Chris Walker (motorcycle racer)

Chris Walker
Chris Walker riding the Motorpoint/Henderson Yamaha during the 2009 British Superbikes championship at Snetterton
Nationality	English
Born	25 March 1972 Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, East Midlands
Current team	Santander Salt Kawasaki Sidecar
Bike number	9
Website	Walker The Stalker

Chris Walker (born 25 March 1972 in Nottingham) is a British motorcycle road racer and former scrambler with the nickname The Stalker. He is a four-time runner-up in the British Superbike Championship, and a former race winner in the Superbike World Championship. For the 2015 season Walker signed for Tommy Hill's Be Wiser Kawasaki Team aboard a Kawasaki ZX-10R in the British Superbike Championship,^[1] following his 2014 season with Lloyds British GBmoto squad.^[2] Team manager Hill left in August, 2015,^[3] and the team folded in September, leaving Walker without a ride for the final two race meetings of the season.^[4]

In early 2016, Walker announced he would no longer participate in superbikes, instead switching to the British Sidecar Championship, initially with a two-year contract. With no previous experience, Walker stated he was excited by the future opportunities.^[5][6][7]

Like Formula One legend Ayrton Senna, Walker developed Bell's Palsy in 2002 which paralysed part of his face.^[8][9] He lists his determination as his best feature, and his love of puddings as his worst. He usually races #9.

Early years and British Superbike Championship 1995–2000

Walker only started road racing in 1995 after many years as an accomplished motocross rider, but by the end of that year and into 1996 he rose through the ranks with ease and had ridden in Grands Prix and scored points.

In 1997 he challenged for the prestigious British Superbike championship with Yamaha, finishing as runner-up to experienced team-mate Niall Mackenzie. He switched to Kawasaki for 1998, winning in the season’s first race, before it became clear that the Yamahas of Mackenzie and Steve Hislop were the bikes to beat. Injury to Hislop allowed Walker to take 2nd in the series again, a feat he repeated behind Troy Bayliss’ Ducati in 1999.

He came agonisingly close to the 2000 title, when an engine failure in his Suzuki took him out of a winning position with just three laps remaining of the final race at Donington Park, leaving Walker in tears and gifting the title to GSE Ducati’s Neil Hodgson. He did however take a second place at Brands Hatch in the World Superbike round that year, the best of his many wild card entries in the UK rounds (and occasionally Assen in the Netherlands) over the years.

500 cc World Championship 2001 and World Superbikes 2002–2006

Walker made an attempt at the 500 cc World Championship in 2001. He predicted that "For me it's going to be the toughest year ever", which proved accurate, as the factory Shell-sponsored Honda was hard to ride and forced Walker to override, resulting in many huge crashes. In 2002, he moved to the Superbike World Championship, initially with the Fuchs Kawasaki team.

Walker placed 6th in the championship for GSE Ducati in 2003, and 11th for Carl Fogarty's Foggy Petronas team in 2004, respectively teamed with James Toseland and Troy Corser (both of whom won the title the next season, Toseland riding the 2004 Fila Ducati to success and Corser the Alstare Suzuki in 2005).

In 2005, he joined the PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse team, proving to be the most consistent Kawasaki rider in terms of pace and results, securing one podium finish (3rd place, round 6 at Valencia) and finishing 7th place overall.

2006 saw Walker teamed up with Frenchman Régis Laconi and Spain's Fonsi Nieto on a Kawasaki Europe backed ZX-10R for PSG. Walker secured his maiden Superbike World Championship race win on 3 September 2006 in Race 1 at Assen, Netherlands in his 131st race. Starting the race in 13th position, and dropping to 26th position at the first corner following an excursion onto the grass, Walker braved the torrential rain and a high rate of attrition to win in a time of 44 minutes, 23.501 seconds. He came 9th overall in the championship, 19 points ahead of Nieto as the highest Kawasaki.

Despite his finishing position, Walker was subsequently dropped by PSG for the 2007 season, when Kawasaki is expected to support PSG as an official factory team.^[10]

Return to the British Superbike Championship 2007

Walker at Brands Hatch in 2007.

Walker initially struggled on the Rizla Suzuki in the British Superbike championship, occasionally outpaced by rookie team-mate Cal Crutchlow. When Neil Hodgson tested the bike^[11] some speculated that Walker's ride was under threat. The team insisted it wasn't, and at Oulton Park he took third in race one, in tricky conditions which saw many top riders (such as Jonathan Rea, Gregorio Lavilla and Tom Sykes) crash out. This was only his second podium of the season. His points tally for the year was 225, comparing favourably to his team-mate's 152.

World Supersport 2008

He was not retained for 2008, but raced in the Supersport World Championship for the very first time in and 2008, for the GIL Kawasaki team alongside teammate Katsuaki Fujiwara.^[12] However, the bike was not competitive, and he switched to the Paul Bird VK Vent-Axia team in World Superbikes for the final five rounds of the season.^[13] He opened with minor points at Brands Hatch, but crashed twice at Donington Park.

British Superbike Championship 2009–2013

For 2009 he was optimistic of a top British Superbike Championship ride, as all the established good riders are gone.^[14] He ultimately joined the Henderson Yamaha team, but struggled for much of the year. He was competitive in race 1 at Mallory Park until chaos and controversy struck. He was running second when Josh Brookes lost control of his bike and catapulted race leader Simon Andrews, dropping oil from Brookes' Honda. Walker was one of five other riders who either crashed or downed their bikes to avoid crashing. The red flag was shown, but these seven riders were excluded from the results, due to an unexpected application of the rules. Brookes received a two-race ban for his mistake.^[15]

For 2010 Walker was released by the Motorpoint Henderson Yamaha. It looked like he would not be racing in 2010, but he arranged a deal wirh on a privately run Suzuki tuned by former BSB rider Ray Stringer just a week before the opening round.^[16] After 2 races Walker was offered a ride in the MSS Kawasaki team when Simon Andrews was injured in a crash while guesting in World Superbikes. He returned to the Suzuki once Andrews was fit again, but raced for SMT Honda at Snetterton, scoring the team's best 2010 results of two sevenths and an eleventh in the process^[17]

During 2011 and 2012 Walker rode for Pr1mo Bournemouth Kawasaki,^[18] and for 2013 he rode with Quattro Plant Kawasaki.^[19]

British Superbike Championship 2014 and 2015

After a season with Lloyds British GBmoto on a Kawasaki ZX-10R, for 2015 Walker changed to Be Wiser Kawasaki Team, again riding a ZX-10R, for a team owned by Alan Greig, having Be Wiser Insurance as main sponsor and part-sponsored by Dickies industrial clothing.

As the oldest rider competing in British Superbikes, Walker's extensive experience with superbike machines and Kawasaki makes him ideal as lead-rider to develop the new squad, partnered by Danny Buchan, fresh from his 2014 success as Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Champion.^[2]

Former BSB rider and 2012 Champion Tommy Hill was team-manager, making his return to racing after three years' absence developing his graphic design business.^[1] Hill left in August, 2015, and the team folded in September, leaving Walker without a ride for the final two race meetings of the season.^[3][4]

British Sidecar Championship 2016

Walker is currently competing in the 2016 British Sidecar Championship with 2012 World Sidecar Champion passenger Ashley Hawes in the chair. With over 6 podium finishes already this year and a 100% race finish record, Chris and Ashley lie a comfortable 4th in the championship with only 4 races remaining.

Personal life

Chris' father John was the proprietor of John Walker Superbikes, a retail motorcycle dealership in Langley Mill, Nottingham, which also owned Fox's Kawasaki in Mapperley, Nottingham, and Wraggs Motorcycles in Mansfield.^[20]

Chris Walker lives in Ollerton, Nottinghamshire,^[21][6] and operates a Moto Cross course at Gonerby Moor, Lincolnshire.^[22]

Career statistics

Stats correct as of 9 July 2012

By championship

British Superbike Championship

Year	Bike	1		2		3			4		5		6			7			8			9			10		11		12			13		Pos	Pts	Ref
		R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2
2007	Suzuki	BHGP 5	BHGP 8	THR 9	THR Ret	SIL 3	SIL 4		OUL Ret	OUL 9	SNE 9	SNE 9	MOP 9	MOP Ret		KNO 5	KNO 6		OUL 3	OUL 8		MAL 4	MAL 6		CRO 8	CRO 10	CAD 8	CAD 6	DON 6	DON 4		BHI 7	BHI 6	7th	225
2009	Yamaha	BHI 14	BHI 8	OUL 11	OUL 9	DON 5	DON 3		THR Ret	THR Ret	SNE 6	SNE 17	KNO 7	KNO 5		MAL Ret	MAL 12		BHGP 9	BHGP Ret	BHGP 12	CAD 11	CAD 6		CRO Ret	CRO 11	SIL Ret	SIL 11	OUL 9	OUL 14	OUL 7			9th	141	[23]
2010	Suzuki	BHI 9	BHI Ret	THR Ret	THR 15						MAL 6	MAL 5	KNO 10	KNO C																				10th	130	[24]
	Kawasaki					OUL 8	OUL 11		CAD 7	CAD 8																										[25]
	Honda															SNE 11	SNE 7	SNE 7	BHGP 22	BHGP Ret	BHGP 13	CAD 11	CAD 15		CRO 9	CRO 12	SIL 9	SIL 8	OUL 16	OUL Ret	OUL 9					[26]
2011	Kawasaki	BHI 10	BHI 11	OUL 16	OUL 11	CRO Ret	CRO 13		THR 8	THR 8	KNO 14	KNO 7	SNE 8	SNE 8		OUL 14	OUL C		BHGP 5	BHGP 15	BHGP 15	CAD 10	CAD Ret	CAD DNS	DON Ret	DON 9	SIL 17	SIL Ret	BHGP 12	BHGP 5	BHGP Ret			12th	105	[27]
2012	Kawasaki	BHI 12	BHI C	THR NC	THR 15	OUL 7	OUL 1	OUL 9	SNE 7	SNE 7	KNO Ret	KNO Ret	OUL 7	OUL 12	OUL 11	BHGP 6	BHGP DNF		CAD 13	CAD 11		DON 8	DON 10		ASS 15	ASS 14	SIL 10	SIL 8	BHGP DNF	BHGP DNF	BHGP 9			9th	138	[28]

Superbike World Championship

Year	Make	1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		12		13		14		Pos	Pts	Ref
		R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
2002	Kawasaki	ESP 10	ESP 7	AUS 9	AUS 9	RSA 8	RSA 9	JPN 11	JPN 13	ITA Ret	ITA 10	GBR 14	GBR 4	GER DNS	GER 9	SMR 7	SMR 8	USA 11	USA 10	GBR 6	GBR 8	GER 9	GER 15	NED Ret	NED 7	ITA 11	ITA 12			9th	152	[29]
2003	Ducati	ESP 3	ESP 4	AUS 7	AUS 6	JPN Ret	JPN Ret	ITA 6	ITA 6	GER 5	GER 3	GBR 9	GBR 8	SMR 5	SMR 8	USA 5	USA 3	GBR 3	GBR Ret	NED 5	NED 8	ITA Ret	ITA 5	FRA 3	FRA 3					6th	234	[30]
2004	Petronas	ESP 3	ESP 7	AUS 10	AUS 8	SMR 6	SMR 13	ITA 8	ITA 7	GER Ret	GER 7	GBR Ret	GBR 12	USA Ret	USA Ret	GBR 9	GBR 4	NED 12	NED 10	ITA Ret	ITA 16	FRA 8	FRA 8							11th	128	[31]
2005	Kawasaki	QAT 14	QAT Ret	AUS 9	AUS Ret	ESP 4	ESP 3	ITA 8	ITA 8	EUR 6	EUR 6	SMR 8	SMR 11	CZE 4	CZE 10	GBR 5	GBR 4	NED Ret	NED DNS	GER Inj	GER Inj	ITA 6	ITA C	FRA 7	FRA 5					7th	160	[32]
2006		QAT Ret	QAT 16	AUS 10	AUS 10	ESP 23	ESP 7	ITA 11	ITA 9	EUR 6	EUR 8	SMR Ret	SMR 4	CZE 7	CZE 10	GBR 7	GBR 8	NED 1	NED 14	GER 11	GER 10	ITA 12	ITA 14	FRA 6	FRA 8					9th	158	[33]
2008	Honda	QAT	QAT	AUS	AUS	EUR	EUR	ESP	ESP	NED	NED	ITA	ITA	GBR	GBR	SMR	SMR	CZE	CZE	GBR 15	GBR 15	GER Ret	GER Ret	ITA 18	ITA 15	FRA 15	FRA 15	POR 17	POR 19	31st	5	[34]

Supersport World Championship

Year	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Pos	Pts	Ref
2008	Honda	QAT 9	AUS 14	SPA 9	NED 12	ITA Ret	GER 9	SMR 12	CZE 11	GBR	EUR	ITA	FRA	POR	16th	36	[35]

References

1. Motorcycle News, October 2014 Tommy Hill returns to BSB as team boss with Be Wiser Kawasaki Retrieved 14 November 2014
2. Horton, Paul. "Wiser move for Walker" Chad, local newspaper, 13 November 2014 p.111 Accessed 14 November 2014
3. Hill leaves Be Wiser Kawasaki after ‘differing ideas’ Bike Sport News, 25 August 2015, Retrieved 10 October 2015
4. Be Wiser Kawasaki withdraw from BSB Motor Cycle News, 28 August 2015, Retrieved 10 October 2015
5. Stalker switches to sidecars for 2016! Motorcycle News, 13 January 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016
6. Chris Walker moves from superbikes to sidecars Newark Advertiser, 21 January 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016
7. 'Why I'm moving to sidecars' Bennetts, 4 February 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016
8. BBC Sport, July 2002 Walker primed for GSE Retrieved 14 November 2014
9. Famous sufferers of Bells Palsy
10. http://www.robmacracing.com/team/rider.asp?rider=Chris%20Walker&champ=superbike[]
11. Soup :: Hodgson To Test Suzuki Superbike :: 06-18-2007
12. http://www.kawasaki-racingteam.eu/road-race/gil/ GIL Kawasaki team
13. Good progress for Chris Walker on debut World Superbike test - | Motorcycle Sport | WSB | BSB | MotoGP | TT & Road races | MCN
14. Haslam to WSBK with Stiggy Honda? | WSBK News | Sep 2008 | Crash.Net
15. 'Reckless' Brookes banned for two BSB rounds - News | Motorcycle Sport | BSB Results | MCN
16. Error Archived 29 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
17. SMT boss ‘over the moon’ with Walker debut
18. Walker and Hillier sign for Pr1mo Bournemouth Kawasaki Racing Mirror, November 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2014
19. Dickies Workwear Retrieved 20 November 2014
20. John Walker Superbikes Limited (dissolved) Open Corporates Retrieved 20 November 2014
21. Ollerton race ace Chris Walker qualifies for MCE British Superbike Championship Showdown Chad, local newspaper, September 2014, Retrieved 20 November 2014
22. Stalker MX Retrieved 20 November 2014
23. 2011 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli Archived 9 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
24. Stalker inks 11th-hour deal with private Suzuki | BSB News | Mar 2010 | Crash.Net
25. Walker to ride MSS Kawasaki at Oulton - News | Motorcycle Sport | BSB Results | MCN
26. Racers-Republic | Walker replaces Iddon at SMT Honda
27. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2015-01-20.
28. "Round 7 - Standings" (PDF). MotorSportVision Racing. 8 July 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
29. bebo.com - Profile from Chris Stalker Walker <chrisstalkerwalker>
30. 2003 Standings Riders - FIM Superbike World Championship - worldsbk.com
31. Motorcycle Racing Online - World Superbike championship review 2004
32. Motorcycle Racing Online - 2005 World Superbike statistical summary
33. World Superbike Championship, 2006 - MotorSM.com Archived 1 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
34. Walker signs for Vent Axia Honda - visordown.com
35. World Supersport: New Kawasaki signing Chris Walker speaks to MCN - | Motorcycle Sport | WSB | BSB | MotoGP | TT & Road races | MCN

External links

• Personal Website
• Column by Chris Walker from 2002
• Chris Walker full profile