John Kocinski (born March 20, 1968 in

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

) is a retired American Grand Prix

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road racer whose successes include winning the

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250cc World Championship, and the

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Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded i ...

title.John Kocinski career statistics at MotoGP.com
/ref>John Kocinski career World Superbike statistics at worldsbk.com

Career

Early years

At age seventeen, Kocinski was already a factory rider for

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

, in the AMA Championship Cup. He won the AMA 250 Grand Prix Championship every year from 1987 to 1989, and won the 1989 Supersport race at Daytona having started 53rd in a field of 80 riders. In

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

, he won the pole position at the 250cc US Grand Prix and finished the race in fourth place. He would also place fifth at

250cc Japanese Grand Prix.

Middle years

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

was also the year of his 500cc World Championship debut. In

he raced in four different championships, but the highlight was winning the 250cc World Championship in his first full season on a Team Roberts Yamaha YZR250. In a funny and unusual story happening after his loss at the 1991 American Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, According to Michael Scott, Kocinski was so upset after the loss that he drove away from the track recklessly and refused to pull over when stopped by a policeman; he was arrested and sentenced to community service. He was a full-time 500cc racer for the next two years, finishing fourth and third in the championship and winning the final round in both seasons. During his first year in the 500cc class, Kocinski infamously told reporters that if a rider hadn't won the World Championship within 2 years of starting in the class, then they should give up racing. This statement would come back to haunt the American as he competed in the top class for over six seasons without ever becoming World Champion, with many reminding him of his comment in later years. Kocinski started

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in 250s, taking Suzuki's first-ever podium at this level, but switched back to 500cc mid-season after falling out with the Suzuki team. He won Cagiva's first ever dry-weather 500cc win at

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, and came 11th overall with only four appearances. He opened 1994 with a win in Australia and finished the season in third place. After Cagiva pulled out of Grand Prix racing, Kocinski concentrated on becoming a professional

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Later years

Kocinski came back to world-level motorcycle racing in 1996 when he joined the World Superbike series on a factory Ducati and came close to winning the title in his first attempt, despite falling out with Ducati during the year. He joined the factory

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squad for

, and won the title with nine wins and seven podium finishes. In the final round of the season at Sentul in

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, Kocinski led teammate

Aaron Slight Aaron Tony Slight (born 19 January 1966) is a New Zealand former professional motorcycle road racer. He competed in the Superbike World Championships from to , finishing second in the championship twice and third four times. He later competed ...

going into the last lap of the first race. Slight needed to win the race to wrap up second in the championship and give Castrol Honda a 1-2 finish, and despite the Kiwi rider passing Kocinski early in the lap, the American re-passed Slight in a move that almost took out Slight's front wheel to take the win, meaning Slight only finished third in the championship. Kocinski's actions caused him to fall out with both the team and Slight.1997 WSBK - Sentul
/ref> He returned to the 500cc world championship in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

with

Sito Pons Alfonso Pons Ezquerra (Barcelona 9 November 1959), better known as Sito Pons, is a Spanish former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racer. He competed in the FIM motorcycle Grand Prix world championships from 1981 to 1991. Pons is notable for ...

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Honda team, and the following year in

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riding for

Erv Kanemoto Erv Kanemoto (born May 7, 1943) is an American former Grand Prix motorcycle mechanic and motorcycle race team owner. He was one of the most successful motorcycle racing tuners and race team crew chiefs of the 1970s through the early 2000s, work ...

's sponsorless team but failed to win a race. He raced at home in AMA National championship in 2000 for Vance & Hines Ducati, and tested for

for the next two years before retiring. He is currently a property developer in Beverly Hills, California. In January 2008, he was reported to have been looking for a professional motorcycle racing ride for 2008 in the AMA, SBK and 250cc sections.

Grand Prix career statistics

Points system from 1988 to 1992: Points system from 1993 onwards: ( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

World Superbike Championship

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kocinski, John American motorcycle racers 250cc World Championship riders 500cc World Championship riders Superbike World Championship riders AMA Superbike Championship riders Sportspeople from Little Rock, Arkansas 1968 births Living people