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Interview with Wayne.

Action!

I just love saying that.

♪ I am a wild colonial boy.

♪ My name you'll never see.

- They call him
the boy from the Gong.

The Wollongong Whiz.
Wayne Gardner.

- You chase these dreams
in life.

- The Australian signalling
he wants to be number one.

Jeez, it was great fun.

♪ I live and breathe
the silences.

- Some people love him,
and some people hate him.

- Don't push me, all right?

Probably the best thing is
I've got a lot of friends.

- His thing was pushing
things to the limit.

Pushing anything to the limit.

A vehicle,

himself,

me - pushing me to my limit.

I just wanted to go fast.

♪ I'm in love.

♪ I've got blazing light.

- She stood by him
through thick and thin.

It was wild.

- 'I'm number one, ' says Eddie.

- When I put my helmet on,
I wanted to go beat him.

- Some racers are a completely
different breed.

- And Gardner slices through.

It seems like they're mad.

They're willing to
push that bit further.

- But Gardner's down.

♪ I breathe the silence
that destroys

♪ all the desperate harmony.

We want Wayne!
We want Wayne!

- The hundred thousand
or more that turned out

cannot believe this.
It's a fairy tale come true.

- Seeing his face,

it was like a fast-motion film
running through his eyes.

You work so hard all your life.

You dream - people
say it's unachievable,

you're not gonna make it,
you'll never do it.

Why should a kid from the Gong
think it's ever gonna happen?

And then to stand up and say,
'I'm top of the world.

'I did it.'

- Wollongong is basically
a steelworks city.

Yeah, it was a tough place.

There was the poor and there was
the medium class down there.

And, uh, we were the poor.

The heart of the town is really
the steelworks and the mining.

I think my earliest memories
is going to work with my dad.

He was a big truck driver,
so that was pretty cool.

Going to the quarries with him,

seeing all the machinery loading
the trucks and unloading them.

I'd go and lay under
the truck with him

to try and help him repair it.

A bit of a menace to him.

- Quite often, I'd have the
body up; it was a tip truck.

One day - he'd climb in the
truck - he was mucking around

with all the levers. Next thing,
I see the body coming down.

And I was underneath it.
'What are you doing?'

So that was it;

he was not allowed in the
truck any more after that.

Yeah, he was a bit of
a torment.

I remember
annoying Vicki a lot.

- He wouldn't like to be
seen much with me.

You didn't like
your little sister

coming along to too many things.

Mum, she used to make him double
me to school on his dragster.

But as soon as he got around
the corner, he'd kick me off.

And I'd have to walk
to school on my own.

Uh, yes, that's true.
Yes, I did.

She responded by saying, 'Wayne
wouldn't do things like that.'

Oh, yes, he did.

Mum always stuck up for Wayne.
Wayne was the golden child.

That's cos my mum loves me.

He had to win. That was
his determination in life.

He had to win.
Second wasn't good enough.

Everyone needs
a little inspiration,

and I got it from that all-time
great movie On Any Sunday.

♪ On any Sunday,
stretching up, reaching high.

At the beginning of it is a kid
cycling along on the back wheel

on a Mustang - what I had.

And I went, 'Wow! I have
to learn how to do that.

'That's so cool.'

So I'd practise every
afternoon for six months

until I could go
around the block.

What's the next skill I can try?

Most riders
agree the biggest thrill of all

is to sit up at the
end of the straight

and at 120, pitch it sideways.

On Any Sunday was
the most amazing and cool movie

cos it was about motorcycles.

And I came out of that movie
cinema going, 'Oh my God!'

When he was about 10 or 12,

him and his mate found
an old motorbike

with no back wheel on it

in some of the warehouses
in the industrial area.

So I said, 'Let's go and ask
the guy - can we have it?'

I said, 'You wanna
give it to us?'

And he goes, 'No,
I'll sell it to you for $5.'

We put an ad in the
paper for a back wheel.

- That was the start
of my career -

going halves in a $5 motorcycle.

In the group, he was the
showman, we'll say. Yes.

The show-off.

At the back of
our place was a creek.

He said,
'I reckon we can build a jump,

'and we can jump the creek.'

Over the creek,
up this embankment

and then just popped a wheel
stand and went across the park

on his back wheel.

And everyone was,
'Whoa! That is impressive.'

Wayne was always setting
little tasks for himself,

just trying to push
himself all the time

to see if he could
do a little bit better.

And I'd go up in
the mountains and practise.

Back of Balgownie,
shoot up through the bush.

Up past
all the coal mines.

Try and dodge
the mine security.

The police, on their trail
bikes, used to chase us,

and that was always fun too.

You took a can of fuel with you
and just kept riding all day.

And I wanted to just go fast
amongst all the trees

and all the fire trails
across the mountains.

Freedom.

You stop, you laugh, you giggle,

you take a little sandwich
or something.

I'd leave early in the morning,
and I'd come back late at night.

Just couldn't get enough of it.

Police had come around
a couple of times.

Gave him a bit of a talking-to
and said, 'Don't do that again.'

But you know what kids are like.

I met a guy called Dave Horton.

No flies on...
on Dave.

He used to put himself in a car
and have a stick of dynamite

and blow the car up
with himself in it.

Go! Go!

Wayne started going around
with Dave and his son, Kevin.

He used to pick us kids up
with his Valiant station wagon,

put our bikes up
on top of the car.

Two or three on the back,
on a rack.

And on the dash of his car,
if you can imagine this,

he had pistons and rings,
hamburger wrappers

and tomato sauce bottles,
old newspapers.

And windows never
wound up properly.

They were always
hanging down here.

When it rained, the water
was coming in here.

Away Dave would go,
with three or four kids,

and take 'em away
riding somewhere.

That's where
my racing career started.

I managed to talk my dad
into taking me to Canberra,

cos you were allowed to race
in Canberra as juniors.

I knew I had a talent.

But my dad wasn't paid a lot,

and my mum worked
in a cafeteria.

They knew I had
no interest in school.

My passion and my thoughts
were all on motorcycles.

So they said,
'OK, try and get a job.'

Wayne left
school when he was 16

and did his apprenticeship
as a fitter and turner

at Tubemakers West Dapto.

Fitting and turning
and steelworks

used to drive me insane.

I went, 'This is not for me.'

I wanna go fast.

I need the speed.
I need the wind in my face.

I just wanted to go
and ride motorbikes.

At that point, I was quite
frustrated with dirt track.

When I found out what
road racing what about - pff!

That was it.
I knew where I was going.

Waaah!

This thing just starts revving,
and it starts just-

the feeling was pulling my arms
out of my shoulders.

Dah-dah-dah! Down the straight.

I knew that's what
I wanted to do.

We were all members

of Wollongong Motorcycle Club
at the time.

Along came Wayne.

God help us. Along came Wayne.

He was like
a tenacious little dog.

When he got a hold of something,
he just would not let it go.

I said, 'Dad, I wanna
buy a road-racing bike.'

And he goes, 'Well, OK,
but it's dangerous,

'and I don't want you to do it.'

I was scared stiff about
racing motorbikes.

But I wanna do it.

So we found a second-hand bike.

And he said, 'I'll help you.
But you have to pay me back.'

I was like a rat
with a gold tooth.

So, I was earning $48 a week,

giving my dad $25 a week
towards my $2500 debt.

- I met Wayne at the end
of my 15th year.

I wasn't very good at school,

and didn't really like
school very much.

I liked the social aspect.

I met Donna
via a blind date

from my friend
Roderick Sommerville.

My girlfriend lived across
the road from Donna.

I don't even know
how we got on to it,

but she said, 'Oh, you should
meet Roderick's friend.

'He's... He looks like
John Paul Young.'

♪ Love is in the air,

♪ in the whisper of the trees.

Wayne had this shaggy head
of hair going on at the time.

♪ Love is in the air.

Everyone was saying,
'He's really exciting.

'He races motorcycles.'

And it wasn't really
something that I was,

'Oh, great, sounds wonderful, '
because up until then,

I'd really been
a bit of a surfie girl.

You weren't watching.

- I was.
- Caught this really good wave,

I looked up, and
you weren't watching.

- I was. I saw you.
- Yeah, she was.

I was absolutely
smitten with him.

I had to do a lot
more work than he did

in keeping a relationship alive.

But I didn't mind
giving him my all.

And that started from a very
early part of the relationship.

I'd never
really had a girlfriend.

Never had time for girlfriends.
But she was a cool chick.

Started coming to the races.

- Donna used to do a heap for
Wayne - get him organised,

meet him at all the different
racetracks and... tolerate him.

That was probably one of
the major things she did.

- Isn't this great?
- Yeah.

I remember
saying to her at the time,

'Donna, you're not
going to be important

'with Wayne when he's racing.

'You'll only be important
after the races.'

To begin with, Wayne
was one of them guys

where he either had to win
or he fell off.

My exuberance was far bigger
than my talent in the beginning.

He sprouted horns as soon
as he was on that grid.

He was a wild little bugger.
When he was determined,

he was unstoppable.

So I asked Mentors to
sponsor him on my bike.

Standing in awe of
the talents of this young man.

And Wayne Gardner is jubilant.

And so, too,
will be Peter Molloy.

We're extremely pleased.

I give all the credit to
young Wayne Gardner,

who is absolutely magic.

He's probably the most
underrated rider in Australia.

You've gotta be aware of
what he was trying to do.

He was determined
to get overseas.

But it's Wayne
Gardner who blasts to the lead.

What a rocket this young boy is,
on number 6.

It was rumoured
that there was a Japanese

looking for a rider
to take to America.

Mamoru Moriwaki
was coming to Australia

looking for the next new talent
to go to Daytona and race.

Every guy that heard it thought,

'This is for me.
This is my chance.'

It was a grey-looking
day on race day.

Mamoru Moriwaki was down there;
we all knew that.

I decided to go out with
wet-weather tyres,

because I knew if it rained,
I could win.

But it didn't rain.

I finished way down the field.

I took a chance. It didn't work.

And while we were
all sitting around,

it starts pouring with rain.

We'd already done our two races,

and I packed the bike up
and put it away.

Then I hear on the tannoy,

'The unlimited
Australian Championship Race.

'Calling all riders
to the grid.'

And I said, 'If it's raining,
I could win this.'

Malcolm,
the mechanic, was going,

'You can't;
the bike's locked up.'

Let's get a screwdriver. Quick.

I'm not even
entered in this race.

And I've gone and
lined up on the front row.

Cheeky.

I was talking
to Moriwaki,

and Mrs Boulden said, 'You told
me you'd packed your bike up.'

I said, 'Yeah, I did.'

She said,
'That's Wayne on your bike.'

And they're racing.

Here comes Wayne Gardner
on the outside, on bike 6.

And I thought, 'God,
this kid's gonna kill himself.'

The rain
starts a little bit harder.

He now must be super-cautious.

But Wayne Gardner
doesn't ride super-cautious.

He was
really on a mission.

Wayne's going, 'Don, was he
watching? Was he watching?'

Daytona -
in the language of motorcycling,

just the word evokes the
spectacle and excitement

that Indianapolis means
to auto-mobiles

and the Kentucky Derby
to thoroughbreds.

There was
a confidence in him then

that scared me a little bit.

I was just afraid that he
would go over and say,

'I don't need you any more now.'

And I kind of always
lived with that fear

in the back of my head.

I was just loving
every minute of it.

They've got 45- or 50-degree
angle banking there.

I'd never done that before.

And I'm riding against all these
heroes of the sport -

Graeme Crosby,

Wes Cooley,

Freddie Spencer.

I was in heaven.

I was like a cat
in the fish shop.

And for Wayne to turn
up and run the Moriwaki bike -

just incredible.

It was kind of just him,

the mechanic, the rider and a bike.

And that was kind of it.

I also got to
meet Roger Marshall.

He was racing in
the Moriwaki team.

Somebody came up with Wayne
and said, 'This is Wayne.'

So he looked me up and down,

never shook my hand,
and then just walked off.

And I thought,
'Who's this little shit?'

I think he pisses
people off deliberately,

just to show that he's
got something over them.

He needed to prove
himself on the track.

I finished
fourth at Daytona,

which was unbelievable.

By then, Peter Molloy
was building a superbike

for me to race
back in Australia.

But Moriwaki came
to me and said,

'Instead of going home, would
you like to fly to the UK?'

OK. Well, let's go and do that.

I had to call Peter and say,

'Pete, mate, I know you're
building that superbike,

'but I've got some bad news.
I'm not coming home.'

He goes, 'You fuckin'
little fuckin' arsehole!

'I'm fuckin' buildin' these
fuckin' motorbikes for you,

'and you fuckin'
run away, and...'

You gotta
be an arsehole sometimes.

Back in England,
I got a phone call.

'Mamoru Moriwaki has asked
if you can put Wayne up.'

And I thought,

'That is absolutely
the last thing I want.'

It reminds me of a movie scene.

It was snowing.
It was freezing cold.

I went to pick him up
at this remote station.

And I saw this just one
person get off the train.

And he has what he
calls his stubbies on

and his flip-flops, that were
wired together with lock wire,

and a T-shirt,
a Moriwaki T-shirt,

and a little brown case.
And I could not believe it.

It was snowing. It was freezing.

And he came walking
down the platform.

Anyway, I got him in my Granada

and took him back
to my little house.

It was a little awkward
at the beginning.

It was my first long time away.
I was a little bit lonely.

So I called Donna.

Do you think you'd like to
come and join me over here?

I haven't got any money
to buy you a ticket.

Can your mum and
dad help you out?

And my dad fluffed up
like a chicken,

and my mum just put her
hand up, and she said,

'If she wants to go,
let her go.'

I was 17 when
I got on the plane,

and I turned 18 a few days
after I arrived in England.

And then I had
them both in the house.

They loved having us there,

because we spoke with
this Australian accent.

And the closest they'd
ever gotten to Australia

was Neighbours.

You know what? I'm gonna
really enjoy living here.

It was amazing how we gelled
as friends, eventually.

Roger was a real gritty
road racer from way back.

And he would take Wayne
to all the racetracks.

The first race
was Cadwell Park.

I took him in
the week before,

got us some laps in and
walked the track with him.

I got to know the
circuit pretty good.

Moriwaki turned up
with a superbike.

Wayne said, 'I'm
gonna ride this big Moriwaki.

'I'm gonna do burnouts,
wheelies, I'm gonna entertain,

'and I'm gonna get myself
a proper factory ride.'

And I thought,
'This guy's on drugs.'

The wild man Gardner
pitched up with this big,

high-handlebar Moriwaki bike.

And we all kinda giggled
and laughed at it.

The sit-up-and-beg bike.

The first time we saw Wayne
actually race in the UK

was at Cadwell Park.

We all thought,
'Brash Australian;

'see what he can do
in this place.'

We were quite confident,
the big Honda team.

He got over there and
showed them how to ride.

There was a hill that
went up on the track,

and Wayne wheelied
up this hill every time.

And the people were like, 'Wow!'

I passed Roger Marshall,
my teammate.

I taught him too well,
basically, yeah.

Beat-up old bike,
flak jacket puffing up.

He was a riot.

Wayne blew us into the weeds.

And people are like,
'Who is this guy?

'Where has he come from?'

'From Wollongong, '
I kept telling them.

I was giving it all I had.
I'll tell you,

I'm gonna faint after today.

People loved him -
just loved him.

He did wheelies everywhere,

and they thought he was
just mad and crazy.

He was a flamboyant
rider. It was great.

He was rough as guts,
but that's the colonialism

that kind of makes it cute
when you go to Europe.

They absolutely love
the Antipodean style.

'You're a mongrel,
Gardner.'

That's what
I used to say to him.

He was not your typical
English guy. Not at all.

Wayne was on the up,
and it was remarkable

how he actually moved
through the ranks.

Mamoru
believed in my talent,

and he gave me
lots of opportunities.

He was like my Zen master.

But you have to be tough.

I got a message
through at Honda UK -

'If we have a chance of
acquiring Mr Gardner's services,

'sign him first, and
we'll sort it out later.'

I got my first pay cheque,

and it was £15,000.

For me, that was like
I'd hit the jackpot.

I went, 'Wow! That's great.
That's exactly what you wanted.'

'Yeah, but I wanna
do Grands Prix.'

And I said, 'Well, you've
gotta start somewhere.'

Wayne Gardner, the leader,

climbing all over the machine,
the knee on the ground.

Wayne Gardner desperate
to run in the Grands Prix.

We started travelling over
to Europe to watch the GPs.

We were just children.

Every day was a new thing.

It was great fun. And I had
bought this car for about £150.

And everyone called it
the Land Crab.

We loved it. We lived in it.
We slept in it.

And I remember the
first race I went to,

sitting up on the hill
in the car with Donna,

cos I didn't have
a ticket to get in,

watching Kenny Roberts
and Randy Mamola,

and I was saying, 'Wow.
One day, I'm gonna be like that.

'One day, I wanna be
out there with those guys.'

We roughed it,
but it was so exciting.

I remember Donna
as one of the lads.

And I loved Wayne straight away,

cos he wanted to come
to the pub afterwards,

or even the night before.

One or two of the people
started to get too serious.

But he came over and
dropped the level quite a lot.

I taught him how
to drink the English beer

instead of the lager
in the stubbies.

And obviously, we all partied.

Wayne was right
into all that. Loved it.

But they had a pretty serious
team manager, Barry Symmons.

He had a job reining us in
all the time.

I recommended to Wayne that he
should get a business manager.

Because this young Australian
rider was very raw,

he needed to make sure the
contract money wasn't blown away

on wine, women and song.

I wanted to make sure

that the riders protected
their investments

and had proper life insurance,

to make sure that their partners
were provided for

in the event of something
drastic happening.

I think, probably, the fun we
had was because of the danger.

You were in amongst a bunch
of people that were comrades,

mates, and they were
dropping like flies.

So you made a point of
living life to the fullest.

We talk about the golden era,

which it was,
as far as I was concerned,

cos it was sex, drugs
and rock and roll

and riding motorbikes fast.

But there was an awful lot
of sadness to it

that you had to
blinker yourself from.

It wasn't so much seeing the
accident or hearing about it;

it was driving out of the
paddock on a Sunday night

and seeing a truck and a caravan
and maybe a girlfriend

or maybe even a family there,

that hadn't got a father or
a boyfriend or a husband.

It was tough.

The greatest asset you can have
is experience.

But sometimes, things go wrong.

1983, there was a World
Championship round at Assen.

And we decided to give Wayne
a chance at a Grand Prix.

Assen, the cathedral of
Grand Prix motorcycle racing.

Wayne was making
his Grand Prix debut

at an absolute legendary venue.

It was my first Grand Prix, and
got to meet some of these guys.

And to meet Franco Uncini,
the current world champion,

was an honour.

Wayne qualified in the top 10,
so he felt, 'Gee, you know,

'I might belong in this
kind of company.'

All eyes on the premier ride.
It is green. Away they go.

Who is going to fire up first?
It's Freddie Spencer.

There's Freddie Spencer
in the lead.

Franco Uncini diving through
on the inside, number 1.

Of course, what happened there
is history, more or less.

Uncini, highside.
Uncini is down.

Franco Uncini, and he's just-

Oh dear!

I still see Franco Uncini
falling in...

in front of Wayne.

Highsided, smacked
himself on the ground big style,

and then that was at the point
where I came around the corner,

and I could see all the
bikes kind of splitting.

All the other bikes went
to the right. I went, 'Oh God!'

And I tried to avoid him,
and go to the left.

He hit him so hard,

knocked Franco Uncini's
helmet off.

Uncini just lay there.

Everybody thought
he was probably dead.

It was awful.

It was awful, awful, awful.

I was injured,
and they took me back

to the medical centre
at the track.

And I'm asking,
'What happened to Franco?'

'Oh, he's gone to the hospital.
He's gone to the hospital.'

The only thing he wanted to do
was go and see him.

Roger said,
'I'll take you to the hospital.'

So I've turned up, and the
media are everywhere.

And they took me up
to the operating theatre,

up the top of the building.

And when the door opened,
I looked in

and there was a steel table
in the centre of the room.

And here's Franco,
wires all over him,

and he was just shaking.

And I'm going,
'Oh, oh, is he OK?'

And they said, 'No, he's not.
He's in a coma.'

It's just... It's just the worst
thing I could ever imagine.

I could see how Wayne was upset.
He was in tears.

I've killed somebody in my
first race in Grands Prix,

and I shouldn't be out there.

I said, 'Get me out of here,
Rog. Get me out of here.'

And Donna was there too.

So we went back down the
elevator, and the door opened

and there was more
media and press,

and Franco's wife
and children were there,

and they were
calling me a killer.

And I'm going,
'But I didn't do anything.

'I promise, I didn't mean to.
It was an accident.'

The stare, the look in her eye,
the look she gave him was just

murderous.

It felt like something
was gonna erupt,

like they were gonna
get hold of Wayne.

People screaming and cameras
and flashing, and I just went,

'I wanna go home.
I wanna go home.'

Roger got in the car, and then
Donna, and started driving,

and we took off home.

And we were all...

'God, if he dies...'

Wayne said,
'I can't live with that.'

A world champion
being so badly injured,

it was a massive story.

I think probably the natural
assumption would have been,

'Oh, yeah, rookie coming in,

'Wayne Gardner trying to
make a name for himself.'

It hurt. It hurt a lot.

Emotionally, it hurt me a lot,
because I was blaming myself.

Sorry. I was blaming
myself for being there.

I saw it on television.

And my heart went actually
out for Wayne on that one,

because it was unavoidable.

They said to Wayne
he wasn't expected to live.

Well, um, Wayne
broke down and cried.

I'm just...

pretty upset.
I'll come good in a mo.

I hate thinking about that.

He was on the phone
to his dad, who said,

'Come home. We'll find you a job
in steelworks or some such.'

Oh, come home.
Just give it away, Wayne.

It's too dangerous, you know?

Yep.

Thankfully,
he didn't die.

We're very lucky
and grateful that he didn't die.

I was this close to going home.
I was this close.

There was a lot of nights
out having 10 pints

to get him over that,
I can tell you.

He went home,

saw his mates,

enjoyed himself,

and came back to the UK
stronger and better than ever.

There's Gardner.
23 years of age.

Desperately looking
for a sponsor

to help finance his
Grand Prix ambitions.

How do I make the step
from the UK into Grand Prix?

I talked to Honda about it.

Honda Britain
offered him the bike

and the team and the mechanics

but said,
'You will have to pay.'

Somehow, Wayne put
a package together with Harris.

Four events
at the circuits

that were the cheapest
to do for us.

It was a way of marketing
myself, to get me noticed.

Number 53. That's Wayne Gardner.

It showed the tenacity of the
guy. He wanted to do Grand Prix.

If he had to pay to do it
himself, he was going to do it,

whatever it took.

Green light given.

Four starts.

And it was my job to make
sure that he was prepared.

That was my role in the team.

Those four races were
just groundbreaking.

Wayne Gardner
is up to fourth place.

In Sweden,
I was third place.

And after four races,

I finished seventh in the
World Championship.

That was just
something phenomenal.

It didn't surprise me.

I'd seen what that guy
had in his belly, the fire.

I knew he would make it one day.

Short-changed at the wall.

Wayne wanted to do Grands Prix,
and we did as well.

But we needed a sponsor.

Rothmans came
to the party and said,

'If we're going to invest,

'we wanna know
what we're investing in.

'Is he a loose cannon? Is he
going to just lose the plot?'

Rothmans asked me,
could they put me through

a series of tests with a sports
psychologist called Phil Fearon.

So they sent Phil along
to really psychoanalyse Wayne.

And I took offence to it.
And he went, 'What?'

I said, 'I don't need that
stuff. That's bullshit.'

Phil went back to
Honda and said,

'If you don't sign him,
you're idiots.

He felt like

he had really made the big time.

The fans
are here in their thousands

for this opening round of
the World Championship.

Will this man, Eddie Lawson,
retain his title?

Eddie was the
number one Yamaha rider,

the world champion from '84.

Hi, Mom.

Will Freddie Spencer be able to
overcome the injury problems

that he had last year?

Freddie was the
focus of the Honda factory.

Freddie was going to make
the double attack on the 250

and the 500 World Championships.

And Wayne Gardner at the start

of his first full
Grand Prix season.

I'd never rate myself up amongst
those guys - Eddie and Freddie.

I'm sorta like the
next bunch back.

I was in a second-tier team,
riding three-cylinder bikes.

The next step is into
the factory team,

with Freddie Spencer,
riding four-cylinder bikes,

which were missiles.

Barry said that for them
to take Wayne in the team,

it would be best if I didn't go
on to the circuit with them.

I didn't
want him distracted.

And he also wanted us
to go and have a good time too.

Like a little boy club.

And then the push.

Because of
what they had to do -

the danger, the mental pressure,
everything about it -

they went out and misbehaved.

You've gotta remember
that these guys, in their world,

were superheroes.

There was that much sex
in the sport

that you could talk to
the girls on the grid

and get chatted up on the grid.

We were all dressed up in
our colours and our robes,

and the women loved
the smell of leather.

We were like gladiators
on wheels.

I could see that he
was attractive to other women,

and I know that he knew he
was attractive and funny,

and he was quite a flirt.

I trusted him.

He was my partner.

I had to trust him.

We often talk about having
a family eventually.

Just now, it would be very hard.

I don't think marriage
would be a great problem,

but a lot of people
seem to think it would be,

because people take a different
attitude to a married man

to a single man,
but that's not what I think.

He called me, and you could hear
in his voice that he was lonely,

saying, 'I want you
to come over,

'and everything's going well,
but I miss you. I miss you.'

It was very hard for
Wayne to say that,

because it wasn't in his DNA.

I stuck by him through
thick and through thin,

and it was... there were
some tough times.

But I was prepared to
make those sacrifices,

because I had to
give him that rein,

to allow him to be Wayne Gardner
the motorcycle racer.

I always wanted Donna,

because she's been there from
the very, very beginning.

I did love her, and it was a way
of having a piece of home

and giving me
a bit more confidence

to go and perform better
on the track.

Mamola second, Gardner third.
Gardner winding on the power.

Dives through on the inside.

Second is going to be
Wayne Gardner,

his best Grand Prix result ever.

Freddie Spencer
won both the 250

and the 500 championship
that year.

And Wayne was very, very strong.

Australian motorcycling
ace Wayne Gardner

has just finished fourth
in the world title.

Gardner grew up in Wollongong,

yet very few in his own street
even know he exists.

Overseas,
it's a different story.

In Europe,
he's a sporting superstar.

And in Japan,
he needs bodyguards

to protect him
from adoring fans.

It was the
Suzuka 8-hour race.

It was unbelievably popular.

You win that race,

you become very famous in Japan
very, very quickly.

It was so hot
at the track, Suzuka,

they lost 2 or 3 kilos
in the race.

In '85, I was partnered
with a Japanese rider

called Tokuno.

Wayne's not
the easiest guy to work with.

And he can be quite
uncompromising

in some respects.

It comes out every now and then.
You see it in its full glory.

I was leading the race
after the first stint

and passed it over to Tokuno.

He was about four seconds
a lap slower than me.

The other rider
lost the lead.

And that pissed me off.

The whole day was a see-saw
in between last and first,

last and first.

Wayne got
back up into the lead.

WAYNE And in the last hour,
he was ready to get on,

and when I came in, I just
pushed him out of the way

and said,
'No, you're not getting on.

'I want to win this race.'

I rode as hard as I could.

He was hallucinating.

He started to see chickens
and elephants and everything

running across the track
in front of him.

He did it, but he nearly
killed himself.

I was so weak,

I couldn't walk up the stairs
to the podium.

It did establish my name
in Japan.

Gardner capped
a memorable year by taking out

the classic Suzuka 8-hour in
Japan before a crowd of 300,000

and an estimated local
TV audience of 30 million.

He's secure in the knowledge
that six championship teams

want his name next year.

I was hot property.

Yamaha, Suzuki
put offers on the table.

Everyone's handing me cards.

Harris was busy, running
around talking deals,

big sums of money -
you know, $750,000 a year.

But I really wanted to stay
with Honda if I could.

One of the HRC administrative
personnel came running over,

'Barnett-san, Barnett-san,
where is Wayne-san?

'We want you to discuss
a contract for Wayne to ride

'for the full factory team.'

Harris took me
down to Monaco

and said, 'See what you think
of Monaco.' I'm looking around.

I went, 'Oh yeah, this
is quite a nice place.'

And he goes, 'OK, pick
a house or apartment.'

And I went, 'What?'

And he goes,
'You have to live here.'

And I went, 'No,
I don't wanna live here.'

I said, 'It looks nice
for a holiday.'

And he goes, 'No, no, no, you
have to find something now.'

Wayne, when you left Wollongong
however many years ago

and came to England
to ride a Moriwaki

with sit-up big handlebars,

did you ever think you were
going to end up here in Monaco?

I certainly didn't.

That was probably the
furthest thing from my mind.

We had to learn
how to live this lifestyle

that we had never known
even existed.

It was Concord and meeting
princes and princesses.

It was first-class.

They tell me it helps
a bit on the tax side

if you live in Monaco.
Is that true?

Don't know anything about it,
Murray.

I always wanted
to better myself.

When I left
Oak Flats High School

and worked in a music store,
I wanted to do better.

I wanted to show that
we're both rising up.

I want to show people too

that I'm capable of making
this journey as well.

The Honda NSR500
is worth £250,000

and has a top speed of 190mph.

I went into '86
as the learner.

Before that, in '85,
I had a nice, articulate,

easy-to-ride three-cylinder
that was underpowered,

but it was easy to ride
and ride to the limit.

Then you get on this
four-cylinder animal.

And you open the throttle,
and just that millimetre more

and, wham, it throws you
over the handlebars,

and you're in the bushes.

They were brutes to ride.

There was a very, very
small number of riders -

would you say 10? I would say
almost half a dozen riders -

that could tame them.

They were brave guys
who raced them.

No matter how fast you were,
even if you were Wyatt Earp,

you couldn't shut that
throttle quick enough

for it to not bite and then
fire you over the handlebars -

the old classic highside.

I was young;
I was in my early 20s.

And I thought, 'Well,
I'm king of the world here.

'These are easy.
I can race anything.'

And then I got on a 500.

Holy crap.

'This is not what
I signed up for.'

'I don't know if I can do this.'

You'd hear the thing
warming up some mornings,

and you'd actually be
frightened to go and,

'Jeez, I've gotta go
and hop on that thing.'

One little movement of
that right hand too much

when it's on its side,

and it was sky time.

Earth, sky, earth, sky,
earth, sky.

The 500 was about...
it was right about here,

where you ride into
the impossible zone.

Being invited
into the Honda team

to be second to Freddie Spencer
showed Honda had enough faith

to put you up there
in the big league.

Freddie was there
to win the championship.

I was his backup.

For me, it was the genius act.

They're off, and the 1986 World
Championships are under way.

Spencer, the leader,
pulling away.

Freddie's made
a blinder start, as usual.

Spencer
in World Championship form.

I just seen him
as one of these gods.

Gardner second.
He's gone ahead of Lawson.

Freddie Spencer knows
the threat to his title

doesn't come only
from outside his camp.

The four-cylinder bike
was difficult to use,

but I was happy
to finish second,

because that's
my position in the team.

Here's Spencer.

But he's slowing. There's
something wrong with Spencer.

Gardner's right with him.

I started to notice
I was catching Freddie.

The next minute,
Freddie pulls in.

Here's Gardner, and
he's the new race leader.

Spencer has retired.

Situations evolve.
Somebody goes out,

everybody steps up
into that vacant spot,

which leaves another
vacant spot behind them.

Incidents provide opportunities.

So, I'm never gonna
let this opportunity go.

This is the chance the boy from
Wollongong has been waiting for.

Gardner like a rocket ship.

It's the chequered flag.
Gardner is gonna win.

What a marvellous moment
for Gardner.

Wayne Gardner,
the race of your life.

Terrific to win your first
Grand Prix. Congratulations.

Thanks. Finally it happened.

I've been working hard for
that for such a long time.

And, uh, it's finally
happened, and I...

yeah, I can't express
how pleased I am.

And to be on the podium and get
the trophy and the champagne

and the prize cheque...

it's, 'Hallelujah. Thank you.'

That first win was huge
news back home in Australia.

The shadow of Freddie
loomed very large.

And I guess that's when
the pressure really started.

Honda
sat me down and said,

'Look, it's gonna take some time
before Freddie's back.

'He's got
a carpal tunnel problem.

'You are now our main rider.'

And I've gone,
'But I'm not ready for this.'

- While this is a good ride from
Gardner, he can't catch Lawson.

Eddie Lawson would be
the most difficult competition.

- The chequered flag for Lawson,
the new championship leader.

Eddie's very good,
very calculated.

- Lawson on the way to
his third win in a row.

I pushed really hard
but couldn't pull off a win.

- Gardner still trying so hard.

Eddie Lawson was - it's tough
to figure out which word

to put before 'competitor' -

a tough competitor,
a fierce competitor.

Eddie now three seconds clear.

But the better word
is 'consistent'.

Lawson a clear-cut winner.

At what stage of the
series will you regard

- the championship as safe?
- When I win the next four.

Maybe 'vicious' was the word I
was looking for, for competitor.

Does it feel any different
that Freddie Spencer's

not been taking
an active part this year?

Who?

Eddie really
had Wayne's measure.

His little
antagonistic ways got to me.

I'm certainly trying
all the time to do my best.

I wanna do well, and I wanna
do well for Honda and Rothmans.

There was a lot of pressure,
and Wayne changed his lifestyle.

Him and Donna kept themselves
to themselves in the motor home.

And all of a sudden,
he was wrapped up.

You don't drink, you don't
do this, you watch the telly,

you read a book, you whatever.

And I knew that wasn't
Wayne Gardner.

I do find this year, since
we've come over, he's quieter.

He's, um, I think
perhaps more reserved,

because he's got so much on
his plate - a world Grand Prix.

- A lot of pressure.
- A lot of pressure, tension.

Coming up to the Dutch TT,
Wayne rings out of the blue -

'I want you to come
to Assen with me.'

That's where my big
accident happened with Uncini.

So I always go there
with a bit of apprehension.

Let's go.

Donna says,
'What are you gonna do?'

I said, 'Me and him
are going into Assen.'

Rightly or wrongly,
we got really on the pop.

He opened his heart up to me.

He'd got
that wrapped up in a bubble.

Wayne needs release.

This was the
night before the race.

I've gone in there
and had one or two,

except two turned into,
like, 22.

We got absolutely hammered.

I don't think I got home until
about 2 o'clock in the morning.

Donna was not impressed.

Wayne woke up with
a horrendous hangover.

I felt absolutely
disgusting at that point.

I didn't want to go and ride,

and I was nearly throwing up
when I got out there.

Gardner second in the points
table but 23 behind Lawson.

The pressure is on.

And Gardner uses the
power of the four-cylinder

to go through into the lead.

So I've just kinda let
my body do the work,

rather than thinking about it
and concentrating.

Just started letting it
happen naturally.

Started to pull away.

Through
the chicane for the final time.

And victory for Wayne Gardner
by just under four seconds.

To me, he went back
to being Wayne Gardner.

- Gardner jubilant.

He's cut Lawson's lead
to just eight points.

We have a chance.

We have a chance here of
taking this championship out.

He was back
within striking distance.

Wayne definitely thought
there was an opportunity

to really put some
pressure on Eddie.

It didn't work out like that.

- Lawson has broken clear.

Eddie's really special.

- Gardner a way back.

They don't call him
Steady Eddie for nothing.

He doesn't do many things wrong.

- Eddie Lawson is going to be
500cc World Champion

for the second time.

'I'm number one, ' says Eddie.

Wayne made me work for it.
I'm happy.

Eddie was quite
ruthless sometimes.

- And not content with beating
Wayne on the racetrack,

Eddie wants to make the cheerful
Aussie suffer some more.

He humiliated me at that moment.

I wanted to kick his arse.

He knew I was coming.

I had a good contract
under my belt.

Honda were very happy
with the results.

But I missed my family,
my parents.

I needed a bit of home.

Wollongong had
been so wonderful to Wayne.

I'm the boy from the Gong,
as they say.

Every now and again,
Wayne would go back to,

'Shit, I'm only a kid
from Wollongong.

'Am I allowed to have this?

'Should I have this?'

When you're racing
at such a high level,

you need a lot of support.

My mum was always in the
grandstands cheering me

and screaming and motivating me.
And my dad was the opposite.

He's a wonderful man,
but he's a bit pessimistic.

He worried, and during the race,
he couldn't watch.

Wayne often said to me,
'You proud of me, Dad?'

I'd say, 'Yeah, I'm real proud
of you, mate.'

But I never...

I don't think I ever raced up
and gave him a big hug

and said, 'I'm proud of you!'

I think I was too scared
or too wound up

about whether he'd crashed
or something, you know.

That was always on your mind.

He tried to unmotivate me,
most of the times, you know?

And it used to annoy me.

And then, in the end,
I used it as motivation

to prove him wrong.

- The Australian signalling

that he wants to be
number one, I think.

1987 was so... exciting.
So exciting.

From the moment
we arrived back in Europe,

it was going to be our year.

120,000 fans,

the biggest crowd ever
for a Spanish Grand Prix.

Wayne said, 'Dons,
I'm gonna work really hard.'

I said, 'I know you are.'

The bike had
phenomenal acceleration.

- And they're away.
Gardner and Lawson side by side.

The NSR500 was a great
bike. It had a real personality.

That first race,
we had all the ducks in a row.

It was a chance to
psychologically damage Eddie.

- Gardner leads.

The Australian has
taken over from Lawson.

The crowd go wild.

If you're going to get
into a race, and you can win it,

win it by as much as you can.

- And Gardner is definitely
extending that lead.

Put the knife in and
give it a bit of a twist.

- Gardner over four seconds
ahead.

Nearly seven seconds clear now.

Nine seconds ahead.

And Lawson losing more ground.

It was great to beat Eddie
by so much,

and Wayne was pretty vocal
about reminding Eddie

that he'd won by 21 seconds.

- A delighted Wayne Gardner.

- We'd be up on the podium, and
Wayne would throw out a barb.

He would say, 'Boy, there just
wasn't much in it, was there,

'between our bikes?'

And we'd look at the
speed-trap numbers,

and it was just depressing.

Wayne just dominated
the first half of 1987.

He won four of
the first six races.

But Wayne
would look at anything

to make his performance better.

Your level of riding
and your level of ability

reaches a certain point.

But at that point, after then,
it becomes a psychological game.

And I was just amazed
when he told me that,

'For the last two years,

'I've been using
a sports psychologist.'

Sports psychologists
were new at this time.

Wayne had continued
to see Phil Fearon.

I lost the embarrassment
or the stigma of thinking,

'It's my psychologist with me;
it seems like I'm a lunatic.'

But as I started to listen
to what he was saying,

I realised that
it could be beneficial.

Phil really helped
Wayne get very scientific

about how he
thought about races.

He gave
Wayne another skill

on top of his raw talent.

In one of the great
races of Wayne's whole career,

the Austrian Grand Prix,
Phil helped to develop tactics.

Actually, I hate it here,
because it's so dangerous.

Probably the worst track
of the season for me.

I think we shouldn't
be racing here,

because of the speeds
of the bikes now.

You're doing 330km/h
over the crest of a hill.

You've gotta be millimetres
away from the Armco fence.

No room for error,
and if you come off,

you ain't gonna
get up and walk away.

Phil was very calming,
and he had a great way

of putting Wayne in the moment

so he could go,
'I'm gonna do this.'

Randy Mamola, it's a very
fast circuit, Salzburgring,

and there's one or two riders
really don't like it very much.

What's your personal
feeling of this circuit?

I like fast circuits.
The speed doesn't bother me.

A lot of riders have a hard time
getting used to it.

For me, it's just one of
my favourite racetracks.

Phil taught Wayne
the act of visualisation.

- Gardner closing on
Mamola up the hill

and goes straight past the
Californian to take the lead.

Wayne said, 'You know,
Dons, it's really good.

'I see things like a movie.'

- And Mamola has a go
on the hill.

He's alongside Gardner...

and goes ahead.

Phil would get
Wayne to think about

a particular corner in a race,

imagine Eddie Lawson or
Randy Mamola in front of him,

and visualise how to beat him.

- Catching up with these
tail-enders, and they peel off

and Mamola goes one side,
and Gardner goes the other.

And Gardner has
the advantage back.

This is very dangerous stuff.

In Austria,
in the last few laps,

he started to slow down
at the chicane...

Through the chicane.

...to give Randy the idea
that that was a place

where he might be vulnerable.

- Gardner from Mamola
and Mackenzie.

And Mamola pulls
out of the slipstream.

Mamola goes for the lead.

Into the chicane.

I fooled him
a little bit,

to think that
I wasn't fast in there.

I got by with
a couple of laps to go.

- He hurtles past Mamola.

Motocrossed it
through the chicane

and just kept in
tight as possible.

- Gardner is winding up
the wick,

and Mamola is dropping back.

The chequered flag is ready.

And it's a new lap record
from Gardner

on the final circuit
of this race.

The expectation
to win the championship

certainly was growing.

And he started to
feel the pressure.

His thing was
pushing things to the limit.

He had to be full throttle
the whole time.

I remember Donna telling me that
I was unbearable to be with

at that point of the season.

He becomes very serious
as the week goes on.

What he thought was funny
at the beginning of the week

is not so funny any more.

Cos I sort of can feel for him,
like he's a small infant,

cos that's what they-
that's what he goes like.

I hadn't been in that position

of leading a World Championship
before. It was new to me.

And I was nervous.

- You OK?
- Yeah.

Wayne clearly had the ability.

But sometimes,
he doubted himself.

I was nervous because I was
waiting for something to happen.

- And Gardner's bike is slipping
and sliding all over the place.

I built up such a points lead
over the championship

that I got all protective, and
I didn't want to lose anything.

Eddie was never gonna go away.

- Lawson leading,
Mamola chasing.

I hate to lose.

- OK, Eddie Lawson, a win in the
end, and 15 much-needed points.

- You bet. I'm so happy.
I can't believe it.

Really, really happy.

Oh, I'll take anything.

Eddie's still
quite a bit behind.

21 points, and
Randy's 19 behind.

- Randy's 19 now?
- Yeah.

- And Mamola cheered home.

And suddenly the gap at the top
of the championship table

is just 12 points.

Wayne Gardner's well on his
way to a World Championship.

But his lead is
being whittled away.

He was afraid that
he would overstep the mark.

I didn't wanna push too much
and make a mistake.

So he backed off.

We could see he was backing off.

Jeremy was looking
at the times, going,

'What the hell's he doing?'

After the British Grand Prix,
I remember him coming back

into the motorhome.
He was really angry.

'I rode like an idiot.'

- The flag is ready
for Eddie Lawson.

Victory for the American.

Gardner second.

After a good race,
everyone's feeling really good

and you're all on a high.

And yesterday,
well, for example,

coming second, we're really
pleased that he got the points,

but it's still not the same
in the end.

It's just not there.

We all sat around
and had a debrief after it

and said,
'We're off to Sweden next.

'What's the best way to attack
this and get you back on track?'

We did it by boat
in those days.

A bit of a time for a blowout
deluxe with the team.

The idea was we'd feed him
raw meat, put the loud music on

and get him in the zone.

- Look at Gardner's lead.

It seemed to work.

- Six riders chasing
Wayne Gardner.

And the Australian showed that
he can cope with the pressure.

That first world title
another step nearer.

With a bit of luck,
Australia will have

a new sporting hero this year.

You might not have
heard of this 28-year-old

former apprentice metalworker,

but Wayne is already worth
a fortune and among the elite

of a sport which draws
huge crowds overseas.

From growing up
in Wollongong,

here he is on the world stage.

We were just getting
letters and postcards.

I got a letter from
Bob Hawke, the Prime Minister.

'Come on, Wayne.
You're gonna do it.

'You're gonna do it for us.'

There was so many of us
sitting on the back of him

that we must have
weighed the bike down.

They made me nervous.

We were nervous,
because motorcycle racing

is a fickle sport, and anything
can and does happen.

There's always something
that brings you undone.

- There's nothing between
this leading trio.

Mamola, Lawson and Gardner.

Jarama's
a very stony track.

The radiators get perforated
quite easily.

I looked down and seen the
temperature coming up,

and obviously something
had happened.

- Mamola and Lawson
now definitely pulling away,

and Gardner clearly in trouble.

I was trying to monitor
the temperature,

because if they get over
110 degrees, they're finished.

They're gonna seize completely.

My finger's on the clutch,

getting prepared
for it to seize,

boiling water spraying
up on my arm.

But if I stop,
I'm gonna lose points.

He's gonna hate me
for saying it,

but Wayne is one
of these people,

he probably didn't have as much
talent as some of the others,

but he got round it by
sheer bloody-mindedness

and being determined.

- The Rothmans Honda
sounding far from healthy.

No problems, though,
for Eddie Lawson.

- Eddie Lawson, that was
some race. Absolutely fantastic.

I'm glad it ended when it did.

Fourth place.
It was eight precious points

with two races to go.

Now it looks
like we're gonna have to go

to Brazil and Argentina
for a result.

Well,
I'm sorry about that,

if I have to take you all the
way to South America.

And if you don't wanna have a
holiday, then you can blame me.

- It's carnival time
in Goiania, Brazil.

Wayne was very relaxed.

And he was enjoying
the fact that so many

of the other characters
on the circuit

were having
a great time in Brazil.

We had a great time in Goiania,

an absolute party town
if you've ever seen one.

The World Championship
riders decide Miss Grand Prix.

The girls were beautiful.

There were lots of lovely
big red lips and big bottoms,

and the guys were just like,
'This is heaven.'

Judge Wayne Gardner
still finds time to relax

and give a hint as to
his hotel room number,

despite the pressures that will
be on him in a few days' time.

I knew Randy and probably
Eddie were expecting me to ride

for, like, a third
or fourth place.

Eddie and Randy
were saying,

'We believe that
Wayne will back off.

'The race is going
to be between us.'

Most of the pressure's
on Wayne's back.

He's gotta finish the race.

I don't have anything to lose,
and I have everything to gain.

You never know.
Anything could happen.

Those two guys could go out.

I used to say to Wayne,
'Get out there and win,

'and don't come back
unless you do.'

And he'd go, 'Yes, boss.'

And it was kind of like
a little mantra thing we had.

But I meant it. I meant it,
and he knew I meant it.

He wanted to hear that too.

Everyone thought I'd just
go out and ride conservatively.

But I just went,
'Nah, I'm gonna go for it.'

I just had my head down.

- A clear leader after
only a single lap.

I don't think
I took a breath the whole time.

- Gardner in magnificent form.

I pushed hard.

- A big moment there
for Wayne Gardner.

A strange thing
happened during the race.

There was a big whirlwind.

And I seen all the
papers and everything

coming across the track.

And I think, 'Here we go.

'I'm just gonna go
through it as fast as I can.'

Hit the centre of it,
tucked in as tight as possible,

waiting for something.

But, basically, I was going
at such a high velocity,

I just pierced it and
went out the other side.

I was riding
the limits of myself.

It was pretty scary, but...

it was exciting.

- Wayne Gardner powers towards
the line on the Rothmans Honda.

A place in the history books
as he takes the chequered flag.

The first Australian ever to win
the World 500cc Championship.

It's Wayne Gardner.

When he clinched
the world title,

I felt I'd won it with him.
It got to me that much.

I was so proud of him.

It was a magical moment for me.

It was a highlight of
all my racing career.

It was the duck's nuts.

We just knew
he was gonna win it.

And then the way
he just stood there

and sniffled like a little kid,
I wanted to go up

and take me tissue
and wipe his nose

and wipe his bum and his
eyes and everything else.

That was just the absolute
pinnacle of his life.

For all of us.

I remember asking Jerry,
I said, 'Where's Eddie?'

And he goes, 'I dunno.
He's not coming up.'

Eddie didn't turn up
on the dais at the end,

which was extremely strange.

I...

I don't think I would
deliberately do that,

but... who knows?

I could have.

I don't remember doing it
on purpose, but...

Huh.

That particular moment,

something really strange
happened, because

finally, finally,
I've done this.

Then I've gone,
'What do I do now?'

If Wollongong can't claim to be

this country's
most beautiful city,

then today it could definitely
take the title as the proudest.

Wayne Gardner arrived home
to a hero's welcome.

We had no idea just how
involved everyone had become.

Cheering, 'We love you, Wayne, '
and, 'Good on you, Wayne, '

and holding up their sons and
saying, 'His name's Wayne.'

Unbelievable.

Thank you all so much.

I'm trying to hold back
the tears again,

to tell you the truth.

Gosh, bringing that back
to Wollongong was just...

You know, it was their
World Championship too.

Wollongong has never bestowed
the city's keys on anyone.

When he won the
championship, he went back home

to his home-town, and they
gave him a key to the city.

One big 'yahoo'.
Come on, ladies and gentlemen.

When I won the championship,
I got a parking ticket

in my own city.

I guess I parked in the
wrong spot or something.

He got a key to the city.

So it was like, 'Wow, we live
on two different planets.'

- Proud of you, mate!

- So I was kinda jealous.

And the nominations for the
Male Athlete of the Year are...

Patrick Cash,

Wayne Gardner,

and Jeff Fenech.

The winner is Wayne Gardner.

1987, Pat Cash won Wimbledon.

And Wayne,
I'll never forget, was voted

sportsman of the year
in Australia.

And I thought, 'Wow, they
really do know who this guy is.'

Wayne Gardner.

Wayne Gardner now rivals
cricketer Allan Border

and golfer Greg Norman

as the number-one sporting
hero down under.

He was Johnny Everywhere.

Every time you turn on the TV,
it was Wayne Gardner.

- Wayne Gardner.
- Wayne Gardner.

It was just great timing.
It was the bicentennial year.

All of a sudden,
I'm this national hero.

Happy birthday, Australia!

It was amazing. I knew
Alan Bond and Pat Cash,

Greg Norman and Kylie.

♪ Everybody's doing
a brand new dance now.

♪ Come on, baby,
do the locomotion.

Australia
was growing up rapidly.

I'm Australian royalty.

♪ Come on, baby,
do the locomotion.

The same old fogeys
who doff their lid

and tug the forelock to
the British establishment.

We'll have no bar of you
or your sterile ideology.

Hear, hear!

And Wayne
and I grew up with Australia.

1988 was really a
coming of age for Australia,

and Wayne was included
in everything that happened.

And he sort of changed a bit.

Of course I wanted to be
rich and I wanted to be famous.

And I've nearly done that.

I've even got a couple
of breweries after me

for some TV commercials.

♪ They said you'd never make it.

♪ You're just a larrikin kid.

♪ Wayne Gardner,
get a proper job

♪ and settle down instead.

♪ They said you'd never make it

♪ when you took on all the rest.

♪ What chance does
an Aussie stand

♪ of beating the world's best?

♪ They said you'd never make it.

♪ But you proved
their words untrue.

It's been this emotional
roller coaster for years,

and then you finally
reach the top.

♪ This Swan's made for you.

And you're very, very
lucky if you can capture

that essence in
something after that.

My mind was straight away on,
'What's the next journey?

'Where are we going from here?'

- The outstanding achievements
of Wayne Gardner

have been recognised
internationally.

The time is now perfect for
Australia to host a round

of the prestigious
World Championship.

We know we can do it as
well as anyone in the world.

Bob Barnard
came to us and said,

'We are planning on putting an
Australian Grand Prix together.'

Cos I sort of saw that
the world was changing

and Australia could get
some of these major events.

But we were piggy-backing
on Wayne.

He said, 'We want as much
input from you as we can have.'

Now, OK,
if we're gonna do this,

where are we gonna do this?

Phillip Island?
I'd never heard of it.

He showed me a few photos
of what it looked like.

Yeah, it needed a lot of work.

And Wayne said,
'If you're gonna do it,

'do it properly. Otherwise,
you'll look like a joke,

'Australia will be a joke.'

We've worked too hard to have
that taken away from us.

Don't forget,
quite a few years before then,

we went through this period,
motorcycle racing was thought of

bikies with big beards
and tattoos.

Hey!

And I worked really, really
hard trying to make

motorcycle GP racing
popular in Australia.

He had proved himself
to so many people.

He'd wanted another
championship.

And everyone's saying, 'Oh,
Wayne, you've done it once.

'You can do it again.
It's easy.'

But he needed to be told,
'You can't do it.'

He needed something
to battle against.

We tested the
'88 bike at Calder Park

at Rothmans' insistence,
by filming a commercial.

It's a small circuit.
It's not a Grand Prix size.

So it was a pointless test,
to be honest.

We thought we had
a reasonable bike,

although I kept saying to Jerry,

'I don't know why, but it's
wheel-spinning a lot.

'It's just laying rubber
everywhere.'

Honda somehow
had made a really big mistake

with the '88 bike.

In their wisdom,
they designed a new bike.

Honda was just a clean sheet.
'OK, 1987's done. We won. Tick.

'1988, we just start again.'

Because that
was the Honda way.

- And in third, but on a very
ill-handling Honda indeed,

Wayne Gardner.

The whole ball
of string was unravelling.

- And Gardner's rear
end steps out there.

He'd be out there saying,
'I'm just riding my balls off

'and I cannot get this bitch
of a thing to go anywhere.'

I knew
the bike was crap.

It was my first year
in Grand Prix,

and I'm running with Wayne
Gardner, the World Champion.

So I knew that he was
riding a pile of shit.

I'm fucking pissed
off with Honda.

- Lawson ahead on the
Marlboro Yamaha.

But Gardner's down!

Wayne Gardner has crashed right
in front of the Australian flag.

I've even got newcomers

and past guys I've never
even tangled with before,

here I am struggling with them.

So it's a little bit hard to
take, and it hurts a lot.

- Gardner perfectly OK,

but furious with
himself and the bike.

Wayne was
just in a terrible state.

I guess you could
say he was depressed.

When he took his gloves off,
you could see that the calluses

and blisters on his
hands were massive.

To just hang on to that bike
for as long as he did,

to keep us in the game,
was an incredible effort.

I was so
in love with him.

We were in love.
We were a wonderful couple.

We worked well together.

And I thought, 'By now,
after all we've been through,

'we really should
be getting married.'

I wanted that respect of a
wife-husband relationship.

He said, 'OK. But just not now.

'Nothing's going well
for us at the moment.

'The racing's been shit.

'And putting the energy
into organising a wedding

'and being there
is just too hard.'

And I said, 'Fine.'

- For Australia's Wayne Gardner,
it's make-or-break time.

He trails the
championship leader,

American Eddie Lawson,
by 40 points.

So to keep in touch,
Gardner must win tonight.

We chopped
and modified the chassis.

- And they're away.

The results
started coming.

- Wayne Gardner heads through
the chicane for the last time

to take the Dutch Grand Prix.

We were back on track.

- And Wayne Gardner wins
the Belgian Grand Prix.

Gardner, then, crosses
the start and finish line

to win the
Yugoslavian Grand Prix.

I had three wins
in a row,

and I was within reach of
winning the championship.

To catch Eddie, I needed the
fourth win at Paul Ricard.

- After 18 laps of duelling in
the hot French sunshine,

it looks like Gardner's
got it sewn up.

I had a dead-set win for sure.

And less than
half a lap to go to victory.

And Gardner sat up.

There's a problem with
the Rothmans Honda

and Wayne Gardner.
Sensation on the last lap.

And the bike broke down.

If it hadn't been for bad luck
this year, then I still

would have been winning
this year's World Championship,

so I dunno what I've gotta
do to correct that bad luck.

But, um, I feel - and I think
I've proved to everyone, still,

who's the fastest, anyway.

End of '88, Wayne did have
some offers from other teams.

Good offers, as well.

I'd had a huge offer
from Kenny Roberts and Yamaha.

Nearly double the
value of Honda's.

Kenny pushed, pushed,
pushed very hard.

I said no, because
I was staying loyal to Honda.

However, there was a bite.

And it was a big bite.

Unbeknown to Wayne,

Honda had also gone and
signed Eddie Lawson.

Australia's motorcycling
champion, Wayne Gardner,

flew into Sydney today, still
smarting over the appointment

of arch-rival Eddie Lawson
to his team.

He's got the wrong
image for Honda.

And he's been with Yamaha
for five or eight years or so.

And I said, 'It's impossible.'

So it comes as a big, big
shock to me.

If Wayne
had known earlier,

he wouldn't have
been on a Honda.

Honda told me that
Eddie wasn't coming to join,

and I was cool with that,
if he came and joined,

but I said I would leave
and go to Yamaha.

But... I stayed loyal to Honda,

thinking it was the right thing
to do, and, um...

basically, they lied to me.

It's unfortunate for Wayne
and everyone else, myself.

It just wasn't really handled
as professionally

as it could have been.

Wayne was
absolutely devastated.

It was a slap in the face,
a huge slap in the face.

They didn't have to do that,
you know? It was not necessary.

They could have just
been honest with me,

and I would have happily left.

The realisation was that the
loyalty he displayed to them

was not reciprocated.

By then, he was wondering,
who was he riding for?

Was he riding for Wayne Gardner?
Was he riding for Honda?

Was he trying to win a battle
with Eddie Lawson?

Was he trying to win
a battle with himself?

♪ I'll show you a land

♪ like you've never seen.

♪ A land filled with colour,

♪ excitement

♪ and dreams.

We were going
back to Australia...

...for the
Australian Grand Prix.

All these people,

all these bikes, all this fuss,

they're here because of one man.

It was just a media circus,

promoting, promoting this
Australian Grand Prix.

And Wayne was fantastic.

He absolutely threw
himself into this.

He made himself available for
everything we wanted to do.

He never asked me for a fee.

In 1989, when
I first landed in Australia,

I just remember seeing Wayne
Gardner's picture everywhere.

I was like, 'Man, that
guy must not ever sleep.'

From early this morning,
traffic on the only bridge

to Phillip Island
was at a standstill.

It got worse as race time
approached.

He was the one-man ambassador
for the whole thing,

and it was all riding
on his shoulders.

Grand Prix fever moved to
Melbourne's Southern Cross Hotel

last night, where riders,
celebrities and socialites

wined and dined their way
through to the small hours.

Can we go to the
races now, lads?

He was absolutely the reason
that this thing happened.

I was
driving to the circuit,

and I was pulled over.
And I was speeding.

The patrol man goes, 'Who do you
think you are - Wayne Gardner?'

I mean, it was kind of
Wayne's world that time,

for lack of better words.

Be lovely for him to win it,
wouldn't it? It'd be so good.

Cos as he so rightly says,
nobody really took any notice

of motorcycle racing until he
won a World Championship.

I'd like Gardner to win.

Oh, Wayne Gardner.

Who else?

Just before he went out to race,
he sat down, and he just went,

'Don, I'm exhausted.'

And I remember saying to him,

'It's because of you
that this race is on.'

And he pulled on his gear, and
I kissed him, wished him luck,

and off he went.

I closed the shop early
and got home to watch it

and was glued to the TV.

I still hold my
breath now, thinking about it.

That race was one of the most
exceptional moments of my life.

- Where is Wayne Gardner,
the local hero?

He's in fourth place.
Eddie Lawson fifth.

Schwantz trying incredibly hard.

None of us had been
there at that point,

so nobody... nobody
had an advantage.

Three-quarters of the way
around the first lap,

had a glance over my shoulder.

- And Schwantz is down!

Kevin Schwantz has
just booted himself

out of the
Australian Grand Prix.

My '89 Australian Grand Prix
was over.

- Wayne Rainey it is, who leads.

- If anything gives you
a buzz and a boost,

it's racing in your
home Grand Prix

with your friends
and your family

and everybody rooting for you.

- Still it's Wayne Rainey
leading.

I set after Wayne Rainey.

- And look at Gardner
in the dirt,

trying to get into second place.

Number 2, up the inside.
Or does he? Yes, he does!

And it can
inspire you to do things

that you can't find
at every Grand Prix.

I eventually
caught up to his back wheel.

- Wayne Gardner is coming
off the straight.

Oh, and they both
want the inside.

And Gardner hits the dirt.

Gardner looks for the inside.

And Gardner slices through.

And Gardner holding
a little bit of a tighter line.

No, he doesn't!

Oh-ho!

I didn't know,
but I'd dragged along

all the rest with me -
Sarron, Magee.

And it's three
abreast into the first corner.

And Gardner goes
from third to first.

As Wayne Gardner
once again leads-

Oh!...his own home-grown
Grand Prix,

as Wayne Rainey almost loses it.

I was riding
on the absolute limit.

- Oh, and Gardner
is all over the place.

Rainey is side by side
with Gardner.

Gardner-Oh!

And that's Donna, the fiancee
of Wayne Gardner.

Can he hold on for two laps?

I could hear
the crowd screaming.

- He's slipping right round.

Oh, he's lucky to hold it there.

- Just when I started to get
tired, I just looked across

and caught a glimpse of the
people, and they're waving.

And I went, 'Wow,
this is just amazing.'

- It's the last lap.

The crowd - the
near-on 100,000 crowd -

are rising to their feet.

Who can blame them?

They're willing Wayne Gardner
on to victory.

Just about every man, woman
or child is standing up

and shouting for Gardner.

The Australian flag
is hoisted high.

You just knew that there was an
angel on his shoulder that day.

I just knew we were
going to win.

- The noise, the crescendo
of noise is incredible.

Gardner leads.

Gardner coming towards the line.

It's Wayne Gardner on
his Rothmans Honda

that wins the
Australian Grand Prix.

Rainey is second...

And I just can't imagine writing
the story any other way.

- Rainey has put on a tremendous
duel, but look at Gardner.

Can't believe it.
And there it is - the touch.

Great sport. Look at Donna
jumping up and down.

This crowd, right around this
circuit, absolutely ecstatic.

And the people went mad.

- It's a dream come true.
He gets the Australian flag.

Wayne Gardner,
such a proud Australian.

Everyone was so excited.

- The 100,000 or more that
turned out today

cannot believe this.
It's a fairy tale come true.

It was a crown for me.

My win as well.

I can't even say anything.
I just don't know what to say.

I'm just so happy for him.

To feel that this is all part of
what he's done for the sport,

and it's come off,
I'm just so happy.

And then seeing Donna running
towards me with her dress,

with her tight dress, and her
legs are out the side,

running with a can of Coca-Cola.

Oh, this is fantastic stuff.

This is what sport's all about.

I know you don't run on
to the track. It's dangerous.

It's just not what you do.
But I couldn't hold back.

The pinnacle of his career.

We did it! We did it!

Donna's,
'Ah! Amazing! Amazing!'

I couldn't hold back. I just...
I just wanted to just...

be the first, cos
I knew after that

that I probably was not gonna
see him for the next two weeks.

I just wanted to be the
first to show him that,

'I am so proud of you.

'I really am just so proud
of what you've done.'

- Chaos here. Look at Gardner.

There's tears in the eyes
of every Australian

at this track today.

And Gardner said he had tears.

Well, I was, 'Oh! That's him!
That's... That's my mate!'

You know?
It was just sensational.

We want Wayne!
We want Wayne!

I can't begin to tell you

what an amazing moment
that was in my life.

And you think,
'Wow. There he is.'

He pulled it off.

I promised Donna
that we'd get married.

I felt that it had to happen.

I don't know that he believed in
marriage, but I believed in it.

So we had the big, lavish
wedding in Wollongong.

Wollongong wanted
us to get married in Wollongong.

It was the most
beautiful wedding.

And it was very heartfelt.

I felt like a princess.

We had a great time.
It was an amazing wedding.

It was really good fun.

Donna's my mate, and she
always will be my mate.

And I still love Donna.

And we're as good a
mates as ever before.

We went through it amicably,

which I believe still allows
us to be friends now.

We still tell each other all the
things that we're doing in life.

Donna's connected to my kids,
and I'm connected to her kids,

and we've actually
become a bigger family.

I don't know that Wayne
would ever change.

I don't know Wayne
knows how to change.

And he has, now, a great
relationship with his children,

which I think is wonderful.

And that's what
I've said to him -

'If you don't change for you,

'do the best you
can for your children.

'Make sure you show
them that you love them.'

Having my own children racing,
I do worry.

And I understand
my dad's concern

now, as a parent.

My son Remy, his first race,
he goes...

He's 11. He goes, 'Dad, that was
the most amazing experience

'I've ever had in my life,
and I never want it to stop.'

I rode the wheels off the bike,
constantly.

For me, that was the only
logic that I really knew.

And sometimes I pushed too hard,
and I threw it in the weeds.

Sometimes I crashed
and broke bones.

Well, I've fractured
two collarbones;

some wrists - I'd say two or
three times on each wrist;

finger injuries;
knuckles broken;

ribs - multiple ribs;

cracked my pelvis once;

I've broken both my legs -
tibia and fibula's of my legs;

I've injured a left knee,

being smashed into the
foot peg by another bike;

got neck injury from
hitting a bird;

I got a fracture in my neck
and a vertebrae in my back;

hurt my balls -
hurt my balls big time.

That was painful, believe me.

Doctor thought it was
pretty funny.