Best Wildcard of All Time...

Hazza · 31 Oct 2006, 23:14 (Ref:1754826)

Here I my thoughts:

Troy Baliss Valencia 2006. Nuff said.

Shayne Byrne, Brands Hatch 2003 - Best bike, best tyres, cleans up.

Steve Hislop - Donnington 2001. 39 years old, one off Wild Card, gets pole, a 3rd place in race one, and still holds the track record for supers...as they havn't raced since. Shows that old guys can still go fast.

Mick Doohan, WSBK Oran Park, 1988. Lapped almost the entire field. Had talent, that kid.

Troy Bayliss - Phillip Island 97. Did things with that Suzuki that no one else did, and set his career in motion which would lead to his first MotoGP win 9 years later.

Abe - Suzuka. Wild Hair, Wild Speed, Wild Crash. We miss you Norrick Abe!

Ant Gobert, Phillip Island 1994. That kid had talent, eh?

Marchinello Lucchi - Italian GP, 96 - 98. Aprillia test rider, about 40 years old and got is annual outing at the Italian Gp. Lost out to Biaggi and Capirossi in 97, but took home the prize the next year against a certain Valentino Rossi the next year. What a champ.

djb · 1 Nov 2006, 00:25 (Ref:1754854)

Lucchi or whatever his name is, is the guy that sprung to mind when I saw your thread. Wasn't he the fellow who worked (supposedly, probably a fib or exageration) as a garbage man as a part time job. Anyway, I remember that race and how happy i was for a fellow old fellow.

and same for Baliss (37 yrs old?) two days ago, great stuff when this sort of thing happens.

Pro Racer · 1 Nov 2006, 04:19 (Ref:1754931)

for me being only 16 i havn't seen that much only about 8 years i have watched it but been really into it for about 4 or 5 years and the best i have seen was Troy Bayliss last weekend.

HDTVKSS · 1 Nov 2006, 04:49 (Ref:1754941)

being a huge bayliss fan i could go with last weekend, but that Doohan ride was special.

Dani Filth · 1 Nov 2006, 04:59 (Ref:1754943)

forgot Daijiro Kato - 1997,1998 Suzuka Wildcards

racer69 · 1 Nov 2006, 06:28 (Ref:1754985)

Hard for me to go past Hitoyasu Izutsu at Sugo in 2000, at a time when 750cc 4 cylinder bikes were being rendered almost useless in World Superbike competition, he pulled off a pair of fairly easy victories on the Kawasaki.

Ben Bostrom & Anthony Gobert at Laguna Seca in 1999 on their American championship Vance & Hines Ducati's, winning a race each against the WSBK regulars.

Noriyuki Haga at the 1998 500cc Japanese GP, finishing 3rd on his first go. He never could repeat that form when he moved there full-time in 2001 from WSBK.

jhansen · 1 Nov 2006, 16:20 (Ref:1755406)

Didn't Tamada pull a double as a WSBK wild card?

BootsOntheSide · 1 Nov 2006, 17:06 (Ref:1755448)

I guess they have to be viewed in context. The 1988 WSBK field Doohan trounced was pretty weak, likewise the 2003 field Byrne beat twice.

Akira Ryo might be unique for having finished on the podium as a wildcard in both MotoGP and WSBK. I don't think Japanese riders ever ran 1-2 in the whole history of 500cc racing, but he an Itoh lead the first lap ever in MotoGP.

The first one I remember is Carl Fogarty in 500s in 1993 - running 2nd until the bike started to pack up.

I always think of a wildcard as beign an additional entry rather than a replacement rider, so I'm not sure Bayliss strictly counts.

Hazza · 1 Nov 2006, 21:56 (Ref:1755681)

I didn't think the Japenese WSBK ones were fair, as they were on pretty special tyres. But then again, neither does Doohan count in that instance

I must claim I completely forgot about Haga.

Peddler · 8 Nov 2006, 08:34 (Ref:1760615)

Bayliss at Valencia 2006 without a doubt!

Dani Filth · 10 Nov 2006, 05:29 (Ref:1762369)

well .. was Bayliss really a wildcard at Valencia ? .. he was a replacement rider .. so technically .. doesn't qualify for this thread

Pro Racer · 10 Nov 2006, 05:45 (Ref:1762382)

true Dani but then Bayliss is definatly the best fill in rider IMO.

chunder · 11 Nov 2006, 13:21 (Ref:1763410)

For me the ones that made the biggest impression were Abe on the Donut bike and also patritically Foggy nearlygetting a podium in 93 on teh Cagiva!
Bayliss on the Suzuki was good, as was Shakey winning at Brands and the Japanese always going well
What about Duhamel at Laguna and that flop of all time Mike Hale!!

BootsOntheSide · 11 Nov 2006, 13:28 (Ref:1763416)

The duHamel / Hale double act was interesting in that it was symmetrical - in race 1 duHamel lead off the start and came 3rd with Hale 4th, and in race 2 it was the opposite. It's a shame Miguel never went to GPs or WSBK, he could've done really well.

The Cagiva wasn't a bad bike in 93, Kocinski did okay on it, but that was pretty impressive for Foggy to come in with little or no 500 experience and do so well - although a few guys went out at the start, which helped him.

chunder · 11 Nov 2006, 15:14 (Ref:1763475)

Seem to remember Corser going really well as well in 94 on a Duke, and what about Gobert on the RC45 against allthe Japanese at Sugo.
Can anyone remember Roby Locatelli getting pole on his debut for Aprilia, and one of my faves is Flying Flea Darren Barton getting great results on a naff old Yamaha 125 a few years back, but he faded totally after that.

Hazza · 11 Nov 2006, 21:29 (Ref:1763654)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

The duHamel / Hale double act was interesting in that it was symmetrical - in race 1 duHamel lead off the start and came 3rd with Hale 4th, and in race 2 it was the opposite. It's a shame Miguel never went to GPs or WSBK, he could've done really well.

The Cagiva wasn't a bad bike in 93, Kocinski did okay on it, but that was pretty impressive for Foggy to come in with little or no 500 experience and do so well - although a few guys went out at the start, which helped him.

That was the race Mick and Kevin had a coming together in wasn't it?

bestfit · 11 Nov 2006, 23:50 (Ref:1763732)

In the 1986 Swann Insurance series in Australia, Yamaha brought out 2 factory 500GP bikes to compete in the series. One for Rob McElnea and the second to be used by Kevin McGee. Despite having never ridden a GP bike before, McGee beat McElnea with some very impressive rides. This along with his dominance of the Australian Superbike championship, led to a wildcard ride with Kenny Roberts' team for the 1987 Portugese GP. (Harama??)

For much of the race McGee was battling with Eddy Lawson for the lead! Then with 3 laps to go he was given instructions from the team to let Randy Mamola passed into 2nd place to aid his championship hopes. McGee finished in 3rd right behind Mamola.

This ride impressed the hell out of alot of people, including Kenny Roberts who shortly after signed McGee to ride for him in 1988.

McGoo what a legend!

racer69 · 12 Nov 2006, 07:19 (Ref:1763949)

The Wildcards were quite impressive in England in 2000 in the World Superbike races. Of the 6 races held that year in England, British Championship regulars won 3 of them (Hodgson 2, Reynolds 1), Bayliss won 1 of them (depends how you want to view it, he replaced Fogarty), with Edwards winning the other 2.

Hazza · 12 Nov 2006, 09:19 (Ref:1764023)

Magoo won a single GP, a handfull of podiums, Ended bubba shobert's career and then had a huge crash and retired.

He could still ride though.

**ghinzani** · 6 May 2009, 10:52 (Ref:2456367)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hazza

I didn't think the Japenese WSBK ones were fair, as they were on pretty special tyres. But then again, neither does Doohan count in that instance

I must claim I completely forgot about Haga.

In the early part of this century there was a WSB race at somewhere like Sugo (Im sure it wasnt Suzuka or Fuji or Motegi) where I recall a local was walking away with it, but I dont recall which one.

There still tend to be a few in 125 and 250 though.

Dani Filth · 6 May 2009, 12:33 (Ref:2456448)

Takeda ?

racer69 · 6 May 2009, 16:26 (Ref:2456591)

ghinzani - Would have been Sugo

In terms of Japanese winners this century, Izutsu won both legs in 2000 on a Kawasaki, Makoto Tamada won both legs in 2001 on the Cabin Honda, in 2002 Colin Edwards won Race 1 with Tamada winning race 2. Hodgson won both races in 2003

**ghinzani** · 6 May 2009, 16:41 (Ref:2456604)

Cheers racer69, must have been Izutsu then as I'd heard of Tamada.

chunder · 6 May 2009, 18:08 (Ref:2456669)

Takeda, Akira Ryo, Keichi Kitagawa, Haga, Nagai, Izutsz the list is endless from japan, but they were on a track they knew amazingly well and they were all pretty much on Dunlops!!

But they got beat a few times

For me it's Bayliss at Phillip Island on the RGV250 Suzuki, never ridden it before and gets an amazing result

Also some of Foggy's rides in 500, I know he was at home track but not many guys were podium material on a new bikes with hardly any testing. Whitham at Paul Ricard also

I think Jimmy Filice was superbv a few times. I dont rank the Japs at their trakcs or the Brits at ours as much.

They were usually on bikes they knew well!

**gomick** · 7 May 2009, 10:17 (Ref:2457105)

Quote:

Originally Posted by chunder

For me it's Bayliss at Phillip Island on the RGV250 Suzuki, never ridden it before and gets an amazing result.

Was a great ride in really a great race against Biaggi, Waldmann & Harada - need to find that old video & have a look again - been a few years...

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