Graeme Crosby

Graeme Crosby (born July 4, 1955 ) is a retired New Zealand motorcycle racer .

In his career, Crosby won the Daytona 200 , the Imola 200-mile race , the Suzuka 8-hour race together with Wes Cooley , three times the Isle of Man TT and was TT-F1 world champion in 1980 and 1981 .

He was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1995 and the New Zealand Motorcycling Hall of Fame in 2007.

Career

Graeme Crosby began his racing career in 1974 in his homeland, New Zealand. In 1976 he competed in the Australian Superbike Championship . In 1979 he was third in the Formula TT World Championship on Kawasaki . In 1980 he won the Senior TT at the Isle of Man TT .

From 1980 , Crosby also competed in the 500 cc class of the motorcycle world championship and was eighth in the overall standings on a Suzuki RG 500 Gamma in its debut season. His best result was second place in the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring behind the Italian Marco Lucchinelli . Also in 1980 he formed a team with Wes Cooley on a Yoshimura Suzuki and won the 8-hour race in Suzuka and his first title in the Formula TT World Championship.

In the 1981 season , Graeme Crosby was second at the Austrian Grand Prix at the Salzburgring and the Grand Prix of Nations in Monza, Italy, and third at the French Grand Prix at the Paul Ricard Circuit in Le Castellet and the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola fifth in the half-liter World Cup. In 1981 he successfully defended his title in the Formula TT World Championship.

1982 he joined the Yamaha - factory team of Giacomo Agostini and was 500 cc World Championship runner-behind Franco Uncini with the second place in the Grand Prix of Yugoslavia in Rijeka and third places at the Nations Grand Prix in Misano , the Grand Prix from Great Britain in Silverstone , the Swedish Grand Prix in Anderstorp and the San Marino Grand Prix in Mugello . The season started with winning the Daytona 200 . Crosby also won the Imola 200-mile race that same year .

At the end of the 1982 season, the New Zealander ended his career as a motorcycle racing driver , but drove in 1987 in the World Touring Car Championship and in the NASCAR Winston Cup and in 1988 in the Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship , but without success.

After retiring, he became a successful motorsport manager in New Zealand. In 2010 he published his autobiography CROZ - Larrikin Biker .

statistics

title

• 1979 - Formula TT-F1 third on Kawasaki
• 1980 - TT-F1 world champion in a Suzuki
• 1981 - TT-F1 world champion in a Suzuki
• 1982 - 500 cc vice world champion on a Yamaha
• 1975 - Winner of the Castrol Six Hour in New Zealand
• 1980 - Winner of the 8 Hours of Suzuka with Wes Cooley in a Yoshimura-Suzuki
• 1981 - Winner of Mallory Park Race of the Year on Suzuki
• 1982 - Daytona 200 winner on a Yamaha
• 1982 - Imola 200 mile winner on a Yamaha
• 1982 - Winner of the 500 cc race at the HAMOVE Wegraces in Hengelo
• 2 wins in Formula TT
• 3 Isle of Man TT wins

Web links

• Graeme Crosby on the Official Motorcycle World Championship website.
• Official website (English)
• Graeme Crosby . New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame,accessed June 5, 2018. 
• CROZ - Larrikin Biker (English)
• Vincent Glon: HAMOVE-Wegraces Hengelo. racingmemo.free.fr, accessed on August 14, 2014 (French). 
• Vincent Glon: 1980 - CHAMPIONNAT DU MONDE D'ENDURANCE. racingmemo.free.fr, accessed on August 14, 2014 (French).