Superbike world champion Carl Fogarty was born into the world of racing, thanks to his father George Fogarty, himself a celebrated motorcycle racer. From a very young age, Carl learned the discipline and motivation of playing competitive sport and discovered that motor racing was something that he excelled in. Making his superbike debut in 1988, his first chance in the championship came as a privateer in 1991 for three quarters of the season and after a promising start Carl embarked on a hectic 1992 season that was to bring him his fourth world title.
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Fogarty’s rise to sporting prominence coincided with the golden age of superbike racing dominated by fellow competitors including Troy Corser, Raymond Scott Russell and Anthony Gobert who all helped to put the sport on the map. His first victory in any form of racing at Brands Hatch did not come until 1995. He had much greater success at Assen, winning all but one race there between 1995 and 1999. Yet his boy next door persona made Carl the perfect shorthand for superbikes. The fact that here was just a normal guy from Lancashire dominating and defining a sport set an example to other people to follow their passions and strive for success. People see something in Carl which is relatable to their own lives and this has helped to extend his appeal outside his sport.
By 2000 Carl began to realise that his days of competitive racing were numbered and in April of that year disaster struck as he was involved in a career ending crash in Phillip Island situated off the southern coast of Australia which unbeknown to everyone would turn out to be his last ever competitive race. At the time Carl didn’t see this as a momentous event as it was just a natural ending to a successful career and coincided with his own thinking that the time was right to bow out. Several years went by without even a slight interest in the sport, yet following the tragic death of his father, Carl felt an affiliation with Moto GP and was ready to take an interest in the sport once again, returning to the track as a spectator.
In 2014 Carl was victorious in the Australian jungle when he won the fourteenth series of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here, beating TV legend Michael Burke and reality star Jake Quickenden. Being stranded in the outback with limited food surrounded by celebrities didn’t phase Carl at all. The most pressing part for him wasn’t the lack of food, the disgusting trials or the basic living quarters. It was just to combat the boredom of being in the wild for twenty four hours per day for up to three weeks. To his astonishment, Carl defied the odds to be crowned king of the jungle which remains amongst his greatest achievements.
Beyond competitive sport, Carl is also known for his extensive charity work, most notably as an ambassador for the NSPCC where he has organised and participated in several outlandish challenges. In 2016 he teamed up with I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here runner up Jake Quickenden to trek across Iceland raising over £27,500 for the charity. Fogarty is also patron of local charity North West Blood Bikes – Lancs & Lakes which opened their new headquarters in December 2017.
When he’s not trekking for charity, Carl has put his name to a line of motorcycle equipment including helmets which are available on his website at www.carlfogarty.com where you can also find other sports merchandise and accessories. In addition to this, Carl has also written a total of four books and counting about his life and attitude towards it and shows no signs of slowing down. It was a great pleasure to interview Carl Fogarty and wish him all the very best with the rest of his remarkable career.