John Kocinski facts for kids
Quick facts for kids John Kocinski |
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Kocinski at the 1992 Dutch TT
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John Kocinski (born March 20, 1968, in Little Rock, Arkansas) is a retired American Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He was a very successful rider who won two major titles. These include the 1990 250cc World Championship and the 1997 Superbike World Championship title.
Contents
John Kocinski's Racing Journey
Starting Out: Early Career Wins
John Kocinski began his racing career very early. When he was just seventeen, he was already a factory rider for Yamaha. He competed in the AMA Championship Cup.
He won the AMA 250 Grand Prix Championship three years in a row, from 1987 to 1989. In 1989, he also won a Supersport race at Daytona. What made this win amazing was that he started in 53rd place out of 80 riders!
In 1988, he showed his speed by getting the pole position (starting first) at the 250cc US Grand Prix. He finished that race in fourth place. He also took fifth place at the 250cc Japanese Grand Prix that same year.
Becoming a World Champion
In 1989, John Kocinski made his first appearance in the 500cc World Championship. The year 1990 was a huge highlight for him. He raced in four different championships that year.
Most importantly, he won the 250cc World Championship in his very first full season! He rode for Team Roberts on a Yamaha YZR250.
After moving to the 500cc class full-time, he finished fourth and then third in the championship standings. He even won the final race of the season in both of those years.
John once told reporters that if a rider didn't win the World Championship within two years of joining the top class, they should quit racing. This comment became famous, and many people reminded him of it later. This was because he raced in the top class for over six seasons but never won the 500cc World Championship.
In 1993, Kocinski started in the 250cc class again. He earned Suzuki's first-ever podium finish (top three) in this class. However, he later switched back to the 500cc class mid-season. He had some disagreements with the Suzuki team.
He then achieved Cagiva's first-ever dry-weather 500cc win at Laguna Seca. Even though he only raced in four events that year, he finished 11th overall. He started 1994 with a win in Australia and ended the season in third place overall. After Cagiva stopped racing in Grand Prix, Kocinski took a break from motorcycle racing. He even focused on becoming a professional water skier for a while!
Later Career and Retirement
John Kocinski returned to world-level motorcycle racing in 1996. He joined the World Superbike series with a factory Ducati team. He almost won the title in his first try, even though he had some disagreements with Ducati that year.
For the 1997 season, he joined the factory Castrol Honda team. This was a fantastic year for him! He won the World Superbike title with nine race wins and seven other podium finishes.
In the last race of the 1997 season in Sentul, Indonesia, Kocinski was leading his teammate Aaron Slight. Slight needed to win the race to finish second in the championship. Even though Slight passed Kocinski early in the last lap, John passed him back in a very close move to take the win. This meant Slight finished third in the championship. This caused some tension between Kocinski and his team and teammate.
He went back to the 500cc world championship in 1998 with Sito Pons' Movistar Honda team. The next year, 1999, he rode for Erv Kanemoto's team. However, he didn't win any races in these two seasons.
In 2000, he raced in the AMA National championship for Vance & Hines Ducati. He then spent two years testing bikes for Yamaha before officially retiring from racing. Today, he works as a property developer in Beverly Hills, California.
In 2008, there were reports that he was thinking about returning to professional motorcycle racing.
See also
In Spanish: John Kocinski para niños
