Twenty Australians have between them won 189 world-championship grands prix. Joel Kelso was in the frame to be number 21 at Phillip Island last October.
What of those who went close? Who were the top Australian internationals never to win a classic?
Here are some clear candidates and a few left-field suggestions from three-quarters of a century of world championship competition. Some took grand prix podiums, others won national grands prix that at the time were not world championship qualifying races and a few were in the hunt for victories when something went wrong or they were passed late in a race.
As always, the moment you create a list someone will miss out or be advanced as deserving of being there. Motorcycling Australia CEO and former team manager Peter Doyle has done his own research on Australian racers for national Motor Sport Hall of Fame nominations. His key criteria is a rider’s record against top-flight factory-level competition.
However, some of our best simply did not have the right equipment at the right time. Most grands prix are won on factory machines and many Australian internationals between 1949-1986, when Wayne Gardner had a Honda V4 500, did not have that luxury.
There are, of course, exceptions. Jack Ahearn (Manx Norton) won the 1964 Finnish 500 GP, a race the then dominant MV Agusta team did not contest. John Dodds recorded his first GP victory on a damp and foggy day at the Nürburgring in 1970, riding an Aermacchi 125 two-stroke single he bought to secure additional starting money.
Something plain to see is a list of never winners is seemingly top-heavy
