Larry Lawrence | December 21, 2016
The 2016 racing season is coming to a close and we pause for a moment to look back at the year in racing. What stories from 2016 will we remember in years to come? Certainly a few of the headlines this year stand out, some for good such as major first-time wins, exciting new champions and racing motorcycles, but as always, some memories from 2016 will be sad ones. As in life, emotions from the unexpected turns in the road often lead to every conceivable direction in motorcycle racing as well.
With that in mind we will take a look back at what at least one longtime racing journalist sees as the most important and lasting stories of 2016.
10. Bryan Smith and Kawasaki Crowned 2016 AMA Pro Grand National Champion
He’d come close a couple of times, but Bryan Smith finally broke through in 2016 to earn his first AMA Pro Grand National Championship. It also marked the first AMA Pro Flat Track title for Kawasaki. It was the first time a rider racing something other than a Harley-Davidson won the prestigious No. 1 plate on the big dirt tracks of America since Bubba Shobert in 1987 with Honda.
9. Ryan Dungey Defends His Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship
Ryan Dungey had won the Monster Energy Supercross Championship twice before, but interestingly 2016 marked the first time the Red Bull KTM rider defended a national title in his professional career. Dungey was dominant winning nine Supercross mains this season. Along the way, he made the cover of a Wheaties box and won an ESPY award for Best Male Action Sports Athlete making for a dream Supercross season. An injury during the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship at Thunder Valley ended what otherwise might have been a perfect year.
8. Toni Elias Subs for Yoshimura Suzuki and becomes instant Superbike Contender
When Jake Lewis was injured before the MotoAmerica Superbike season it left Yoshimura Suzuki scrambling to find a fill-in rider. Former Moto2 Champion and MotoGP winner Toni Elias happened to be looking for a ride and the match was made. Many thought Elias would do reasonably well, but no dreamed that the Spaniard would come out of the box sweeping both wins in the MotoAmerica season opener at the Circuit of the Americas. Elias was promoted from substitute to full-fledge team rider and was a title contender all season. He scored six wins in his first season in America and finished ranked third in the final standings, only seven points back to champion Cameron Beaubier. The addition of Elias also brought a lot of much-needed international attention to MotoAmerica.
7. Harley-Davidson Introduces the XG750R as potential replacement for the XR750
It’s mindboggling to think about, but the Harley-Davidson XR750 has been the state-of-the-art weapon on the flat tracks of America since 1970. Now a full 46 years later, Milwaukee finally responded to the rising power of the Kawasaki EX650 and the Indian Scout FTR on the horizon with a next generation flat track racing motorcycle, the XG750R. Launched towards the end of the season, the new XGR didn’t set the world on fire this season, it had some respectable finishes ridden by GNC1 rookie Davis Fisher. So far, we haven’t heard who will race the factory Harley flat trackers in 2017, or which bike they’ll run, but the intro of the XGR will be talked about, if Harley’s race team stays to form, until about the year 2062.
6. Nicky Hayden Moves to World Superbike
We had an American in the Superbike World championship again this season and it was former MotoGP Champ Nicky Hayden. The move to Honda’s World Superbike squad wasn’t a total surprise, but it did provide a boost to the series and Hayden earned a victory in Malaysia on the aging Honda CBR1000RR SP. A new generation Honda is on the way and American fans continue to hope Hayden can become the first rider in history to win both the MotoGP and Superbike World Championships.
5. Marc Marquez Wins Back the MotoGP Championship
It’s easy to forget now, but at the beginning of 2016 pundits were calling for a Yamaha battle for the 2016 MotoGP championship between Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi. Some were even saying one of the Ducati factory riders might challenge for the title. Honda was supposed to be at a low point and Marquez was almost a forgotten man. After wins in Argentina and Austin, suddenly everyone seemed to remember the extreme talent of Marquez. He went on to win a series-leading five races en route to his third MotoGP title in four years. Any bets against him for 2017?
4. Jason Anderson Wins at MX des Nations and Then Gets Landed On
Jason Anderson spent much of the summer out injured, but the Husqvarna rider came back just in time to get ready for the Motocross des Nations in Maggiora, Italy. Anderson had just scored a stunning victory in his MX des Nations debut and had barely crossed the finish line when another rider landed on top of him. It knocked Anderson out of the event and while Team USA teammates Cooper Webb and Alex Martin turned in solid results, Anderson’s misfortune cost the team any shot they had at winning the international competition. And how can we forget the heartbreak on Cooper Webb’s face afterward, following his minor tip-over on the last lap- had that not happen – would’ve made up for Anderson’s misfortune.
3. Indian Motorcycle Comes Back to Racing
When the original Indian Motorcycle went under in the mid-1950s, it looked like the Wigwam had won its final AMA National. But with Polaris’ resurrection of the Indian brand and it’s 2016 re-entry into the AMA Pro Flat Track Championship, Indian’s racing squad was back in the headlines for the first time in 60 years. Veteran Joe Kopp put an Indian FTR750 into the lead of a Grand National for the first time in probably well over 50 years, but the big bombshell came late in the season when it was announced the 2017 Indian Wrecking Crew would consist of Jared Mees, Bryan Smith and Brad Baker. The team instantly had the three most talented racers in the championship and in one fell swoop put Harley-Davidson on its heels.
2. Charlotte Kainz and Kyle McGrane Die at Santa Rosa Grand National
It will go down in history as one of the darkest days in AMA Pro Flat Track history. Up-and-coming GNC2 riders Charlotte Kainz and Kyle McGrane died as results of injuries suffered in separate incidents at Santa Rosa, Kainz in a heat race and McGrane in the final. Kainz, 20, from West Allis, Wis. earned her professional license in Pro Flat Track in the GNC2 class during the 2015 season. The beloved rider won her first GNC2 Semi this year at the Black Hills Half-Mile and brought smiles to the faces of everyone she met in the paddock. McGrane, 17, joined the Pro Flat Track ranks in the GNC2 class last year and showed promise both on and off the track. McGrane was born in Gap, Penn. but had a growing fanbase nationwide with Main event appearances and a Heat race win at the 2016 Law Tigers Arizona Mile.
1. Team USA Wins ISDE
It was one of the things American off-roading community has been trying to accomplish since the early 1970s. And while it took longer than any ever thought, the US Trophy team of Taylor Robert, Kailub Russell, Thad DuVall and Layne Michael, accomplished something that no team of American motorcyclists had done before: They won the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme’s International Six Days Enduro. In addition, Taylor Robert won the individual overall at the event, only the second time in history an American has accomplished that goal. The achievement of the 2016 US Trophy team will surely be remembered for as long as that prestigious competition runs. The team collectively was named the AMA’s 2016 AMA Motorcyclists of the Year, an award well deserved.