Daryl Beattie
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Motorcycle Grand Prix Career | |
Nationality | Australian |
---|---|
Active years | 1989 - 1997 |
Team(s) | Honda, Suzuki |
Grands Prix | 59 |
Championships | 0 |
Wins | 3 |
Podium finishes | 14 |
Pole positions | 0 |
Fastest laps | 1 |
First Grand Prix | 1989 250cc Australian Grand Prix |
First win | 1993 500cc German Grand Prix |
Last win | 1995 500cc German Grand Prix |
Last Grand Prix | 1997 500cc Australian Grand Prix |
Daryl Beattie (born September 26, 1970 in Charleville, Queensland, Australia) is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.
Beattie posted several good results at the beginning of the 1992 500cc Grand Prix season then teamed up with Wayne Gardner to win the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race in Japan. His performance earned him a place on the Honda factory team alongside fellow Australian Mick Doohan for the 1993 season. He won his first Grand Prix that year at the German Grand Prix at Hockenheimring and finished the season in a promising third place behind Kevin Schwantz and Wayne Rainey. After the season he was inexplicably released by the Honda team. He had a lackluster season in 1994 on a Team Roberts Marlboro Yamaha before being offered a job with the Suzuki factory team. He had his best year in 1995, leading the championship for the first part of the season before his crash at Assen allowed Doohan to surge ahead and win the championship with Beattie finishing in second.
Beattie's career took a blow in 1996 when he crashed in pre-season testing and suffered serious head injuries. He returned only to suffer another crash at the fourth race of the season in Spain. He then crashed again at the sixth round in France. He struggled through the 1997 season but never regained his previous form and announced his retirement from competetive racing at the end of the season.