:27
  And every time I see a problem, I always try to engineer something to fix it.
• 5:30
  So, yeah.
• 5:31
  So, my life has always been around that.
• 5:33
  And I love the engineering side of it.
• 5:35
  And I think that also works with Remy as well now.
• 5:38
  We'll get to Remy and what he's doing and the path that he's going on.
• 5:43
  Tell me a little bit about your dad and your mum.
• 5:45
  Your mum's been amazing in some of the things that she's kept from your career.
• 5:49
  Your dad was a tough man.
• 5:51
  What were the trucks that he had back then?
• 5:53
  What was he doing?
• 5:54
  Because we're in the gong and there's, you know, obviously Port Kimberley and mining around.
• 5:58
  What sort of trucking runs was he doing?
• 6:01
  My dad used to work out at Albion Park.
• 6:06
  They've got some quarries there, Cleary's and Farley and Lewis, if I remember back then.
• 6:10
  My dad used to drive an old international truck, cab over style, and a tipper truck.
• 6:16
  So he'd cart, you know, road base and...
• 6:20
  you know, general gravel, sand, whatever.
• 6:22
  He also did then the coal runs.
• 6:24
  He was driving coal trucks here in Wollongong from up over the top of the mountain here down to the port.
• 6:32
  So my dad's done a lot of truck driving, but mostly just local stuff, not so much national or down to other states.
• 6:39
  He's done it a few times, but mostly just carting, you know, tipper trucks type style trucks.
• 6:44
  So,
• 6:45
  Yeah, no, and I used to love it.
• 6:46
  I used to go to work with him, you know, and that's where the passion for the motoring has come from, where engines and so I'm a big truck fan.
• 6:54
  I love big trucks and buses and anything that's, you know, right up to earth moving equipment.
• 6:59
  So I'm like the kid in a toy shop, you know, when it comes to those sorts of things.
• 7:05
  And that passion and that engineering sense of me when I was young has just come forward and forward.
• 7:11
  And, yeah, look, when I had my farm, I had a bulldozer down there and I had excavators and toys, you know.
• 7:20
  And, yeah, and that's why I like – and that's why I'm doing also the building trade and property development because –
• 7:25
  I love getting out there in an excavator and digging holes and making stuff, but it's on a big scale now.
• 7:31
  So, no, it's kind of all these things that I love doing.
• 7:34
  It's now part of my life and my business.
• 7:35
  It's melded together.
• 7:37
  So from that $5 motorcycle, what transpired?
• 7:40
  Was it a case of you terrorising the back streets?
• 7:43
  How did you then morph into motorsport and things like that?
• 7:48
  Well, I was terrorised on the streets, as you say, the police chasing me, and the local neighbours were getting upset.
• 7:54
  There was a couple of Mormon ladies that lived on the corner, and I used to ride up and down the back of their house there because there was a creek bed there, and I'd ride in and out and jump it, and all the chicks would come round and watch me do daredevil stuff.
• 8:09
  And then there was, yeah, I used to just...
• 8:12
  And then the police had come and chased me.
• 8:14
  They never caught me, by the way.
• 8:17
  And then I started riding up through all the escarpment, you know, Bulleye, Atta Bulleye and over to Picton and places like that, through all the bushlands.
• 8:25
  And I'd go off with a packed sandwich from my mum and go riding and carrying some extra fuel and take off.
• 8:32
  You know, once I had my little mini bikes I'm talking about, that's when I was like 14, 15 years old and 16.
• 8:38
  And then I bumped into a guy called Dave Horton, and his son was riding up in the mountains as well, and he said, oh, my dad takes me racing.
• 8:47
  Do you want to come racing?
• 8:48
  And I went, oh, I've never raced.
• 8:50
  I don't know what to do.
• 8:51
  My bike's not good enough.
• 8:52
  He said, ah, just come and have fun.
• 8:53
  So the first race I did was up at Picton at the airport.
• 8:59
  and they had some spare land there, and Dave Horton, a local guy who's now passed away, and his son Kevin, they come and pick me up in an old Valiant station wagon with roof racks that we had to put the bikes up onto the roof racks.
• 9:12
  LAUGHTER
• 9:13
  and really old Vellin Stashwang that was just full of chip wrappers and Coke cans on the dash and the windows didn't go up and it was just a shit fight car.
• 9:24
  But we all put on and all got our bikes on there and on the roof and on the back and bikes hanging off this thing everywhere and Clapdalt thing didn't even go into top gear.
• 9:33
  He was driving along and he'd keep changing it down a gear and we went up there and the first minibike race was a father, what I did was a father and son race.
• 9:44
  And I said to Dad, you have to ride.
• 9:46
  I have to go out and do like five laps and then you have to, I'll come in and we do five laps and I finish it off with another five laps.
• 9:54
  Yeah, okay, okay.
• 9:55
  I said, oh, good.
• 9:56
  Here's the helmet.
• 9:57
  Right, get ready.
• 9:58
  Here we go.
• 9:58
  And so I go out and race.
• 10:00
  I've come in like, you know, in the top few guys front.
• 10:04
  And I said, quick, Dad, jump on.
• 10:07
  And he just took off and the thing just reared up in his hands and it went over backwards and he was getting dragged down the road with his feet dragging beyond his stomach on the seat and he couldn't stop it and he knocked two old ladies over.
• 10:19
  Yeah.
• 10:20
  And I've gone crash and I've run up and I went, what are you doing?
• 10:24
  What are you doing?
• 10:26
  I said, Dad, we're losing the race.
• 10:30
  I grabbed the bike and I took off and kept riding.
• 10:32
  And then I came in and we finished last or something.
• 10:35
  It didn't matter.
• 10:37
  And then I go, what's wrong?
• 10:39
  Why did you do that for?
• 10:40
  He said, I've never ridden a motorbike before.
• 10:43
  And he had skin off his elbows and we picked up the two elderly ladies.
• 10:47
  They were not happy.
• 10:48
  They went off to get Band-Aids and stuff on them.
• 10:51
  And so that was the first and his last time he's ever been on a motorcycle.
• 10:55
  So that was.
• 10:56
  and he's never gone near them ever since.
• 10:58
  But my mum's always been there to cheer me on, but my dad was always a bit scared and intimidated by them, worried for my life.
• 11:06
  They're both beautiful people, but different people, aren't they, mate, in the way that they've nurtured and driven you, shall we say?
• 11:13
  Yes, they're totally different.
• 11:15
  My dad's, my mum's, you know, the ultimate supportive, go get them, you can do it, son, pat me on the back and big enough is never enough, you know what I mean?
• 11:27
  And believed in my ability.
• 11:29
  And my dad was very...
• 11:32
  Yeah, he's a pessimist and super cautious, you know.
• 11:36
  And so I had mums go get them and an optimist and knock them dead and never give up.
• 11:42
  And my dad was going, oh, I wouldn't do that if I was you.
• 11:45
  And that's a dangerous sport and stay home.
• 11:48
  I'd like you to give it up or you can't build this because you won't make that work.
• 11:55
  I actually used that as fuel for my fire because I really wanted to prove my dad wrong that I could do it.
• 12:05
  And out of that pessimistic way, it fuelled my urge to prove him wrong.
• 12:13
  And that started at the age of about 15 years old and it still is as of today.
• 12:18
  And funny as though this morning, after building a...
• 12:22
  huge project out at Bulambi now.
• 12:27
  He said to me this morning, I think it's very impressive, and he said, you've done a great job, son.
• 12:34
  So that's the first time I've had congratulations from him, and it only took me 60 years to get to it here.
• 12:40
  LAUGHTER
• 12:42
  I love it.
• 12:42
  I love it.
• 12:43
  Funny as I have it, Lisa says to me, she said, whatever that is motivating you, don't stop it.
• 12:48
  Don't make it up with your dad and don't sit down now because you're on a roll.
• 12:54
  So I've just got to keep going and enjoy it, you know?
• 12:56
  Awesome, mate.
• 12:57
  Is it true that your first proper road race was Amaru Park, Sydney's Northwest?
• 13:02
  I think that's a venue that's...
• 13:04
  Now gone, obviously, all lifestyle properties out there.
• 13:06
  And was it a second-hand TZ250 Yamaha?
• 13:09
  Is that one of the early road races for you?
• 13:12
  Yeah, that would have been about 77, 78.
• 13:15
  In fact, the leathers are just over there.
• 13:17
  Fantastic.
• 13:23
  Yes.
• 13:24
  I bought a second-hand TZ250B model, ones with straight-up shocks on the rear.
• 13:30
  I bought it from a guy called John Dayhoo.
• 13:33
  In fact, John lives in Manly, and when I was living in Manly for a while, I used to go and visit him.
• 13:37
  He's got a framing shop.
• 13:38
  So it was kind of good to talk to him again and catch up, and good guy.
• 13:43
  Um, and, uh, yes, that's right.
• 13:46
  And Amaru Park was my first road race.
• 13:48
  That's exactly correct.
• 13:49
  I don't know where I finished.
• 13:50
  I can't remember, but it was not too bad.
• 13:52
  I think I was up there.
• 13:53
  I didn't win.
• 13:54
  Uh, or maybe I did.
• 13:56
  I can't remember.
• 13:56
  But, um, I think my second race was Oran Park and I, I fell off and broke my collarbone that day.
• 14:02
  So, cause I was, I'd won the 250.
• 14:05
  and I was trying to win the 350 with the 250, and I nearly did, but I high-sided coming out of one of those corners and got up, and I knew I'd crashed, and got up and my shoulder was hurting, and I went...
• 14:19
  oh, what happened here?
• 14:21
  And I thought like a truck hit me.
• 14:24
  And the guy unzipped my letters and pulled down and was sticking up here and he said, I think you've broken your collarbone.
• 14:28
  I went, what's a collarbone?
• 14:31
  The pain you got is that's what it is.
• 14:34
  So I had a few weeks off and rested and got back straight onto it as soon as I could.
• 14:39
  I loved it.
• 14:40
  Are you hell-bent on a career in motorcycle racing at this stage and how are you making sort of ends meet at this point?
• 14:46
  What's the first road car and things like that?
• 14:48
  The first time I rode a road racing bike was a guy called John Zammett.
• 14:51
  He gave me a ride.
• 14:52
  It was the first day I did try road racing.
• 14:54
  It was at Oran Park.
• 14:56
  And I rode my 125 YZ 125 motocross bike with road ties on.
• 15:02
  It was a club day, the Wollongong club day.
• 15:05
  And at the end of the day, John Zammett said to me, he was a road racer, and he said, if we get a chance, you want to try out my 250?
• 15:12
  And I went, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, because my thing seized because I took the air filter off in those days off my 125 thinking all these guys have got no air filters.
• 15:19
  And I did the same but I didn't realise you've got to jet it up.
• 15:22
  And it seized after two laps.
• 15:24
  So I sat the rest of the day out but I hung around and pestering John all day saying, can I have a ride?
• 15:32
  Can I have a ride?
• 15:32
  Oh, there's not enough time.
• 15:33
  I said, come on, John, give me a ride, please, please, please.
• 15:36
  And this is going to be an amazing story because I went out there and I ran real carefully and I came onto the straight and this thing just accelerated, wah, wah, wah, wah, down the straight.
• 15:48
  And I went, oh, my God, where has this been in my life, you know?
• 15:53
  I just went around quite fast.
• 15:56
  I broke the lap record for C graders my first time out
• 16:02
  And Tony Hatton was there that day.
• 16:04
  And Tony was watching and he goes, Jesus, look at that kid.
• 16:07
  He said he's either going to be the world's champion or break his neck.
• 16:11
  And I came in and he said, wow, you know, he was impressed.
• 16:15
  But I came in going, oh, my God, that is the best thing I've ever done in my life and this is what I want to do in my life.
• 16:22
  This is it.
• 16:24
  The amazing story is when I took Remy to Spain, he's never road raced.
• 16:27
  His first road race was in Spain.
• 16:30
  His second road race was in Australia.
• 16:32
  His first one was in Albacete.
• 16:33
  He went out and he was riding the little NSF 100 because we got an invitation from Honda.
• 16:38
  And Remy did his first race.
• 16:39
  He finished around about 20th out of 40 guys.
• 16:44
  And he'd come in and I said, oh, how was that, Remy?
• 16:46
  It might have been 18th, in fact.
• 16:47
  I said, how was that?
• 16:49
  Remy took his helmet off.
• 16:51
  He was only 12.
• 16:52
  And he goes, Dad, that's the most amazing thing I've ever done in my life.
• 16:57
  And I never want it to stop.
• 16:59
  And I said... You're like looking in a mirror at this stuff.
• 17:02
  I said to Tony, my wife then, I went, did you just hear that?
• 17:06
  And she goes, yeah, so?
• 17:07
  And I went, that's nearly the exact words what I said.
• 17:12
  How canny is that?
• 17:13
  And he had number 87 on his bike.
• 17:16
  And I went, wow, this is spooky.
• 17:19
  And so I went, well, okay.
• 17:21
  And then so he then went testing and then, of course, he went really fast and got invited back there the following year.
• 17:26
  Then we came home to Australia...
• 17:29
  And then he got invited to one of his first road races, which was in Australia, which was at Phillip Island, and he won both races on an old Morawaki that was 14 years old and cleaned everybody up and won the Australian title.
• 17:43
  And I went...
• 17:44
  Wow, well, that's finished quick, isn't it?
• 17:47
  The Australian time.
• 17:49
  So then we went the following year back to Europe and that's how Remy got started.
• 17:53
  But the amazing thing is, yes, I started out at Amaru, then I did it on Park, and then I just loved it, you know, and I couldn't do it enough.
• 18:01
  And I was working as an apprentice fitter and turner at that point and doing an apprenticeship.
• 18:07
  And so I was learning engineering side, only because I had to have a job, and I was earning $48 a week at that time.
• 18:14
  So I had to be careful how I spent my money, but my mum and dad loaned me the money to buy things like a car and things like that, but I paid them back.
• 18:23
  I paid them $25 a week out of the $47, which was good for me because it made me learn how to manage money and have responsibilities and live up to it.
• 18:36
  And I think that's an important part of that's not happening today in the youth.
• 18:41
  I think there should be more of it.
• 18:43
  87 is a reoccurring number in your life for all sorts of reasons from the world title in 1987, the way the Remy's adopted the number as well.
• 18:51
  But numbers for bike races are quite a key thing in many ways.
• 18:56
  And for you, am I right in saying triple one was the first?
• 18:59
  Yeah.
• 19:00
  Or among the first?
• 19:02
  Yes.
• 19:03
  My first road race was on the YZ125, even though it only did about three laps.
• 19:10
  And it locked up down the straight and it just dragged the back wheel to a stop.
• 19:13
  And I went, what happened then?
• 19:15
  And some guy came over and he said, you should have pulled the clutch in because it seized.
• 19:19
  I said, oh, was that what happened?
• 19:21
  So that was the end of that bike.
• 19:25
  But, yes, triple one is the number I had on the first road race, and it was on a yellow number plate on the front of my motocross bike.
• 19:33
  So it's actually sitting over there with all my stuff there, so that number plate.
• 19:37
  So, yeah, it all started that day.
• 19:39
  Love it.
• 19:40
  I love it.
• 19:40
  Castrol Six Hour at Orrin Park would feature significantly.
• 19:44
  I mean, a legendary race in Australia that ran for...
• 19:46
  17 or so years from 1970 to 87, another track that's now sadly gone to housing.
• 19:53
  If memory serves, you won there in 80 and again in 82.
• 19:56
  How important in the Grands?
• 19:59
  And 79 too.
• 20:00
  I won there in 79 on a 650 Kawasaki.
• 20:04
  So, yeah, that was the first year in the second class, the 750 class or something.
• 20:10
  So I rode with, I think it was John Payson, I think, at that time.
• 20:14
  So was it or I can't remember.
• 20:15
  How important in the grand scheme of things was that race on that path for you?
• 20:21
  Yeah, look, I was only obsessed with riding road racing bikes and I was travelling around Australia.
• 20:29
  I was working but I'd drive after work Friday night and drive to Queensland, arrive in the morning.
• 20:35
  What were you driving back then?
• 20:36
  I was driving a HQ Ute.
• 20:38
  Yeah, yeah, that I keep getting pulled over and booked in it all the time.
• 20:41
  So I repainted it in a different colour.
• 20:44
  LAUGHTER
• 20:46
  I went from a Larry Blue to a Larry Brown with big fat wheels on it and I still got booked.
• 20:52
  So I lost my licence a couple of times, always for speeding.
• 20:57
  But I used to drive up there straight after work and then straight after the race on Sunday night, say Brisbane at Lakeside, and then I'd drive home and I'd be back here in the morning at 6.30 and start work out at TubeMakers.
• 21:10
  But then I'd go and sneak away and go down later and have a sleep somewhere and they couldn't find me out.
• 21:16
  So, yeah, I was a bit of a rogue, you know.
• 21:19
  But it was a great lifestyle.
• 21:22
  But then I started getting asked to do these production bike races and realised that it's not what I wanted to ride, these big old street bikes, but I realised I was watching the newspapers and magazines and went, that seems to be, well, if you're going to make it, you have to go and do these classic events of production bikes and it's the new thing.
• 21:44
  and TV came in then and so I went, okay, I'm going to have to do it.
• 21:48
  So I bought myself a Kawasaki 650 ready to enter and Sedg Dest, I think his name was, he crashed in one of the teams and I was going to ride my own bike and my own team, started by myself.
• 22:02
  They come and ask me during practice, oh, one of our riders has got hurt, do you want to come and join us?
• 22:09
  Instead of you're using your bike, I went, that's a good deal.
• 22:12
  So I parked my bike, came home, sold it, parked that and rode their bike and we won the class.
• 22:18
  So then Triple M contacted me and said, oh, we want you to race in the thousands and the big class.
• 22:25
  And I went, yeah, okay, sounds good.
• 22:27
  Triple M and mentor motorcycles and Peter Malloy came along.
• 22:31
  That's how that whole thing evolved.
• 22:33
  And out of the production bikes then came superbikes and then Morawakies and then America and then England and world champions.
• 22:41
  So it's kind of, it was, when I look back,
• 22:47
  I couldn't see it at the time, but it's been fate.
• 22:50
  It was always meant to happen.
• 22:51
  And I don't know how, but it just keeps happening in my life and I don't understand why or how.
• 22:59
  I've got no recipe, but all I can say is I'm just having a good time in life and I'm enjoying every minute of it and life just keeps getting better and better and better.
• 23:09
  But they're all in different stages now, you know, in different things, but it's really, really exciting.
• 23:25
  WG, isn't it interesting how that also looks like an abbreviation for Wollongong?
• 23:30
  Oh no, have I just become a conspiracy theorist?
• 23:34
  Better cancel my QAnon membership.
• 23:37
  The first big break overseas to do that, OK, I'm sure there's a lot of hard work that went into it.
• 23:43
  Some of it might have been a bit fate that you just talked about a moment ago.
• 23:46
  What was the...
• 23:47
  It was a lot of times being cheeky too.
• 23:49
  Was it?
• 23:50
  Well, I suppose, you know, I wouldn't have met Morawaki if I didn't...
• 23:55
  go and steal the bike out of the van from Peter Malloy, you know.
• 24:00
  Down at Sandown because the Swan Series was on and Peter Malloy built a couple of superbikes, but I was racing against Honda Australia and all the factories and we were racing on Peter's old road bike.
• 24:12
  He's CB900 and he built a really good superbike.
• 24:18
  So yeah, I started winning races and started going good on that under Peter's guidance and clever guy, very clever.
• 24:26
  Then we did the 6A and we won that and we started smashing the manufacturers.
• 24:31
  And then, of course, we were down at Sandown to race in the next round of the Swan Series because we missed the second round because we blew an engine up.
• 24:38
  Well, the only engine we had.
• 24:40
  So we didn't go to Queensland.
• 24:41
  And then from Queensland, I was watching on TV and I was really jealous that they're all racing and I'm not.
• 24:47
  So I said to Pete, whatever you do, we want to go to Sandown as the last round because Mr Moriwaki's coming and he's looking for – and everyone knew it in Australia.
• 24:55
  He's looking for a new rider.
• 24:57
  And he goes, oh, yeah, but we've got no wind.
• 24:58
  I said, I don't know, make something up.
• 25:00
  Just do it, you know.
• 25:01
  And he goes, yeah, all right, all right, we're going to go.
• 25:03
  We're going to do it.
• 25:04
  So we turned up there and the bike was, yeah, he put together a good bike.
• 25:08
  And I, but it looked like in the Swan Series race, it looked like it was going to rain and I'm very fast in the wet, you know, and because of my dirt track skills as a kid.
• 25:20
  And I said, oh, geez, I've got no chance in the dry with this bike.
• 25:26
  Right.
• 25:27
  It wasn't fast enough.
• 25:29
  But if it rained, I could win this and I'm going to look like a hero.
• 25:32
  So I decided to put wet weather tyres on the bike because it looked like it was going to rain.
• 25:38
  It was overcast and it got that feeling.
• 25:40
  I went, I'm going to outsmart everybody here.
• 25:42
  So I rode out onto the grid on wet weather tyres and everyone all said slicks on.
• 25:47
  And they started the race and I went, come on, rain, rain, rain.
• 25:50
  And it didn't rain.
• 25:51
  Right.
• 25:52
  And I'm chasing around, but I was sliding and slipping and dirt tracking everywhere on wet weather tyres and dry.
• 25:57
  If it had a rain, I would have pissed it in, you know.
• 25:59
  So anyway, I put the bike away.
• 26:02
  Sorry, bad choice, the tyre, but it was a gamble.
• 26:05
  And Pete locked the van up, put it in there.
• 26:08
  That Swan Series race was over.
• 26:11
  And he wandered off, and I didn't know where he went, but he was up on the grandstand drinking beer and talking to people and,
• 26:17
  talking with Mal Pittman and people like that.
• 26:20
  And I was downstairs and it starts piercing down rain and, you know, half an hour too late.
• 26:28
  And then I hear them calling on the antenna, the Bellatts PA system.
• 26:36
  They're going, all contestants for the Australia Unlimited Championship race, come to the grid now.
• 26:43
  It's raining and we better hurry up.
• 26:45
  And I went.
• 26:47
  Unlimited championship.
• 26:50
  I'm not mentored in this.
• 26:52
  And they said, hey, please hurry.
• 26:54
  You know, the race is going to start.
• 26:57
  So I run around.
• 26:58
  I had my mate there and I said, Malcolm, where's Pete?
• 27:01
  He goes, I don't know.
• 27:02
  Go and find him.
• 27:03
  He'd come running back and he said, I can't find it.
• 27:05
  I said, okay, give me a screwdriver.
• 27:06
  So we broke the lock of the car, got the doors open, and I got my leathers out of his Bedford van and we put my leathers on and we pulled the bike out and unplugged it, put some fuel in it.
• 27:17
  He pushed out of me and I rode out and lined up on the grid.
• 27:19
  I wasn't even entered in the race.
• 27:21
  Mega.
• 27:22
  And I lined up on the front row.
• 27:24
  Of course I do.
• 27:26
  And it was pissing down rain and they were in a frenzy and they didn't even count who was out there or what was there on the grid.
• 27:32
  It was a perfect situation to get away with it.
• 27:35
  And I just lined up and the flag goes and I just disappeared.
• 27:39
  I just took off and just went and rode off into the distance and won by 30-something seconds.
• 27:44
  And as I'm riding around...
• 27:46
  And it starts getting dried out and Pete said, he's sitting up in the grandstand and he's talking to me and he said, oh, what tyres is Wayne on now?
• 27:55
  And he goes, no, Wayne's downstairs.
• 27:57
  He said, well, who's that?
• 27:59
  And he's going, that fucking little arsehole.
• 28:05
  And so I went on to win it by a long shot and then I had to come back to the start finish and I was standing there and they put the garland around me
• 28:18
  Put the garland around me, around my neck, and gave me this big silver dish, which is upstairs.
• 28:24
  I've still got that.
• 28:26
  And they gave it to me.
• 28:27
  And then I turned around and I did a little, yeah, thank you.
• 28:31
  Thank Peter Malloy's sponsors, whatever, because it had stopped raining then.
• 28:36
  And then I look around and here comes Pete Malloy, you know, they call him Grump, and he come walking up and, oh, God, he was angry.
• 28:42
  And he comes up and I went, he goes, you fucking da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da to me and I went, here, Pete, this is yours.
• 28:51
  I pushed the silver dish into his chest.
• 28:53
  He went, oh, oh.
• 28:55
  Oh, it was fucking unbelievable, mate.
• 28:57
  That was unbelievable.
• 28:59
  I love you.
• 28:59
  I love you.
• 29:00
  It's great.
• 29:01
  He said, incredible.
• 29:02
  But don't ever steal my bike again, you little arsehole.
• 29:06
  So, yeah, we never forget that day.
• 29:10
  That was just one of those special moments.
• 29:11
  And then we took the bike away, put it back in there, and we were having a beer.
• 29:15
  And then Crosby, Grant Crosby, come up to me and said, I'm Grant Crosby, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
• 29:21
  He said, Mr. Morawaki wants to meet you.
• 29:24
  I said, oh, really?
• 29:25
  I said, yeah, yeah, yeah, he wants to meet you.
• 29:27
  So he came over there, he didn't speak much English, and I said, hello, and how are you?
• 29:30
  And he goes, oh, you're very fast.
• 29:32
  You're very fast, Wayne Son, you know?
• 29:35
  And I said, oh, yeah, yeah, yaketyak.
• 29:36
  He said, so we met and had a beer and chat, and he wandered off, and then Crozzo went back to New Zealand, and then about a month later I had a phone call from Crozzo saying, oh, Mr Morawaki's contacted me.
• 29:49
  He wants to know, do you want to go to Daytona?
• 29:51
  Fantastic.
• 29:53
  in 1981 in February.
• 29:56
  And I went, let me think about it.
• 29:57
  Yes.
• 30:00
  And, of course, I told Peter Malloy and he goes, oh, that's unbelievable.
• 30:03
  Let's do it.
• 30:04
  So I said, come with me, Pete, you know.
• 30:05
  So we went to Daytona.
• 30:07
  I met Morawaki over there again, Anne Crosby, and I raced a Daytona and I finished fourth in my first time out on a private bike and loved it.
• 30:16
  I was up on the bank and it was really difficult to learn, get up high on the banks, but I had a great time.
• 30:22
  And then I met Roger Marshall, my teammate, and then they were supposed to sell the Morawaki at that point in America to get rid of it, sorry, but they couldn't sell it.
• 30:33
  So then Mr Morawaki said, well, what?
• 30:37
  where are you going now?
• 30:38
  I said, I'm going back to Australia with Peter, Pete Malloy.
• 30:41
  I'm going to race a superbike in Australia.
• 30:43
  Oh, why don't you do one race in one event in England?
• 30:47
  And if I send the bike to England because we can't sell it, I went, will you go?
• 30:51
  And I went, yeah, okay, why not?
• 30:54
  So I –
• 30:56
  I flew then to, instead of going back, Pete went home.
• 30:59
  Pete went back to Australia.
• 31:01
  And I said, I'll be back soon, Pete.
• 31:02
  I'll go and do one race in England.
• 31:03
  It'll be a good experience.
• 31:04
  So I go over there and I stay with Roger Marshall, my teammate.
• 31:10
  And he only lived locally near Cadwell Park.
• 31:12
  It was a race.
• 31:13
  And we ran the car many times and taught me the circuit.
• 31:16
  And he's a bit of an expert there.
• 31:19
  And I got this big old naked bike, American superbike, against all the Ron Haslam's and Mick Grant's and Graham Crosby and all these legendary riders.
• 31:30
  And I went out and I was practising and I was quick.
• 31:33
  And then I think I qualified on the second row.
• 31:37
  And during the race I just kept doing my thing and then I kept looking behind those people catching me and I kept pushing harder and harder and harder.
• 31:43
  And I caught up to Crosby, who was leading the race, and I went, oh, hurry up, Cros, because Dave Potter's coming.
• 31:48
  Please, he's my boss, you know.
• 31:51
  Graham Crosby owns Morawakey UK.
• 31:54
  So I've gone, come on, Crosby, come on.
• 31:55
  I went, oh, I'm going to lose second here, so I know what to do.
• 31:58
  I'm going to pass Crosso, and then he'll beat me over the line for sure.
• 32:03
  So I pass Crozzo and I just keep into it with about two or three laps to go.
• 32:07
  And I look behind and they're right behind me and I went over the line and I won the race.
• 32:12
  Right next to me was Crozzo and Dave Potter.
• 32:14
  And I won my first race in the UK on the Morawaki bike and Crozzo was super happy and Morawaki was crying.
• 32:22
  I was crying and I said, oh.
• 32:24
  quick, go and ring your mum and your dad.
• 32:26
  So I went and rang them and it was a special moment.
• 32:28
  And then I didn't win too many more races, but I was always up in the top guy.
• 32:33
  And then I started doing wheelies around the place and put on a showman when I didn't have the bike, the equipment wasn't good enough, you know.
• 32:40
  So that got me noticed by Honda and Suzuki and Yamaha.
• 32:43
  And then they were bidding for me.
• 32:45
  I ended up staying in the UK.
• 32:48
  and racing there, and they went, oh, you're leading the championship.
• 32:50
  You have to stay now.
• 32:52
  And I went, oh, okay, well, I'll stay in England now.
• 32:54
  I read to ring Pete, and I said, mate, I'm not coming home.
• 32:58
  He goes, you effing this and effing that.
• 33:01
  I'm building bikes for you.
• 33:03
  Sorry Pete, sorry, but he goes, mate, it's a great opportunity, take it.
• 33:08
  He said, I'll get another rider, you're going to kill it.
• 33:11
  And I won and he goes, mate, amazing, good luck and I'll see you back when you get back here this year, later this year.
• 33:17
  And I went, okay.
• 33:18
  So I ended up staying there and racing in the UK and ended up getting a factory contract then with Honda for 1982.
• 33:25
  Cross has been on the podcast before, a great guest, great character, and he's sort of regaled some of the great Morawake stories.
• 33:33
  I'm glad that you've brought up the connection then, the beginnings of it with Honda in a factory sense.
• 33:39
  Being in the UK and racing there did also eventually open up the door to race at Grand Prix level for you, didn't it, to go to your first one at the Dutch TT?
• 33:49
  Yeah.
• 33:50
  Well, yes.
• 33:51
  I mean, when I had Yamaha, Suzuki and Honda wanting me to race in the UK, that was the opening, the back door into the factory teams and with a manufacturer.
• 34:03
  So I knew I had to do, I knew I had more to learn, but I realised that at that time Freddie Spencer was with Honda and they were winning and two strokes and I went, oh.
• 34:14
  that's what I want to do.
• 34:15
  I want to go and race GPs.
• 34:17
  That's my ultimate goal.
• 34:18
  So it was always my goal from when I left the shores here to becoming a world champion in Grand Prix.
• 34:26
  So I seen the British scene as a necessary tool to go through, to get in the back door.
• 34:32
  And then Honda...
• 34:34
  Then once I started winning all the races in the UK, then started sending me around to Malaysia and all these other races, and then they were taking me to Japan and then eight-hour races, and then I had a really good alignment then with the manufacturer, with Honda in Japan and HRC.
• 34:50
  So then Rothmans came along, and then, of course, I was doing some – my first –
• 34:58
  Seven GPs I paid for myself.
• 35:00
  Did you?
• 35:01
  Yes, I did, yes.
• 35:02
  Because Honda wouldn't – they gave me the bike and Dunlop would give me the tyres.
• 35:07
  And my very first GP, for example, was the Dutch with the Unchini accident.
• 35:13
  I was paying for those races myself because I looked at the prize money and Honda said they wouldn't give any money towards it.
• 35:21
  But if I paid the cost of the travel and the truck and the –
• 35:26
  and but they'll give me the machinery foc and dunlop gave me the tires foc so i worked it out and harris and i worked it out that it was it was a it was a gamble but let's try so but i had to finish you know in the top six or eight or something to get enough money to cover my costs and i did that and uh that was a bit of an urge to
• 35:46
  pushed me on harder.
• 35:47
  And of course I did.
• 35:48
  And then I started, then Rothman's come along, what I mean, their colours.
• 35:51
  And then HRC, what I mean.
• 35:54
  And then it went on from there to obviously becoming a world champion.
• 35:57
  Share with fans, because both two and four fans will love this.
• 36:00
  What was it like for you riding a 500cc machine for...
• 36:03
  for the first time?
• 36:04
  I mean, you've come through all sorts of different bikes.
• 36:07
  Sometimes it doesn't always wow, but to the untrained like us, we just think that's the pinnacle.
• 36:14
  What was it like to ride one for the first time?
• 36:17
  Well, you know, the words I said when I first tried road racing was, oh, my God, where has this been?
• 36:22
  It was exactly the same words.
• 36:23
  It's like at another level.
• 36:25
  And I went, Jesus, these things are fast, you know, and they stop on a dime too because they're light.
• 36:31
  And I went, this is amazing, the thrill, the thrill of something that's got, you know, two horsepower per kilo.
• 36:39
  Mm-hmm.
• 36:40
  Don't forget, think about that.
• 36:41
  Per kilo of the bike and the rider together, you had two horsepower per kilo.
• 36:47
  So in other words, that's a bit like driving a car that's, you know, call it 2,000 kilos.
• 36:53
  We'll call it average.
• 36:55
  That's like having...
• 36:56
  4,000 horsepower.
• 36:57
  Horsepower.
• 36:58
  Yeah, in your car.
• 36:59
  The counterweight is mighty.
• 37:00
  It's unbelievable.
• 37:01
  So the acceleration and the braking component, because they're so light you can stop them on a dime, was hard to take in.
• 37:11
  And it was very difficult to ride because you open the throttle and you open a throttle too early and just that...
• 37:17
  A millimetre, you're open too early, mate, you're in the weeds, you know, and you're all banged up and hurting, you know, because of the horse that you're off.
• 37:25
  So it's a tricky bike to ride, but it also was thrilling because it is tricky, is how do we get the best out of this?
• 37:32
  And that was the challenge, and that's why I didn't realise how fast and how good...
• 37:37
  until these guys were, until I joined with Freddie Spencer.
• 37:41
  I was his teammate in 86 and 87, and I couldn't not understand how Freddie could be two seconds of that faster than me.
• 37:52
  I just went, I don't know how he does that, you know.
• 37:57
  And so I had to learn from the best and try to understand this bike, and, yeah, I did, and I just put my head down and, you know,
• 38:07
  But I just studied it, understood it, and we didn't have data in those days.
• 38:12
  So I just had to watch the videos and just look at it and talk to Freddie and talk to Honda and talk to Jeremy at the time, Burgess.
• 38:20
  So, you know, it was a case of just working it out.
• 38:23
  You know, everything's solvable in life.
• 38:26
  You know, it's just a case of you've got to have all the, you know, a bit like when I was a kid.
• 38:30
  How does this work?
• 38:31
  I had to know how it works.
• 38:32
  Okay, it works like this.
• 38:34
  Now I put my flair to it, you know?
• 38:37
  That's how you do it.
• 38:37
  You brought up the Franco and Cheney thing a moment ago.
• 38:40
  I mean, that must have been a frightening moment.
• 38:43
  So he falls off the bike.
• 38:45
  In your first ever GP, he's endeavouring to get out of harm's way and just freakishly...
• 38:51
  You happened to crash into him.
• 38:53
  He would go into a coma but make a recovery.
• 38:56
  But at the time, for a young man trying to make his way to break into this scene, that must have been quite confronting.
• 39:02
  Well, that was a baptism of fire, wasn't it?
• 39:04
  You know, my very first GP, as I said, and I'm paying for it myself, I went over there and I think I qualified second or third row.
• 39:13
  It was pretty good on a standard RS, like a non-factory bike.
• 39:20
  I made a good start.
• 39:21
  I was just happy just to be in there.
• 39:23
  That was when it was a long track.
• 39:24
  It was about eight kilometres around, the Dutch T2.
• 39:28
  And I came around the corner and I think I was in, I don't know, maybe 10th or 12th or something at that time.
• 39:34
  And I was in a big line of riders.
• 39:35
  And next time I see all the riders go to the right and here's Franco.
• 39:38
  He'd hide-sided off because he was up in the front field and he was the world champion at that point.
• 39:43
  And his bike went one way and he landed on his hands and knees in the middle of the track.
• 39:48
  I looked up, all the bikes had gone to the right.
• 39:53
  And he then started running, getting up and started running towards the other track.
• 39:58
  And I went, shit.
• 40:00
  I was already past the point of going right and I tried to avoid him going left and he didn't see me coming and he ran and I hit him at the front of the bike and he spun around mid-air.
• 40:10
  In fact, it broke that knuckle, which is there.
• 40:12
  You can see it's a mess.
• 40:14
  On your right hand.
• 40:15
  Yeah, my right hand.
• 40:17
  He spun around mid-air, his helmet came off and landed on the ground and he got put into a coma.
• 40:22
  That's what hit his helmet on the front of my bike.
• 40:26
  And I went off and came off the bike and I went down into a ditch and injured my leg, my knee.
• 40:31
  And I...
• 40:34
  I lay there in pain until the doctors come and got me out of the ditch.
• 40:39
  And I didn't know that he was so seriously hurt until later on.
• 40:42
  They took me to the hospital.
• 40:44
  And then I said, oh, how's Franco?
• 40:45
  How's Franco?
• 40:46
  You know?
• 40:47
  And they said, oh, he's in coma upstairs.
• 40:52
  And I went, oh, really?
• 40:53
  I got coma?
• 40:54
  And they went, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 40:55
  He's not very well.
• 40:56
  He's very serious.
• 40:57
  Mm-hmm.
• 40:58
  So I said, oh, they said, oh, would you like to see him?
• 41:02
  I said at the end of, I was in a wheelchair because I had fluid on my knee and stuff.
• 41:07
  And they took me upstairs thinking that he was okay.
• 41:12
  And they opened the door, the intensive door.
• 41:15
  care door and then here he is laying on this steel slab and he's had like a towel across his abdomen and he had electrodes all over him and he's laying there just shaking in like spasms but he was in a coma.
• 41:32
  And I seen that and they said, oh, he's not very well, he may not live.
• 41:35
  And I broke down in tears, obviously, and I felt like I'd killed the guy, even though it wasn't my fault.
• 41:43
  And luckily the TV captured the whole thing because that explained exactly what happened.
• 41:53
  And I explained it, but no one believed me.
• 41:54
  Then after the shock of seeing him, then I went downstairs.
• 41:57
  I had Roger Marshall with me at the time and Donna, and I went downstairs and I was in tears and heartbroken.
• 42:07
  I went down there and they said, oh, let's, Roger said, let's go.
• 42:11
  So they took me downstairs and when the elevator opened up, there was,
• 42:15
  hundreds of people inside there, including Franco's wife and children and everything, and they're all screaming and, you know, this huge emotional moment of terror in their phases.
• 42:26
  And I came out and they're yelling out, you killer, you killed my husband, and...
• 42:31
  It was traumatic and I was in tears and they were all trying to get on.
• 42:35
  There was like a scrum happening and Roger's going, get back, get back, and we pushed our way through all the people and the family were crying and telling me I'm a killer and all sorts of stuff because they hadn't seen the TV footage.
• 42:50
  After the accident, they rushed straight to the hospital.
• 42:52
  Anyway, Roger got me out, put me in the car, and we started driving back to the UK and I then got cried my whole way home back to...
• 43:00
  back to the UK and I had a prelude then at the time.
• 43:04
  And I went back and up to Lincolnshire where I was living and had a house over there and I just laid low for two weeks and the media were chasing me.
• 43:15
  But fortunately I hadn't seen the footage and the footage was getting put out and it explained exactly what happened and it was very plain that it was not my fault.
• 43:24
  And everyone felt really bad for me and I wanted to go home.
• 43:27
  I wanted to quit.
• 43:27
  And Honda, I had a contract with Honda Britain at that point.
• 43:32
  That was 83.
• 43:34
  And, yeah, 83, 84, 83.
• 43:39
  And I didn't know what to do.
• 43:41
  That was my first GP ever.
• 43:43
  What a disaster.
• 43:45
  So I was looking for flights to come home.
• 43:48
  I was crying.
• 43:49
  My dad said, come home.
• 43:51
  My mum said, come home.
• 43:52
  So I was about to step on a plane.
• 43:55
  And then Franco came out of his coma after about two weeks, three weeks.
• 43:59
  Three weeks he came out of his coma and he wasn't great but he said he's getting better.
• 44:03
  And then the media seen the footage and then backed off on me and he explained exactly what happened and then I started to get better and then I wasn't sure to go home or not then.
• 44:18
  And then Barry Simmons rang me from Honda and said, well,
• 44:21
  how are you?
• 44:22
  And I said, I'm okay.
• 44:24
  And they said, do you, well, you've got some race, a race coming up.
• 44:28
  You want to go and race or not?
• 44:29
  Or you want to go home and quit?
• 44:32
  And I said, well, Franco's getting better.
• 44:34
  And they said, yeah, you should, you know, you should stay.
• 44:38
  And I went, okay.
• 44:39
  So I decided then to, once Franco was getting better and I was getting good news from him, I then went to Donington and I was on tender hooks.
• 44:48
  I went out there and, um,
• 44:49
  Then I started riding and then I got the feel of it again and got the urge and it all came back to me and I went out and won.
• 44:55
  I went out and won all those races then and then came home and I went, oh, that's so good, I can't let that go.
• 45:01
  And Honda said to me, I can't go home, you're too good, you know.
• 45:04
  So I ended up staying and the rest is history.
• 45:08
  Tremendous.
• 45:08
  You've recounted about the fact that you would –
• 45:12
  get the factory ride, that 86 should be runner-up in the World Championship that year and learn from one of the greats.
• 45:18
  87 was remarkable, mate.
• 45:20
  Seven wins from 16 races, first Aussie to claim the title.
• 45:24
  Just a huge feat.
• 45:26
  You were a long way from home, Toto, in terms of, you know, doing this.
• 45:32
  The kid from Wollongong had conquered the world title.
• 45:35
  A massive feat.
• 45:36
  Yeah.
• 45:39
  Yeah.
• 45:41
  Look, I think the important thing about this is it was about achieving your dreams, you know, and chasing your goals, your long-term goals.
• 45:50
  I've always...
• 45:52
  thought big.
• 45:53
  I've always, if I'm going to do something, I looked up to all my heroes like Kenny Roberts and Randy Mamola and all these legends.
• 46:00
  Before I even started, they were on the road race scene and become huge legends.
• 46:05
  So then I obviously got to meet all those guys and hanging out with them and then racing against them.
• 46:11
  But I wanted to beat them too, you know.
• 46:13
  So, but I learned a lot from them.
• 46:16
  And, yeah, I went on to, with Honda, had a good bike that year.
• 46:21
  It wasn't the best handling bike, but certainly very fast, you know, in a straight line.
• 46:25
  We used the power, but I had to work hard on the bike to get it around corners because it had a very low centre of gravity and didn't really work and we kept complaining about it.
• 46:35
  And, yeah, I went on to win the world title and so beat and beat my heroes.
• 46:41
  beat my heroes like Randy Mamola I took the world title from him and you know and to this day Randy never won a world title but I did so that to me is kind of really accomplishing you know and a good feeling and and of course when you see some of the photos of the day when I was world champion and you know and and had the t-shirt on and you know that's
• 47:03
  It was hard to believe, but it happened.
• 47:06
  It was true.
• 47:06
  It happened in real life.
• 47:08
  And that's why my book came out, and it was called Dreams Do Come True.
• 47:13
  And that's where the movie came off the back of the book.
• 47:15
  So, yeah, I never dreamed of all the other things that had ever happened.
• 47:19
  You know, at the end of the day is I'm finding that first bike.
• 47:23
  I just had...
• 47:25
  I was just inquisitive and I wanted to go out and ride and learn and I'm very competitive and I wanted to give it my best shot.
• 47:33
  And if this is my shot in life, this is what I'm good at, I'm going to make the most of it.
• 47:39
  And I did.
• 47:45
  That's the end of part one of my podcast with Australian Sports Hall of Famer and MotoGP legend Wayne Gardner.
• 47:51
  Now, because he kindly gave us so much of his time before heading back to Europe, we have split this chat into three parts.
• 47:59
  We don't often do that.
• 48:00
  Parts two and three are good to go for you to enjoy right now.
• 48:04
  So head back to the library and hit the start button.
• 48:08
  In those parts, we cover why loyalty stopped him winning more 500cc world titles to touring cars, GT cars and more.
• 48:17
  You will love it.