Jeremy Burgess
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2007) |
Jeremy Burgess has been motorcycle racing chief engineer to 3 World Champions; Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan and Valentino Rossi.
Burgess spent nearly 20 years with Honda, first working with Gardner, who won the title in 1987. He later worked with Doohan, who won 5 titles between 1994 and 1998. Following Doohan’s retirement, he became chief mechanic for Valentino Rossi, and helped to mastermind Rossi’s 5 straight 500cc/MotoGP titles to date. In 2004, Rossi famously moved from Honda to rival manufacturer Yamaha, accompanied by Burgess and other crew members.
Burgess is a key component in the amazing success Rossi has had, including helping him win back-to-back titles on different makes of bike. However, few people realise this and while the limelight stays on Rossi, Burgess is quietly at work race after race. He has propounded the famous '80:20' theory - which essentially means that in a motorcycle race, the contribution of the rider is 80% and that of the bike is 20%.
A South Australian, Burgess’ other passion is Australian rules football (AFL), the Adelaide Crows.
[edit] Interesting Fact
After Mick Doohan retired in 1999 due to injuries, Jeremy Burgess was thinking about quiting, 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 go race with Honda, he said the only way Honda would get him, is if Jeremy Burgess was his Engineer. Jeremy & Valentino work together in MotoGP as a particularly strong team.
Valentino Rossi released this in his Book, "What If I Had Never Tried It?"
