Dedicated, down-to-earth but in some aspects
considered somewhat zany, Aaron Slight had
adopted
a challenge, a single-mindedness he hasstuck to, and that was to be New
Zealand's latest world champion.
Already
this country's most recognised
motor sport star, Aaron has shaken the foundations of the international
motorcycle racing scene.
Amidst the precious egos of the sport he maintained a quiet determination
to win while all the time displaying his legendary Kiwi modesty.
Still
on the way up in the world Of
Superbikes,
Aaron had stamped his mark as an astute professional
rider but still competes for the love of the sport.
He enjoys what he is doing and is recognised throughout motorcycling as a
bright personality among "tough nuts".
Accorded hero
status in Japan and lauded across Europe, the heady heights of being a
prospective World Superbike Champion is a long way for a man who hails from
Masterton, in the Wairarapa.
Aaron,
who now resides in Monaco with his wife, Megan, when not racing traveled with an
extensive team of mechanics and support crew, sprinkled with Kiwi ex-pats. He
finds the tiny European enclave an ideal place not only for training but because
of its central location to most of the Superbike race venues.
From
a humble background - he had initially set his heart on racing cars although he
had taken up motocross at the age of 13 - Aaron has made his own way, much of it
unassisted, through the twists and turns of national and international
competition.
It
wasn't until he was already an accomplished professional rider that New Zealand
noticed it had its first genuine motorcycle star since Graeme Crosby.
By
that time Aaron had left New Zealand and settled in Europe; had rocked Japan and
the rest of the world by winning the grueling Suzuka Eight-Hour-, and, had been
signed as a "stable rider" for, initially the Super Angel Japan team,
then the respected Honda Racing Corp.
Aaron's
climb to the top began when he switched from motocross to road racing in 1984.
The then 18-year-old had his first win on a 250 Yamaha at Manfield and in
three short years he held the New Zealand 250 Production Championship honours.
In
1986 and 1987 he had back-to-back wins in the coveted Castrol Six Hour race.
It was a taste of things to come - the two wins signaled Aaron's
proclivity for "marathons" which would later catapult him to cult
status in Japan.
In
1988 Aaron went professional, employed by Super Angel Japan, then joined a
Japanese manufacturer to race in the Australasian Superbike Championship in
1989, placing third that year.
The
next year was far from satisfactory for Aaron, He crashed at the Suzuka circuit
and spent much of 1990 recovering from reconstruction of his right hand.
He
was back in full swing two months later, claiming the Pan-Pacific Champion and
Australian Superbike Champion crowns. He
was on his way to bigger things in the Northern Hemisphere.
Entering
the highly sophisticated world of superbikes, Aaron raced only 11 of the 13
rounds in the World Superbike Championship, finishing his rookie year with a
creditable sixth place.
In
1993 he completed the 13 rounds with a third ranking and has been the most
consistent rider in the sport since, never out of the top three.
The
Honda Racing Corp recruited Aaron for the next season, choosing him to develop
the Honda RV750 RC45 racer on which it was focusing for a major tilt at the
world crown.
Aaron's
RC45, which features a programmable fuel-injected V4 engine developing 165bhp @
14,000rpm, weighs a touch on 162 kilograms and has a top speed of 305kmp/h
(190mph).
Immediately
competitive, Aaron led the 1994 title chase mid-season, finishing a narrow third
overall.
Oddly
enough, Aaron's first win on a Honda came in the same year in a British sand
racing event at Mablethorpe, a holiday destination in Lincolnshire on the edge
of the North Sea. He won all four
races that day.
Aaron
found 1995 a propitious year, far and away the leading rider of a Japanese
motorbike, finishing out the year in third behind two Ducatis.
The
year was further capped when he became the first rider to win the grueling
Suzuka Eight-Hour race three times in a row.
The race, though not a round of the world championship, is as important
if not more than, the World Superbike Championships.
Rated as the world's biggest one-off race, victory is everything to the
Japanese factories.
The
event staged each July at Suzuka circuit, near Nagoya in Japan, attracts over
300,000 people over the weekend. A
further 100 million watch the race via live television.
For
Aaron - the first Kiwi to win the marathon since Graeme Crosby - three-up wins
with his Honda had the Japanese out of their seats.
Success at Suzuka means instant fame in Japan, something which Aaron
encountered when mob scenes at the Narita airport the day after his victory
almost prevented him from leaving.
In
1996 Aaron went one step better in the World Superbike rankings, with a close
second at year's end, and that achieved after facing several obstacles including
a horrendous crash which resulted in broken bones in his foot mid-way into the
year.
A
hot property among the riders and much sought after by the teams, Aaron remained
loyal to Honda in the new 1997 season.
He may have lost out in the placings but he was a major contributor to Honda's dominance in the 1997 World Superbike series. The company won the individual rider, manufacturer and team titles
In
the final round Aaron was well placed to finish second overall behind Honda
teammate John Kocinski (USA) only to be pipped by arch-rival Carl Fogarty in
controversial circumstances. For
Aaron and his Honda RC45, it was a bitter-sweet final round.
Aaron
started 1998 positively, first-up battling and defeating tradition off the
track. He was determined to secure
the right to carry his favourite race number - No. 111 - rather than the
official allocated numerals.
With
the leading riders allotted race numbers according to their finishing position
the previous year, Aaron was far from embued with the prospect of sporting No. 3
for the third time in succession.
"I
used 111 throughout all my early racing in New Zealand," Aaron said.
"It took a lot of trouble to get clearance for it, especially as
it's a three-digit number."
Aaron's
quest for the World Superbike crown, although winning more races than any other
rider this season, looked forlorn with three rounds to go,
"SEARCHING
FOR GOLD"
Luck
changed, however, at the A-1 Ring in Austria late in August.
Until then well in arrears of series leader, Australian Troy Corser,
Aaron surged to within 1.5 points of the outright lead.
Deciding
the season, as it has done so many times in the past, came down to the final
round staged at Sugo, Japan, on October 4.
It
wasn't Aaron's day. With Corser out
of the equation after breaking ribs in practice, the title looked all but
Aaron's but arch-rival Carl Fogarty slipped ahead of him and cornered the gold.
Aaron's
disappointment after the final race belies the outstanding success he had
enjoyed over the past five years.
(Material
from Honda Eclipse Magazine 1998)
Aaron in 1999 had an unfortunate Medical mishap, with the diagnoses of a Brain Tumor. He successfully under-went Surgery, and is now working his way back into his Sport.