'I wish I'd have kept my mouth shut' - Carl 'Foggy' Fogarty

The Blackburn hero, fondly known as Foggy, regularly traded insults with the American as the sport exploded in popularity during the mid-1990s. The pair’s feud captivated a global TV audience with Fogarty even naming one of his pet Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs after the man who pipped him to the 93 title.

They were still at it on and off the track 12 months later when the British icon exacted his revenge at a final-round decider to lift the first of his four WSBK crowns. And Fogarty admits he hadn’t always helped his own cause by stoking the war of wards through the press.

“We couldn’t be friends at all,” said Foggy in a special video interview marking the 30th anniversary of lifting his maiden title.

“We had this verbal kind of banter sort of thing through the press. I just saw him as a loudmouth American who was my main rival basically. I wanted to beat him and would say all sorts in the press to try and get in his head and he’d do the same. He was a bit like me in some ways, he wasn’t afraid to say what was on his mind. It was pretty tense between us both I guess.

“I look back now and I just wish I’d have kept my mouth shut and got on with racing the bike and not put myself under that much pressure. It was more pressure saying ‘I’m going to win this weekend, I’m going to beat them’ because then I’d have to go out and do it - which more times than not I would do

“I’m thinking now why didn’t I let my actions do the talking really? I kind of wish I’d maybe never said the stuff that I said, but I don’t regret it really because it was obviously how I had to be to be the best. I was just an angry person and I wanted to have a diss at everybody, not just my rivals but pretty much the whole grid. I didn’t have many friends back then to be honest but I’m not surprised I guess the way I was. I think they’ve kind of forgiven me a little bit now.”

A win and second place at Phillip Island, Australia, on October 30 clinched the iconic success that sparked a patriotic surge in ‘Foggymania’.

Union Jack flags and bumper crowds adorned circuits around the world as Fogarty retained his title in 1995 while Russell’s career never reached the same heights. The Ducati legend went on to capture the sport’s biggest prize again in 98 and 99 but mellowed after retiring, capturing the nation’s heart when he was crowned King of the Jungle.

“I became a real team player and I learned a lot about myself,” he added during the interview with Bikesure, the motorcycle insurance broker he has been brand ambassador for since 2012, at his home in Lancashire.

“I think they wanted the guy that was racing, that was angry, determined and focused and wouldn’t like other people and would kick off and stuff. But I was never really like that away from the racing, I was just an ordinary guy from Blackburn.”

The 15-minute interview covers much more about the 1994 season and also looked back on another famous milestone - 10 years since Foggy won reality TV show I’m a Celebrity. You can watch the video here.