the pre-race daddy , securing 43 trophies . He possessed the coolest head and fastest throttle hand in pre-race shootouts , usually setting a surprisingly steady sighting lap before wicking it up beyond the rest for one single magic lap .
Those who said Corser could only win races when he got the best custom designed tyres going ( before Pirelli stepped in to show that single make tyres were the way forward for WorldSBK ) were suddenly silenced when TC used all his obvious speed and vast experience to take a 1000cc Alstare Suzuki to his own second championship win in 2005 . While using the same tyre options as anybody else .
Troy was a great test rider , one who could also go out and race with the very best . He could make the bikes go fast , as well as going fast himself . That ’ s another unusual and entirely positive asset within Corser ’ s overall package , and one that always ensured he almost always had factory rides .
So much for the stats and racing stuff , what about Troy himself ? Something of a larrikin kid , it is notable that Corser came from the same Wollongong area that had already produced a ridgy-didge riding genius , Wayne Gardner . WG was MotoGP™ ’ s first Aussie champion , and Corser would become the first Aussie WorldSBK champion . And - at that time at least - the youngest ever , at 24 years of age .
Corser was extraordinarily smooth in his Mike ‘ Hailwood-ish ’ riding style . He was considerably looser once the racing was finished … In a paddock at least half-full of party animals , Corser was the king of the crocodiles ( as per his personal logo ), looking for fun and action at every possible moment . He trained to be fit enough to race , but not like some others , relying on his natural underlying fitness and that economic riding style to get him into the top three .
We have already shone a bright southern hemisphere spotlight on many aspects of Corser ’ s remarkably successful career , but there are even more reasons that the still fit ,
OFFICIAL PROGRAMME 53 active and globetrotting Corser should be remembered by posterity in a special way .
Let ’ s not forget that Troy competed at the very top level of WorldSBK racing on machinery from Ducati , Yamaha , Aprilia , BMW , Suzuki - and that unique three cylinder Foggy Petronas triple . Corser , being Corser , podiumed for all six manufacturers , and won races with three different marques .
In short , Troy ’ s unique career and character are the very stuff from which icons of WorldSBK are made .
ICONS OF WORLDSBK