Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127214
" I .... V ..D o ..... u o 14 put it down to losing co ncentrat ion. I was reall y tired a fter all th e P R wo rk I did in Australia , before and after winning the race. Then th e bikes didn 't a rrive in th e U.S.A. on time, and I was u nder a lo t of pressure because of my si tuation with H onda . That morn ing, I'd said to Do nna (h is lo ng -tim e girlfriend a nd wife-to-be ): " I reall y don ' t want to race toda y. " I got in to tu rn six to o hard , and th e front wheel sta rts ho p ping. I dragged m y left foot to try a nd save it , but th e bike went ove r th e cu r b a nd m y foot got ca ugh t a nd tw isted. That's what did th e damage. " T he n I was in th e dirt, heading for th e wall. I had to put th e bike down , and I fell onto m y left leg, " When I tri ed to sta nd u p , I co u ld feel cru nc h in g inside m y boot - like when yo u che w a ch icken bone. I kn ew in stantl y tha t I'd broken my leg. " . Wa yn e G ardner, fr esh from a g lor io us vic tory in A us tra lia, slu m pe d back into th e Laguna Seca gravel-trap, and watche d as a first a id h el per ca me ru n n ing headl o ng a t h im. She skidded to a halt like a baseballer stea li ng a base, Straigh t into h is fresh ly broken leg. Talk a bo ut kic ki ng a man whe n he's down. T he m eta p ho r will doubtless ri ng true for G ardner, whose 1989 season saw the gritty littl e charger from W oll on g on g , Au st ral ia, k ic ke d again and again, a nd often as not where it rea lly hurt. That moment in Ame rica did m o re th an bring to a p rema tu re close what p romised to be a real fighting season for th e for me r World Champion, a nd hurt hi m m ore deepl y even th an hi s first serious inj ury in a lifetime of racing. The crash, h is thi rd th at weekend a nd h is first serious injury in a lmost a li fet i m e of raci ng, proved to G ardner tha t nobod y is im m u ne, that a ny bo dy 's lu ck ca n run o u t, And th at even the strongest co n fide nce ca n be undermined . Gardner's had plenty of u p s and downs o n th e road fro m teenage hard man in th e mong rel world of Austra lia n dirt -su rfaced "short tracks" to suave 1987 World Champion. His step from th e Anti podes to international raci ng was via Brita in, wh ere he arrived as a hard-up o uts ider o n a Mo riw aki Ka wasaki, and forced his way to d o min an ce as H onda Bri ta in 's top rider. Now he's HRC 's to p rid er , based in m illionaire's Monaco , and with more money than he knows how to spend. Bu t his first bad inj ury opened a new ch ap ter in his lif e, during which the 29-year-old Australian at first seri ously contemplated retirement, then reacted vio lently agai nst the idea a nd came back before he was really fit enough. T hat led to yet more problems and further injury, lea vi ng him with h is co n fidence severely shaken, and a new psychologi cal barrier to surmount. "The whole season ha s been a complete n ig htm are," he to ld me, rel ax ing a t la st by th e side of a sw im mi ng p ool i n Brazil. No do ub t a bo u t it. T he break to hi s left leg was bad - a ro tatio na l frac ture th at had shatte red th e sh inbone in two pl aces, T he Ame rica n d octors wer e read y w ith sca lpe ls, metal p lates a nd 14 screws; qu ick fix orthopaedic engineering th a t wo ul d have had Gardner ba ck on the tracks in a few weeks. Interview: Road Racer Wayne Gardner l Prepar gfor the hard climb back to the top By Michael Scott Photos by Patrick Gosling But Wa yn e also had the we ll respected advice of G P medico Dr. Claudio Costa , who a rg ued that they should wait - try a nd set the bones now, a nd check it again th e next morni ng, Co nvinced that n atu ral hea li ng wou ld be better in the lo ng run , Gard ner decided to stick wi th Costa ... an d learned at o nce that it was no easy option . " I was lying o n the X-ra y table, ' w ith n o a naesthetic, with Cos ta p u lli ng o n m y leg as hard as he co u ld . Nobody co u ld understand th e pain. I was screa ming a nd fainting - but every tim e I bl acked ou t th ey'd break a no ther a m mo n ia ca p su le under m y n ose to bring me round again ." Th ere wa s more to co me. Dr. Costa 's . meth od invo lved helping nature a lo ng with electronic trea tment, a nd a stiff program o f p hy siotherap y th at h a d the p ati ent wa lk ing on th e leg wi thin three week s. For G arner 's part, he moved hi s motorhome to Dr. Costa 's clinic , in It al y, to g ive himself totally to recover y. H e ca n not speak too high ly o f hi s trea tm ent th ere ; whi ch ceme n ted a rela tionsh ip th a t was a lrea dy ra ther specia l, ever si nce a n emotional Gardner handed Costa a ll hi s p rize money a t last year's Ital ian GP. Gardn er cla i ms "so me sort o f m edi cal record " for Costa fo r hi s raci ng return a t Assen less than 10 weeks after th e crash; but now admits it wa s too ea rly . Fo r th e ni ghtmare of 1989 was fa r from o ver. H e'd pl anned a phased retu rn, but had fai led to tak e hi s temperament into accou nt - for whe re Lawson is a ll head a nd Sa rron a ll heart, Wayn e is a ll ,?uts. Wayn e th e ra cer soon fo und him self in a lus ty di ce wi th o ld spa r r i ng p a rtn er R on H aslam 's Suzu ki. And he beat him. Things seemed to be back o n th e rail s, but th en th e wh eel s start ed co m ing off. Almost litera ll y a t Spa, w he re a brak e di sc sha ttered a t o ne of th e most dan gerous parts of th at daunting track ; fo llo wed in France by a m istake o f hi s o w n - a race cras h th at fli ck ed him wa y ove r th e high side o nto hi s shou lde r. luckil y without doing further damage to hi s leg. T he n in Britain ign iti on troubl e saw h im struggling agai n - co n fidence both in hi s machine and in himself now severe I y sha ken. By now, he was ac ti ng as H onda 's chief test rider, tryi ng chassis variations wi th a n eye to nex t yea r. In Sweden, after a nother practice crash, he fini sh ed a lu cky third , gi ving hi m a rem inder of the view from the rostrum - bu t it was o n ly a brief respite . In Brno , dutifu lly perserverin g with the new H onda frame that Lawson had rejected, he gait flicked off agai n. T his time he did land o n h is leg, an d a lt hough he didn 't ad m it it until our interview in Brazil . it d id reo pe n a hairline crack, " I was much more wo rr ied th an I let o n to a nyone at th e time," he sa id , " I' m terrified of ending up as a cr ipp led old man. " T hat fini sh ed Wayn e' s year, but for a duty a p pe a ra nce for Ro th m an s H ond a in Br azil (w he re the y a n no u nced he had sig ne d on for o ne m ore yea r). This time he did manage to treat it as a h o lida y race, but said th e next da y: " I rea lly h at ed yesterday. For me, th ere's o n ly two types of riding - trying to win , or not a t a ll." Wh at a cha nge th e yea r h ad