Graeme Crosby

After his international motorcycle racing career, he returned to New Zealand to become a commercial airline pilot and also competed in touring car racing. Crosby was inducted in to the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Motorcycling New Zealand Hall of Fame in 2006.

After his retirement, Crosby returned to New Zealand and became a commercial airline pilot. He also began auto racing, driving successfully in Touring car racing, mostly in New Zealand and Australia. He won the 1992 New Zealand Touring Car Championship. Crosby was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1995. In 2006, he was inducted into the New Zealand Motorcycling Hall of Fame. Crosby's autobiography entitled CROZ – Larrikin Biker was published in 2010.

Crosby believed that he was contracted with Suzuki to race their latest RG500 motorcycle in the 1982 500cc world championship however, whether he was misinformed or misunderstood the contract, it became apparent that Suzuki would only provide him with year old motorcycles. He had tentatively agreed with Honda to compete in the AMA Superbike Championship when, Giacomo Agostini offered him a contract to race for the Yamaha factory racing team with Graziano Rossi as his teammate.

Prior to the start of the 1982 Grand Prix season, Crosby returned to Daytona in March with a factory supplied Yamaha YZR750 0W31 built from spare parts, while his main opponents were riding more up-to-date 500cc machinery. Riding at a record setting pace, Crosby won the prestigious Daytona 200 over second place Freddie Spencer. He followed this with a victory at the Imola 200 race in April.

While Yamaha had put all their efforts into developing their new V4 engine, they had stopped development work on Crosby's square-four Yamaha allowing it to lose ground on the opposing teams from Suzuki and Honda. When Roberts was forced to withdraw from the championship due to injuries sustained at the British Grand Prix, his V4 Yamaha was given to Crosby for the San Marino Grand Prix however, after he suffered a high speed crash during practice he decided to race on his familiar square-four Yamaha, finishing in third place behind Freddie Spencer and Randy Mamola. Crosby attempted to ride the V4 Yamaha during practice for the season ending German Grand Prix but, he declared that the experience had taken years off his life. He reverted to his square-four Yamaha for the race but, crashed while trying too hard to keep up the pace on the under powered motorcycle. Despite competing with an older and slower motorcycle, Crosby was able to use his riding skill and determination to finish second overall in the championship behind Franco Uncini. Frustrated by the internal politics of his race team, Crosby quit the Grand Prix circuit after the 1982 season.

Crosby was contracted by Suzuki GB to defend his Formula TT world championship and to compete alongside teammate Randy Mamola in the 1981 500cc world championship. Crosby gave a boost to the racing career of Wayne Gardner by giving him his first opportunity to race in Europe. Although Crosby was contracted to ride for Suzuki, he decided to sponsor Gardner to compete in the 1981 British Superbike championship riding Kawasakis run by the British Moriwaki concession owned by Crosby. Gardner would go on to become Australia's first 500cc world champion in 1987.

Crosby's impressive results earned him factory backed sponsorship in 1980 with the Suzuki Grand Prix racing team, operated by their British importer, Suzuki GB. He would compete on a four stroke Suzuki GS1000 in the Formula TT world championship, and ride a two stroke Suzuki RG 500 in the 500cc world championship.

He began the year with a victory at the Daytona Superbike race in March. Crosby was forced to start on the back row of the starting grid due to a minor rules infringement but, charged through the entire field of competitors en route to an upset victory over Freddie Spencer. He followed this with a victory in the Senior TT at the 1980 Isle of Man TT races held in June. In July, Crosby teamed with Wes Cooley on a Yoshimura Suzuki GS1000 motorcycle to win the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race. He then won the Ulster Grand Prix to secure the Formula One Class of the 1980 Formula TT world championship.

His string of victories with four stroke machinery earned him a reputation as a four stroke specialist. However, Crosby also showed himself to be a capable rider of two stroke machinery when he rode a Suzuki RG 500 to an eighth place ranking in the 1980 500cc world championship, including an impressive second place finish in the 1980 German Grand Prix held at the challenging Nurburgring.

In the inaugural Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race in 1978, Crosby and co-rider Tony Hatton had an opportunity to win the race on a Moriwaki Kawasaki Kz1000 before running out of fuel relegated them to third place. The following year, Crosby qualified a Moriwaki Kawasaki on pole position at the 1979 Suzuka 8 Hours, ahead of all the major factory racing teams. Moriwaki provided Crosby with Kawasaki motorcycles to compete in the Formula TT world championship and the Isle of Man TT. He placed 4th in the Formula 1 Class at the 1979 Isle of Man TT and finished the season ranked third in the Formula 1 Class of the Formula TT world championship.

Crosby moved from his home in Renwick, New Zealand to Auckland in the late 1960s and began a motorcycle apprenticeship at a local Kawasaki dealership. He began racing on a Kawasaki H2 learning to race on New Zealand's street circuits. By 1979, he was racing in the Australian Superbike championship for the Australian importer for Pops Yoshimura's motorcycle racing parts company. He was then contracted to race for Yoshimura's son in law, Mamoru Moriwaki another talented motorcycle engineer.

Graeme Crosby (born 4 July 1955) is a former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from New Zealand. A versatile rider, Crosby was equally capable on either four stroke Superbike racers or two stroke Grand Prix racers. He holds the distinction of being the only person to have won the Daytona 200, the Imola 200, the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race, and the Isle of Man TT.