Top Ten Legends of the Fall

We all love a trier, and nothing says effort more than a tumbling mass of man and machine.

1: Randy de Puniet

You know something is wrong when Randy hits the same stretch of race track twice. Randy likes to explore any circuit, and as consequence tends to fall over more than your average racer – taking MotoGP honors year after year. He’ll go down in history!

2: Carlos Checa 

Doctors at the Clinica Mobile recently remove Carlos’s crash gene, meaning that he stayed on his machine of late, but scroll back a few years and it’s easy to see why he was given the “Careless Chucka” label.

3: Ruben Xaus

Large of the limb and big bounce, Ruben Xaus has been marshal bothering his whole career. It hasn’t mattered what machine he’s on, be it Ducatis in supersport. Superbike or MotoGP, Yamaha’s in the big league or the unruly BMW in WSB. If there’s gravel about, xaus sticks the magnet on and hones in on it horizontally. 

4: James Haydon

Not many racers in the UK can claim to have been on the national news for crashing, but that’s exactly what James Hayden did when he managed to run himself over in a convoluted smash. When James later joined the Crescent Suzuki squad alongside Shakey, paddock wags dubbed the team ‘Crash and Byrne’ – for obvious reasons.  

5: Dani Pedrosa 

It seems that lil’ Dani can’t have an injury free crash, Whenever the half pint Spaniard hits the deck, he hits it hard and usually ruptures this or dislocates that. 

6: Jorge Lorenzo

Gorgeous George got all his crashing out the way for his victorious 2010 championship campaign, but the previous year saw Lorenzo entering orbit with disturbing regularity before crashing down to earth in ignominious fashion plus this this season he got a title “Man of steel’ after broken his collar bone, went to surgery and finish fifth in the race! 

7: James Toseland

During the up phase of his career. JT’s arse was velco-ed to his seat. But now his plateaued, Toseland has been playing catch-up – the start of every vicious circle.

8: Alex Debon

Alex Debon broke his collar bone 12 times during his career, and if that record doesn’t suggest a different path than perhaps during those dozen crashes there were a few knocks to the head too. 

9: Rob Frost

Frosty single handedly kept fairing frabicators and paint sprayers in business and it was a dark day when he announced his retirement from racing in 2009.

10: Dave Croxford 

Dave Croxford is the father of crashing, managing to part company with his bike on an amazing 189 occasions throughout the sixties and seventies – he kept count carving notches in his walking stick!  

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Top Ten Riders to never win a championship

Most never reach number one status, but these guys were so close to reaching top spot.

1: Randy Mamola 

Randy Mamola ended his GP career with 13 wins to his name. Some might consider that to be unlucky, but there are only a select few who have scored more wins in the big class. There’s some symmetry there, with Mamola’s career spanning 13 years too. For four of these years he ended up second – the ultimate runner up in MotoGP.

2: Dani Pedrosa 

Pedrosa may have two more wins than Mamola, but has only been on the second spot light at the end of season twice. Clearly lightening on his days, will Pedrosa ever string this season together and remove himself from this list? Apart from Marc Marquez is leading with 16 points after Laguna Seca race 2013.

3: Frankie Chili

276 races, 61 podiums. 17 wins, 0 championships. Pierfrancesco Chili was always the fan’s favorite, but the Italian couldn’t translate this into championship wins in an era of greats. He came closest when he was fourth in the series on two occasions. 

4: Aaron Slight 

13 seems to be a recurring number, as this is the number of race wins Aaron Slight scored (the same number of Max Biaggi in MotoGP). Twice runner up in WSB championship, in 1996 and 1998, he also had four times as a third place racer at the end of the year. A brain tumor cut his career short.

5: Michael Rutter

Micheal Rutter is the nearly man in BSB – but still a serious protagonist. Twice runner-up and three times third, it’s only been injury that has robbed Rutter of the domestic title. Still capable of winning BSB today.

6: Chris Walker 

Four times runner up in BSB, it was only a broken valve that stole a crown from him, in the season that saw his titanic season-long tussle with Neil Hodgson. From 1997 to 2000, Chris Walker owned that runners-up spot – poor bugger. 

7: Sete Gibernau

Had he not to deal with Valentino Rossi in his prime, Sete Gibernau would have been world champion. Twice runner – up, in 2003 and 2004, Gibernau may have won the add battle or nine, but Rossi certainly ended up winning the wars.

8: Nori Haga

Nitro Nori Haga sits third in the all time win list of the superbike world champion, with 43 champagne popping moments to his name (but only seven poles). This points scoring helped him to second in the championships three times – and third on a further four occasions. 

9: Guy Martin

We are not talking MotoGP statistics here, rather than TT wins. Guy Martin has stood on the podium 13 times so far in his eight years TT career, but that precious win still eludes him.

10: Alex Barros

Seven wins in the big boy’s class is what Brazilian Alex Barros has to show for a massive 276-race career – 17 years worth in the top class! Barros’s closest brush with the title was fourth – a position he scored five times. Hats off for trying! 

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Top 10 Famous Racing Numbers

Everyone craves the number one plate, but that isn't the most famous number in racing. Here's a list of the top 10 famous racing numbers:

46: Valentino Rossi

Rossi runs the 46 for one simple reason - it was the number his dad ran. Denying 9 chances to run the number 1 plate, Rossi has created a whole brand behind the digits - the most recognizable number in the world today.

7: Barry Sheene

The 7, with a French dash through it, is instantly associated as the number behind Sheene’s success. Sheene wore the 7 as a lucky charm, and through his big crashes may not suggest as such, you’d have to admit it was a pretty charmed life. 

34: Kevin Schwantz

34 was Schwantz’s uncle’s number, and it was an omen when he turned up to test Yoshimura Suzuki that the bike was sporting this number. The story would be complete if Schwantz’s uncle, Darryl Young, was a Suzuki agent – but he wasn’t, he was a Yamaha…

69: James Whitham, Nicky Hayden

The planets collided when Whitham raced for the Durex sponsored Suzuki team. Since then, Nicky Hayden has taken up the mantle of chief 69-er. The reason? It looks the same upside down as the right way up, or maybe there was another reason?

58: Marco Simoncelli

Eugene Laverty aside, Marco Simoncelli was fast making the number 58 his own, but thanks to a tragic set of circumstances on the 23rd October 2011 in Sepang, the number will forever be associated with the charismatic Italian – originally he used 37. R.I.P Sic 

111: Aaron Slight, Ruben Xaus

Aaron Slight and Ruben Xaus didn’t always run the 111 plate, but both finished their careers using the number. Origins of the use are unsure, but in Japanese legend, number 1 is the most desired number, 11 the next and 111.

27: Casey Stoner

Mick Doohan used the 27 plate early in his career, and Casey Stoner took the number when he came into GPs in 2002 – through he reverts to number one plate after he earned it.

3: Joey Dunlop, Max Biaggi

The most famous 3 must surely belong to Joey Dunlop who settled into his number as easily as he slipped into his yellow Arai. Max Biaggi has also staked a claim on the number, especially in those years when he hasn’t been world champion.

21: Troy Bayliss

Bayliss had a few numbers, eventually settling on the 21 in 2000 after a few years running on 32. Unable to use the number in MotoGP, Bayliss swapped the numbers round to 12, and then just swapped them back in WSB. 

52: James Toseland, Danny Kent

Danny Kent is running the 52 plate in honour of two-time WSB champ, James Toseland. Toseland used the number from early in his career, turning it into a British version of the number 46 – with a motif as part of the branding exercise. 

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