In the Beatles' classic tune "A Day In The Life", the British songsmiths Lennon and McCartney make a reference to "A thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire."

Of course, Blackburn is the hometown of one Carl Fogarty, the man many would argue to be the greatest Superbike racer ever.

The Beatles song is a tune about a Guiness Beer heir losing his life in a car fatal crash. While Fogarty will live out the rest of his life in a healthy state as he continues to recover from his Philip Island crash, his professional racing career died that day in the rain when he crashed with Robert Ulm on the Island.

Fogarty won four World's Championships and was in the hunt for two more. He won 56 races, a mark any rider would hard-pressed to equal. Doug Polen is second with less than half that total, 27. For the seven years that made up the heart of Fogarty's WSC career (1993-1999), he won 55 races, and average of 7.8 per year. Currently, Troy Corser has 20 wins, Colin Edwards has 13 and Nori Haga 11 victories. If they were to beat Fogarty to become the winningest WSC racer, Corser would have to average more than six wins per season, and Edwards and Haga they would have to average almost nine wins per year. Those riders have yet to reach those totals for one season thus far in their careers.

An admitted poor qualifier, Carl was at his best on Sundays. He claimed he hated testing and qualifying, and was only at his best when the green flag dropped. Carl finished on the podium 108 times in his career, out of 196 starts. He still garnered 20 pole positions to go along with 22 fastest race laps. He also did the "demoralizing double" 16 times, taking both race wins of a meeting.

Foggy's greatest place of triumph was the Van Drenthe circuit at Assen, Netherlands. Assen is called the Temple of Motorcycle Racing. Its 3.76 mile collection of curves is often slickened by rain, but that never stopped Fogarty as tens of thousands of British fans crossed over to the continent each year to watch the Fog. Fogarty didn't disappoint them. He won ten WSC races at Assen alone.

The strength of Superbikes, and indeed motorcycling in the U.K., owes a great deal to Carl. He's sold countless motorcycles, magazines and race tickets to those that loved him and to those that hated him.

Fogarty was a rarity in sports; his fans exalted him to be the greatest of heroes, all the while needling the Fog-haters into passionate discourse. While he claimed to be just a regular guy that raced motorcycles, Fogarty was a master at cultivating public opinion. He was both a straight-talking common man to his fans and a whining ninny to his naysayers. Not an easy feet.

It's hard to believe the same fans that held Union Jacks with the famous "Foggy Eyes" symbol at Brands, Donington or Assen and fans at Laguna that held a spray painted bed sheet that simply read "Fogarty Sux" and gave him the finger on every lap were focused on the same racer.

Carl personified the spirit of England. Not the poshness of English upper crust, but the masses of industrial working class. His helmet bore the Lancastrian Rose, and his Ducati fairing donned the Cross of St. George, not the Union Jack. Much like the namesake of the flag's fight with a dragon, Fogarty and his legend continued to grow each year as he and a relatively small Italian company took on Japan, Inc., and the best racers in the world. In his era, Superbikes went from a lesser class for aging riders to get one more big payday to at least equal footing with Grand Prix.

When Fogarty came to Daytona in 1995, he was the topic of most conversations. In an interview before the race, Fogarty, fresh off of his first World Superbike title, tore into American racers and Daytona International Speedway. While this played well in the UK, it had the opposite effect in AMA circles. This metaphorical kicking of the Daytona Beach sand in the face of the Yanks (and several Johnny Rebs) certainly stirred the emotions. When Scott Russell ran Fogarty down and overtook Foggy (after the Georgian had crashed early in the race), all hell broke loose in the infield. It all proved to be great theater, as Russell fans smugly pointed to the race's result. Foggy's legions cried fowl, due to the Speedway's obscure pace car rules.

Regardless of your protagonist, no one could deny that Fogarty had elevated what would have been an otherwise very good race to classic status by virtue of his tongue.

But that wasn't the first time the Fog's barbs had excited his rivals, or even Scott Russell for that matter. Foggy had a running dialogue on the merits of Russell with the Kawasaki rider in the press as the two were the battling for the 1993 and 1994 World Superbike Championships. Fogarty named two of his pet potbellied pigs after Aaron Slight and Colin Edwards when those two riders emerged as title contenders. His fisticuffs with Pierfrancesco Chili at Assen in 1998 are also a highlight, or a low-light, depending on your view of the situation. Those close to Troy Corser will tell you there wasn't a surplus of love felt between Troy and Carl at Ducati in 1999, either.

Away from the track Carl changes demeanor. Those around him say he is hardly the brash King Carl, but simply a quiet and polite guy that loves racing. 

He made good enemies in his career, Aaron Slight, Edwards and others were not always on good terms with Fog.. But you don't get the impression his rivals hate Fogarty. It's more like he's a mouthy older brother whose constant verbal barbs seems to lose their effect over time. They don't see him a mystical boogieman of the paddock, just a darn good racer with a smart mouth. And one that beat them countless times.

The fans, on the other hand, are more polarized. They are still torn on the merits of Fogarty. Some claim him to be a very good racer that just happened to be on the best bike of the era. Others feel George Fogarty's son was still a minor deity on his worst day, and his skill and guts made Ducati great.

When Foggy left Ducati for a solitary year in 1996, he ended very strongly after a poor start. Once again, what that means is dependent on whose opinion you are listening to at the moment.

Carl released a best-selling autobiography earlier in 2000, one in which Carl didn't hold back his feelings on his rivals and even his family members. He told tales of groupies, and his difficulties with uncle Brian Fogarty over the rights to Foggy's licensing deals. Although some animal rights activists were upset over Carl's accounts of torturing cats as a youth, his fans bought the books in droves and praised it as rare straight talk in a world of cultivated public images.

Is Carl a hopeless cad or a true "people's champion"? The logical successor to Hailwood and Sheene, or a good, but lucky, racer aided by V-Twin might? The debate will continue for the ages.

Carl wouldn't have it any other way.

Ends

Links:

The Legend of St. George's Cross 

John Lennon talks about "A Day in the Life" in the famous Playboy Interview, 1980. 

Van Drenthe Circuit Home Page 

Ducati Corse 

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