Foggy: The Championship Years

The question was then what the future held. Sportsmen can either disappear into the background, counting their money, or accept a new challenge. And I don’t think I would ever have been happy retired from racing if I hadn’t had something to focus my competitive instincts on. So, the next best thing to winning races as a rider has to be winning them as a team owner. That in itself is easier said than done because motorsport is a costly business. You cannot simply decide to set up your own team without the necessary backing. And maybe this is where my career has come full circle: for if I had not been so intent on winning when I was racing, I would not be involved in bike racing at the level I am today.

I am best known for my four World Superbike titles. Those championship wins were achieved when World Superbikes was at its peak, with a lot of factory-supported teams and a lot of very talented riders. And it wasn’t as easy for the Ducati factory riders in those days as it has been recently. Believe me, I fully earned every race win and every world championship. But people sometimes forget that I have another three world titles under my belt, two in Formula One TT racing and one World Endurance Championship. Add to that the FIM World Cup title in 1990 and I have won eight world titles in total.

Having been brought up around road racing – my dad George was also a racer – I knew from an early age that all I wanted to do in life was to become the world champion. But those early days, when we operated out of the back of a van with minimum sponsorship, were a far cry from the level of support that the top teams now receive. Just look at the pictures from Pergusa in 1988 to get a feel for the kind of outfit that was behind me back in those days.

But everyone has to start somewhere and, from my days in schoolboy motocross through to my holding those world championship trophies aloft, one thread ran through my career – I could not stand to lose. And that was probably what set me apart from other riders. It didn’t matter what the race, there was only one place to finish. And, before I became a factory rider, I needed to race and win as often as possible just to pay the bills.

So, as a privateer in 1992, I jumped at the chance to ride in the Malaysian championships for the PETRONAS Sprinta team, run by David Wong, a consultant for the PETRONAS Motorsport department. There were a couple of fast young Aussies to beat, but I managed to win a few races quite comfortably. That must have impressed PETRONAS, Malaysia’s state-owned petroleum corporation, because when we started to look for sponsorship for my own team in 2001, David, who had remained in touch throughout my career, was soon in contact. PETRONAS had been funding the development of a new 989cc triple engine, called the GPI, with its Swiss-based joint-venture company Sauber PETRONAS Engineering. It was expected that the engine would be leased to Grand Prix motorcycle teams, but my successful association with PETRONAS resulted in a five-year World Superbikes project, with my team – Foggy PETRONAS Racing – making our debut in 2003 on the first Malaysian superbike, the PETRONAS FPI.

The sheer scale of the project, which also involved the creation of an elite race bike for the road, really hit home when the road version was launched at the PETRONAS twin towers in Kuala Lumpur in November 2003. Sure, we had a few teething troubles in the first year of racing but, at the time of going to press, we have achieved two podiums and a pole position, with promising signs of more to come. But, as everyone should know by now, I won’t be happy until one of our riders is standing on the top step of that podium.

You might well ask what Carl Fogarty, a lad from Blackburn, Lancashire, who didn’t pay much attention at school but was pretty talented on a motorbike, can bring to the running of a successful racing team. Well, I pretty much leave the business side of things to the experts. And, sure, my reputation helps raise the profile of the team, which is also very important. But with that reputation comes expectation – and nobody’s expectations are higher than my own. Throughout my career as a rider I would never settle for second best. I expected to win races and I expect my team to do the same. When Chris Walker, another competitive guy if ever there was one, brought the bike home in third place at Valencia in the first race of the 2004 season, I couldn’t help leaping over the pitwall and onto the track to celebrate. If just a fraction of that desire for success can rub off on the team, from the riders down throughout the whole team, then I will feel I have been successful in my new role.

So, while I am able to look back on the championship years with pride, I’d like to think that there are more chapters of this book still to fill …

Formula One TT (#ulink_fa1a418b-47e2-5048-b5dc-2ba5abd483a7)

1988 (#ulink_53afd1a5-8961-5fa0-b856-2845c10a1755)

Ulster (#ulink_53afd1a5-8961-5fa0-b856-2845c10a1755)

You can see the straw bales giving minimal protection from the road signs. You also get an impression of how big the RC30 was – it was basically a road bike with a Tony Scott-tuned engine.

My first ever world championship win! This was a big race for the Dunlop brothers, Joey and Robert, in front of a massive crowd of 60,000 at the fast but dangerous Dundrod circuit. It was very narrow in places and people were extremely close to the action when sitting on the banking. Bad weather was almost guaranteed, making it even more dangerous. The event was a journey into the unknown for me and it showed when I qualified on the fifth row in 21st. But I shot through the field like a scalded cat and, by the end of the first lap, I was in the lead. I was very fast in the wet in those days and the Metzeler tyres worked well in the rain. I led until the finish, expecting Joey to come past at any moment. But Joey only managed seventh and suddenly, out of nowhere, I was five and a half points behind the leader of the world championship with just two rounds remaining, and I eventually won by 16 seconds. Michaela, having tuned the radio to an Irish station, was listening to events from a car park in Bolton.

1988 (#ulink_b6bab5ef-68b4-59ed-9008-5766122bd987)

Pergusa (#ulink_b6bab5ef-68b4-59ed-9008-5766122bd987)

I don’t know where Joey Dunlop popped up from. Earlier that weekend my mates had to take him to hospital after he crashed in qualifying.

A whole squad of guys from Blackburn – I nicknamed them the Ant Hill Mob after the Whacky Races cartoon characters – had travelled down to Sicily, some in the back of the van and a few more in an old Jaguar owned by the guy who ran the local nightclub, to support me. Early in the race I was battling with an Italian on a factory Bimota, Gianluca Galasso, but when he broke down I was out on my own.

You could just about do the race on one full tank but, with just a few more miles left to complete, the bike started to cut out. So I dived into the pit-lane and the crowd went ballistic as this suddenly made the race much more interesting. Needless to say, the Ant Hill Mob weren’t ready so we just poured the petrol – just enough so that I could make the final lap. I shouted at them to push me back out and luckily I made it round and won the race. That left me at the top of the world championship standings with one round remaining at Donington – and fifth place there was enough to win my first world championship.

My mechanic Lou Durkin, in the best pit-lane attire, frantically pushing me back out for that final lap

The day was red hot and I was sweating like a racehorse on the podium. I was not even wearing a vest under my leathers it was so hot. All I needed to do now was keep an eye out for the Mafia after beating the local favourite!

Punching the air as I crossed the line.

1989 (#ulink_41764353-fd32-57d1-9053-9a968b72b81d)

Assen (#ulink_41764353-fd32-57d1-9053-9a968b72b81d)

With this many Brits taking part, it looks more like a British championship race. I had just gone underneath Roger Burnett (51) and was about to clear off and didn’t see anyone for the rest of the race. You can see Trevor Nation on the Norton, followed by a glimpse of Hislop’s helmet, then James Whitham and Anders Andersson (5).

This was my first win of many at this circuit. The race lasted around 30 laps and we had to come in for a pit-stop to re-fuel. This was nothing like Formula One car pit-stops but we did have a quick-filler, which could half-fill the tank in around 10 seconds. (One of my mates kept it as a souvenir) The race was during Grand Prix weekend, so there was a massive crowd at the circuit. I was riding an RC30, semi-supported by Honda UK, and sponsored by Appleby Glade. At the time Steve Hislop was leading the championship, having won in the Isle of Man after the opening round in Japan. The race was an absolute cruise after qualifying on pole.

1989 (#ulink_6e5e70f5-7095-56d0-bd24-1886479a0281)

Kouvola (#ulink_6e5e70f5-7095-56d0-bd24-1886479a0281)

The champagne must have been disgusting as we all spit it out after taking a swig.

This was a strange circuit, set in an industrial estate where nearly every corner was a right angle, although the Finnish crowds were really enthusiastic. The key to a good lap, and to staying on the bike, was dodging the manhole covers in the middle of the road. It was actually pretty safe, as the industrial units themselves were behind a kind of ditch, but you would never catch me going round there now! I was much quicker than the other guys, including a quick Finnish rider called Jari Suhonen, and easily qualified on pole. I was now leading the world championship and had only to turn up in Ulster and finish in the top six to clinch my second world title …

FIM World Cup (#ulink_c94eb80e-5f87-56bd-96f9-5ea5f5284063)

1990 (#ulink_5d1f9efb-12b3-5b31-afa0-f463cb31b1fb)

Isle of Man (#ulink_5d1f9efb-12b3-5b31-afa0-f463cb31b1fb)

Getting down to business, exiting Quarter Bridge on the first lap.

This was my first major TT win and the first time that I had my hands on one of their massive trophies. When I won the production race in 1989, I had been gutted when the trophy I was presented with was much smaller. I also won the Senior race this year but it was the FI win which counted as a world title victory, albeit in the newly invented FIM World Cup. The series had lost world championship status due to a lack of the required minimum number of races. I was team-mate with Steve Hislop (who was tragically killed in a helicopter crash in 2003) for Honda Britain. He had been getting all the attention for his achievements the previous year, when he won three races at the TT, including reaching a new record average speed of 120mph. I had to make myself hate him so I could beat him, especially as I was worried by the muscle I had pulled in my arm during practice. Riders set off at 10-second intervals and I was 20 seconds behind Steve, which unnerved him. I had caught up with him by the second lap and, going into the tight right-hand Sulby Bridge corner, we both braked way too late. I managed to get round the corner but Steve ran straight on and retired on the next lap, claiming there was a problem with his brakes. Then all I had to do was cruise around for the next five laps.

Exiting Brabham Bridge corner, pulling the RC30 hard away from the kerb.

I am either squinting because the sun is in my eyes or because I am so fired up.

A tradition at the Isle of Man was to line the first three bikes up – myself, Nick Jeffries and Robert Dunlop.

Another lesson in how not to wear a winner’s cap

1992 (#ulink_bd2d89bc-3100-5111-acd6-a4a843c069bf)

Macau GP (#ulink_bd2d89bc-3100-5111-acd6-a4a843c069bf)

I can’t remember exactly what I said to Jamie out of the side of my mouth, probably something about a girl in the crowd, but he obviously found it funny! I have still got that set of leathers.

Jamie Whitham and I were invited out to the Macau Grand Prix, not part of the official GP world championship, to ride Yamahas. It was a two-legged race and I did all the hard work in the first leg. Jamie and local star Toshihiko Honma, who had both competed there before, were swapping the lead in the early stages while I sat behind collecting a set of dead flies on my visor. Once past those two, and after narrowly missing Jamie who had tried to out-brake me and had bounced back into the track after crashing into the straw bales, I had a clear run. The track was really bumpy and it was a dangerously tight street circuit, but I set the fastest lap of the race and built up something like an eight-second lead from that first leg. In the second leg the bike cut out whenever we were on a section of the track coming back down to sea level, so it must have been running rich. We all came to the finish together and, although I had finished third in that leg, I was comfortably overall winner. So technically that makes me the only rider to win a World Superbike race, a Formula One TT, a World Endurance race and a GP!

World Endurance (#ulink_4b1dab86-3707-5bb0-ae7e-fca3660d9a8a)

1992 (#ulink_0fc3f0f7-975d-53f9-a925-1dfdc8923e51)

Le Mans (#ulink_0fc3f0f7-975d-53f9-a925-1dfdc8923e51)

This is late on in the race, when we were leading. I had changed leathers to let my Kawasaki set dry out. The bike was always bottoming out, as can be seen from the scratches on the fairing.

This was my first 24-hour race so I was a bit wet behind the ears. My team-mates were Terry Rymer and a Belgian, Michel Simeon. My first mistake was forgetting to hit the start button after sprinting across the track for the start, so I was left for dead. But I managed to claw my way back to second, behind the other Kawasaki France team of Alex Vieira in the first 50-minute session. The next mistake was tucking into the hospitality food during my breaks, so I felt sick throughout the race. And the third error was to fall asleep, which left me feeling crap when a mechanic woke me up with the warning that it would be my turn in 10 laps. I have a lazy eye at the best of times but, just waking up, it was even worse and I nearly fell off twice in the first couple of laps.

The other Kawasaki team had snapped a cam-chain and broken down and our bosses were worried that the same might happen to us. So our mechanics incited the crowd to invade the track as there was an hour still remaining and the officials had no option but to call an early end to the race.

Me, Simeon and Rymer (right) being mobbed by our mechanics. It was fantastic to have won my first 24-hour race