He began his racing career in 1977 at the age of 18, riding a second-hand Yamaha TZ250 bike in the Australian championship and finishing second on debut at Amaroo Park.

[4] Gardner and co-rider John Pace qualified their Moriwaki Kawasaki on pole position at the prestigious 1981 Suzuka 8 Hours, ahead of all the major factory racing teams.

[6] On the way to Europe, Gardner rode the Moriwaki Kawasaki to an impressive fourth-place finish at the 1981 Daytona Superbike race behind Yoshimura Suzuki riders Crosby, Wes Cooley and Honda's Freddie Spencer.

[9] Gardner made his 500 cc Grand Prix debut with the Honda Britain team at the 1983 Dutch TT during which he was involved in an accident with reigning world champion, Franco Uncini.

[2] He still managed wins in the Netherlands, Belgium, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, and would have won at the Paul Ricard Circuit in France had he not suffered mechanical problems only a third of a lap from the finish while holding a 2-second lead.

Gardner's 1987 World Championship saw a sharp rise in the popularity of Grand Prix Motorcycle racing in Australia, with increased television and print media coverage.

He did finish the season on a high note though, winning his second straight Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island from teammate Mick Doohan and World Champion elect Wayne Rainey.

[11][12][13][14] Gardner retired from motorcycle racing following the 1992 season but stayed closely involved with the sport, helping various riders like Daryl Beattie early in their careers.

After only arriving in Adelaide on the opening day of practice having spent the previous week in Japan testing his 1991 NRS500 Grand Prix bike, Gardner had qualified in a credible 11th place for his first competitive drive in an Open-wheel car.

However, a crash into the wall just past the chicane at the end of the pit straight when he spun on coolant that had been dropped by the Ralt RT20 of Drew Price, heavily damaged the front of the car.

[15] He began his touring car career in 1992, driving the Raider Motorsport built Bob Forbes Racing Holden VN Commodore SS Group A, leased by Graham Moore for the 1992 Tooheys 1000 at Bathurst.

In November 1993, Gardner won one of the Group A support races at the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide, after earlier in the year finishing third Tooheys 1000 co-driving with Brad Jones.

Following the withdrawal of their major sponsor Coca-Cola who chose instead to invest in the upcoming Sydney Olympics in 2000, thus losing a rumoured $2 million a year in sponsorship which made it basically impossible for the team to function financially, the team folded after a partial 1999 season with a leased car from Perkins Engineering, but he continued racing V8 Supercars until 2002, with the highlight of taking pole position for the FAI 1000 at Bathurst in 2000, in appalling conditions.

[19] Points system from 1969 to 1987: Points system from 1988 to 1992: (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) In part sourced from[23] (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) 1949  L. Graham 1950  U. Masetti 1951  G. Duke 1952  U. Masetti 1953  G. Duke 1954  G. Duke 1955  G. Duke 1956  J. Surtees 1957  L. Liberati 1958  J. Surtees 1959  J. Surtees 1960  J. Surtees 1961  G. Hocking 1962  M. Hailwood 1963  M. Hailwood 1964  M. Hailwood 1965  M. Hailwood 1966  G. Agostini 1967  G. Agostini 1968  G. Agostini 1969  G. Agostini 1970  G. Agostini 1971  G. Agostini 1972  G. Agostini 1973  P. Read 1974  P. Read 1975  G. Agostini 1976  B. Sheene 1977  B. Sheene 1978  K. Roberts 1979  K. Roberts 1980  K. Roberts 1981  M. Lucchinelli 1982  F. Uncini 1983  F. Spencer 1984  E. Lawson 1985  F. Spencer 1986  E. Lawson 1987  W. Gardner 1988  E. Lawson 1989  E. Lawson 1990  W. Rainey 1991  W. Rainey 1992  W. Rainey 1993  K. Schwantz 1994  M. Doohan 1995  M. Doohan 1996  M. Doohan 1997  M. Doohan 1998  M. Doohan 1999  À. Crivillé 2000  K. Roberts Jr. 2001  V. Rossi 2002  V. Rossi 2003  V. Rossi 2004  V. Rossi 2005  V. Rossi 2006  N. Hayden 2007  C. Stoner 2008  V. Rossi 2009  V. Rossi 2010  J. Lorenzo 2011  C. Stoner 2012  J. Lorenzo 2013  M. Márquez 2014  M. Márquez 2015  J. Lorenzo 2016  M. Márquez 2017  M. Márquez 2018  M. Márquez 2019  M. Márquez 2020  J. Mir 2021  F. Quartararo 2022  F. Bagnaia 2023  F. Bagnaia 2024  J. Martín Freddie Spencer, Takazumi Katayama, Randy Mamola, Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan, Daryl Beattie, Àlex Crivillé, Tadayuki Okada Valentino Rossi, Tohru Ukawa, Nicky Hayden, Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso, Casey Stoner, Marc Márquez