Former MotoGP and World Superbike rider Marty Craggill will come out of retirement just after his 50th birthday to join Team Australia for the 2016 Phillip Island Classic.
Craggill and Queenslander John Allen are the two new additions to the nine-rider Australian squad, which will attempt to reclaim the coveted International Challenge trophy from the Jeremy McWilliams-led United Kingdom team.
Steve Martin, Shawn Giles, Cameron Donald, Jed Metcher, Paul Young and Beau Beaton are the remaining members of the Rex Wolfenden-captained Australian squad, with only eight riders allowed to compete in each International Challenge race — alongside the same number of the competitors from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, America and new entrant, Ireland, to make up the 40-rider grid.
Unlike their teammates, Craggill and Allen will be treading a two-stroke path in the International Challenge, riding extremely potent but mercurial Yamaha TZ750s. Craggill has already tested his machine — owned by Wagga Wagga motorsport enthusiast Phil Andrea — twice in recent weeks.
"I have ridden the bike at Broadford and Phillip Island, and we've been working hard on trying to find consistency and reliability — but it's been fiddly," said Craggill, who now owns a thriving business performing maintenance for Virgin Australia at its Melbourne base.
"Hopefully we'll get there with the bike, but I'm also really looking forward to the social side of the event as much as anything because I really haven't been around the scene that much since I retired from racing eight years ago."
Craggill is also approaching the big five-o — his birthday is on December 18 — and he wanted to "do something exciting" to commemorate the half century.
"When I was offered the ride I said 'why not', and the added motivation is that my children, now aged 14 and 12, have never seen me race, so this was the perfect opportunity."
For well over a decade, Craggill was one of Australia's fastest riders, winning the national superbike title in 1997-1998 riding for Team Kawasaki Australia, and he was also active in world superbike — 44 races — before finishing his career in America. His final year of full-time competition was in 2007, but a promised ride in 2008 evaporated when the GFC ravaged motorcycle racing budgets.
Craggill's best WSBK results came in 1997 when he was sixth and ninth at Phillip Island, and he also competed in three world championship grands prix: in 1990 at Phillip Island in the 250cc class and in 1995-1996 at Eastern Creek on a 500cc machine.
