The Riders Who Had To Wait the Most for Their Maiden Win

Jack Findlay (in his 82nd race)- Now we go back a little bit from our time. Born in 1935, Jack Findlay was an Australian professional Grand Prix road racer. He is one of four riders to compete in Grand Prix motorcycle racing for more than 20 years, with the others three being Angel Nieto, Loris Capirossi, and Valentino Rossi.

He began racing at 15, two years under the legal age. His actual name was Cyril John Findlay, but he used the name Jack to participate in competitions. Why Jack, you may ask? Well, his dad's name was John 'Jock' Findlay, and to be able to use his father's identification documents, Cyril had to use that name.

To evolve in racing, Jack moved to England in 1958, joining the Grand Prix world with a 350cc Norton Manx. In his 20 plus career, Findlay won only two races. He had to wait no more than 13 years, finally feeling the victory taste at the 1971 Ulster Grand Prix. Besides, he ended the remarkable Giacomo Agostini's winning streak. Even though it's not a record to be necessarily proud of, we have to appreciate the determination of these riders for believing in themselves and proving doubters wrong.

Cal Crutchlow ( in his 98th race)- Born in England, Cal was named after the American motorcycle racer Cal Rayborn. Even though he was not interested in races at an early age, he started to compete at the age of 14. By 2006, Crutchlow won the British Supersport Championship after finishing third for consecutive years.

Before MotoGP, Cal started to race in the Supersport World Championship, winning the 2009 title. After another year, he was offered a place in the premier class by the Tech 3 team, finishing 12th in the standings and taking the Rookie of the Year Award.

He had good results and big potential, but he never could keep himself calm and collected to win it all. Finally, at a very wet 2016 Czech Republic Grand Prix, Crutchlow showed his class, winning by eight seconds from Valentino Rossi. In addition, he ended a 35-year dry spell as the last win by a British rider in the top flight was Barry Sheene at the 1981 Swedish Grand Prix. By the time he retired, Cal was able to win another two races, one in 2016 and one in the following year.

Danilo Petrucci (in his 124th race)- Petrucci is an Italian former motorcycle rider who raced for teams such as Ducati or KTM. He was born in Terni and began participating in competitions at the age of eight.

After winning national trophies, he entered the CBR600Cup, where he won the best rookie trophy. Being very successful in European motorcycle competitions, he made his debut in the premier class in 2012 with the Ioda team. Danilo extracted everything he could from a very inferior bike for the next three years, obtaining decent results for Ioda. As a result, he moved up to Prema Racing by the end of 2014.

With Prema, he got his first-ever podium, so the future looked perfect for the Italian. Still, he had to wait until 2019 to win his first race while being part of the Ducati Factory Team. At the 2019 Italian Grand Prix, he had a crazy battle with Marc Marquez, taking the win by only 0,043 seconds. By the end of his career, he finished in P1 only one more time.