John Kocinski

Kocinski at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix on a Yamaha

Kocinski's world champion machine from 1990

John Kocinski (born March 20, 1968 in Little Rock , Arkansas ) is a retired American motorcycle racer . He contested a total of 99 races in the motorcycle world championship , where he won the title in the 250 cc class in 1990 . He also secured the 1997 title in the Superbike World Championship .

Career

At the age of 17, Kocinski was already a Yamaha works driver in the AMA Championship Cup. He won the series from 1987 to 1989. In 1988 , when he made his debut in the motorcycle world championship, he took pole position in the 250cc class at the US Grand Prix . Kocinski first started in the class up to 500 cm³ in 1989 . In 1990 he competed in four different racing series and won the 250cc World Championship on the first attempt. The following two years he drove in the 500cc class with a fourth and a third place in the World Championship. In 1993 he took the first podium for Suzuki in the class up to 250 cc, but switched back to the 500cc during the season and won his home Grand Prix in Laguna Seca on Cagiva . In 1994 , Kocinski finished third overall with a win in the opening race in Australia .

In 1996 , after Cagiva's withdrawal from the 500cc class, Kocinski moved to Ducati in the Superbike World Championship . In 1997 he won the world title on Honda with nine wins.

In 1998 and 1999 Kocinski drove again in the 500cc World Championship, but without any notable success. In 2000 he entered the AMA championship, followed by three years as a Yamaha test driver and then retired from active racing.

Even when he entered the premier class, Kocinski had caused controversy after he said that any driver who had not won the premier class title within two seasons should quit. However, he drove six seasons in this class without becoming world champion.

statistics

title

• 1990 - 250 cc world champion on a Yamaha
• 1997 - World Superbike Champion on Honda

In the motorcycle world championship

GP victories: 13
Podiums: 35
GP starts:	250 cc: 28
	500 cc: 71

Web links

Commons : John Kocinski  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• John Kocinski on the official website of the Motorcycle World Championship (English).
• John Kocinski on the official website of the Superbike and Supersport World Championship