Jeremy Burgess
Encyclopedia
Jeremy Burgess is an Australia
n motorcycle racing
chief engineer
, having worked with three world champions: Wayne Gardner
, Mick Doohan and Valentino Rossi
. He was also a mechanic on Freddie Spencer
's team when Spencer won the 500cc World title in 1985. Burgess learned his GP skills from the legendary American crew chiefs, George Vukmanovich and Erv Kanemoto
for whom he worked in his early years.
Winning machines prepared by Burgess range from the Suzukis of Randy Mamola
to the Hondas of Ron Haslam, Freddie Spencer, Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan and Valentino Rossi to the Yamaha of Valentino Rossi. Since July 1980, these riders have won 157 GP/MotoGP races (as at 2 November 2009) and a total of fourteen World Championships on motorcycles that "JB" has either prepared himself or whose preparation he has overseen as crew chief. Burgess's machinery have achieved over 280 podium finishes.
Three days after leaving school, he bought his first race track bike, a 1969 Suzuki T500 Cobra. From 1972 through 1979, he rode on the Australian racing circuit, racing against Gregg Hansford
, Warren Willing, Kenny Blake and Harry Hinton
. His own racing efforts culminated in his purchase of a Suzuki RG500
, with which he had much success due to the reliability of his preparation.
Staying with a friend in Surbiton
, Surrey
, who worked for Suzuki UK, at Burgess's request his friend put his name forward for a mechanic's job with Texaco
Heron
Team Suzuki at Beddington Lane in Croydon
, South London
. He already knew team racer Graeme Crosby
(who he had raced against); mechanics Mick Smith and crew chief George Vukmanovich (who worked as a mechanic on the Australian circuit in 1978); and had met Randy Mamola in New Zealand in 1976.
Employed as a mechanic on Mamola's GP team, in July 1980, Mamola won the Belgian GP. Burgess remained with Mamola and Vukmanovich at Suzuki until 1983, when he moved to Honda
with whom he was to stay for the next 21 years.
. In 1985, Burgess was transferred by Honda to Freddie Spencer's support team working for crew chief Erv Kanemoto and preparing Spencer's 500cc machinery. 1985 was Spencer's remarkable "double" year when he won the 250cc and 500cc World Titles, the first time Burgess had prepared a World Championship-winning motorcycle.
The following year, 1986, Burgess was promoted to crew chief of fellow Australian Wayne Gardner, who won the title the following year (1987). In 1989, Burgess became crew chief to Mick Doohan, who went on to win Premier World Championships in five successive years between 1994 and 1998.
After Doohan retired in 1999 due to injuries, Burgess was thinking about quitting; he had witnessed too many major crashes and allegedly didn't want to be a part of it any more. But when Valentino Rossi
was given the opportunity to race with Honda, he said the only way Honda would get him was if Burgess was his engineer. Burgess became crew chief to Rossi in what was Rossi's debut year riding in the premier (500cc) class, and helped mastermind Rossi’s seven world titles (five in successive years from 2001 to 2005) in 500cc/MotoGP.
team the Adelaide Crows
.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n motorcycle racing
Motorcycle racing
Motorcycle sport is a broad field that encompasses all sporting aspects of motorcycling. The disciplines are not all "races" or timed-speed events, as several disciplines test a competitor's various riding skills.-Motorcycle racing:...
chief engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
, having worked with three world champions: Wayne Gardner
Wayne Gardner
Wayne Michael Gardner OAM is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and touring car racer. His most notable achievement was winning the 1987 500 cc Motorcycle World Championship, becoming the first Australian to win motorcycling's premier class...
, Mick Doohan and Valentino Rossi
Valentino Rossi
Valentino Rossi, , is an Italian professional motorcycle racer and multiple MotoGP World Champion. He is one of the most successful motorcycle racers of all time, with nine Grand Prix World Championships to his name – seven of which are in the premier class.Following his father, Graziano Rossi,...
. He was also a mechanic on Freddie Spencer
Freddie Spencer
Freddie Spencer , known by the nickname Fast Freddie, is an American former World Champion motorcycle racer. Spencer is regarded as one of the greatest motorcycle racers of the early 1980s.-Biography:...
's team when Spencer won the 500cc World title in 1985. Burgess learned his GP skills from the legendary American crew chiefs, George Vukmanovich and Erv Kanemoto
Erv Kanemoto
Erv Kanemoto is known as a World Champion motorcycle mechanic and motorcycle race team owner. The son of a farmer, he began boat racing as a child then switched to tuning karts raced by his sister....
for whom he worked in his early years.
Winning machines prepared by Burgess range from the Suzukis of Randy Mamola
Randy Mamola
Randy Mamola born in San Jose, California is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He is considered one of the most talented riders never to have won a world championship.-Career:...
to the Hondas of Ron Haslam, Freddie Spencer, Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan and Valentino Rossi to the Yamaha of Valentino Rossi. Since July 1980, these riders have won 157 GP/MotoGP races (as at 2 November 2009) and a total of fourteen World Championships on motorcycles that "JB" has either prepared himself or whose preparation he has overseen as crew chief. Burgess's machinery have achieved over 280 podium finishes.
Early life and racing career
Born on a farm in the Adelaide Hills in 1953, he grew up around machinery, first driving aged 8 and owning his first car aged 12.Three days after leaving school, he bought his first race track bike, a 1969 Suzuki T500 Cobra. From 1972 through 1979, he rode on the Australian racing circuit, racing against Gregg Hansford
Gregg Hansford
Gregg Hansford was an Australian motorcycle and touring car racer.-Racing career:Hansford began racing motorcycles in Australia, winning the 1973 500cc Unlimited title, as well as competing in the New Zealand Marlboro Series in 1975/76 and 1977/78 on Team Kawasaki 750s. He also won one leg of the...
, Warren Willing, Kenny Blake and Harry Hinton
Harry Hinton
Harry Hinton was an Australian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He was born in Birmingham. His best season was in 1950 when he finished ninth in the 500cc world championship. Hinton was the first Australian to score points in the premier 500cc division...
. His own racing efforts culminated in his purchase of a Suzuki RG500
Suzuki RG500
The Suzuki RG500 "Gamma" was a motorcycle built by Suzuki between 1985 and 1987 and inspired by the 1984 Suzuki RG500 "Gamma" Grand Prix motorcycle, capitalizing on Suzuki's seven consecutive constructors title wins in the 500 cc-class. The Gamma was powered by a two stroke, rotary valve, twin...
, with which he had much success due to the reliability of his preparation.
Heron Suzuki: 1980-1983
Looking to extend his racing career, in February 1980, Burgess decided to visit Europe to observe the Grand Prix racing scene. But he quickly figured out that he wasn't as young or as well financed as he would need to make it.Staying with a friend in Surbiton
Surbiton
Surbiton, a suburban area of London in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, is situated next to the River Thames, with a mixture of Art-Deco courts, more recent residential blocks and grand, spacious 19th century townhouses blending into a sea of semi-detached 20th century housing estates...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, who worked for Suzuki UK, at Burgess's request his friend put his name forward for a mechanic's job with Texaco
Texaco
Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
Heron
Heron International
Heron International is a United Kingdom based property development company. Founded by the Ronson family as a furniture retailer, it came to prominence in the 1980s as the UK's largest operator of self-service petrol stations...
Team Suzuki at Beddington Lane in Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
, South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
. He already knew team racer Graeme Crosby
Graeme Crosby
Graeme Crosby is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from New Zealand. A supremely versatile rider, Crosby holds the distinction of having won the Daytona 200, the Imola 200, the Suzuka 8 Hours, and the Isle of Man TT....
(who he had raced against); mechanics Mick Smith and crew chief George Vukmanovich (who worked as a mechanic on the Australian circuit in 1978); and had met Randy Mamola in New Zealand in 1976.
Employed as a mechanic on Mamola's GP team, in July 1980, Mamola won the Belgian GP. Burgess remained with Mamola and Vukmanovich at Suzuki until 1983, when he moved to Honda
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...
with whom he was to stay for the next 21 years.
Honda: 1983-2003
Moving to Honda, Burgess became chief mechanic to British rider Ron HaslamRon Haslam
Ronald Haslam is a British former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who has been racing for over thirty years, winning three World titles, four British championships and having ridden in almost 110 GPs....
. In 1985, Burgess was transferred by Honda to Freddie Spencer's support team working for crew chief Erv Kanemoto and preparing Spencer's 500cc machinery. 1985 was Spencer's remarkable "double" year when he won the 250cc and 500cc World Titles, the first time Burgess had prepared a World Championship-winning motorcycle.
The following year, 1986, Burgess was promoted to crew chief of fellow Australian Wayne Gardner, who won the title the following year (1987). In 1989, Burgess became crew chief to Mick Doohan, who went on to win Premier World Championships in five successive years between 1994 and 1998.
After Doohan retired in 1999 due to injuries, Burgess was thinking about quitting; he had witnessed too many major crashes and allegedly didn't want to be a part of it any more. But when Valentino Rossi
Valentino Rossi
Valentino Rossi, , is an Italian professional motorcycle racer and multiple MotoGP World Champion. He is one of the most successful motorcycle racers of all time, with nine Grand Prix World Championships to his name – seven of which are in the premier class.Following his father, Graziano Rossi,...
was given the opportunity to race with Honda, he said the only way Honda would get him was if Burgess was his engineer. Burgess became crew chief to Rossi in what was Rossi's debut year riding in the premier (500cc) class, and helped mastermind Rossi’s seven world titles (five in successive years from 2001 to 2005) in 500cc/MotoGP.
Yamaha: 2004-2010
In 2004, Rossi moved from Honda to rival manufacturer Yamaha accompanied by Burgess and other crew members. Despite different machinery and only a few weeks Yamaha experience, by April 2004, the Rossi-Burgess partnership had transformed Yamaha's previously mediocre success into a victory at their first title race, the South African GP at Welkom.Ducati: 2011-present
In post-season 2010, Rossi signed a two year contract with Ducati for the 2011 and 2012 seasons and once again convinced Burgess to be part of his team. Burgess also transferred most of his crew, mainly Australians and New Zealanders.Theory
Burgess is not a man to mince his words and once expounded his famous "80/20" theory: In a motorcycle race, the contribution of the rider is 80% and that of the bike is 20%. This was despite the belief of Honda management that even a middle-ranking rider could win on their Grand Prix machinery. Rossi's successful move to Yamaha at a time when Honda reputedly had the best bike in MotoGP would seem to have proved the veracity of Burgess' theory, althought it is also important to note that Rossi was accompanied by Burgess and some of his team, a factor which had undoubtedly been a crucial factor in his success at Honda.Personal life
Burgess married a lady who worked for Rothmans during his time with Doohan. The couple have two children, both girls, and live in Australia. Burgess’ other passion is Australian rules footballAustralian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
team the Adelaide Crows
Adelaide Crows
The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed The Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia, playing in the Australian Football League ....
.