Archives: Looking Back on 2019
It’s that time of the year again – Cycle News Issue 50, a time to celebrate the champions of the past season and take a look back at the biggest motorcycle-racing stories of the year. As always in racing this was a year of exciting wins, new and sometimes unexpected champions and tough losses.
Archives: Looking Back on 2019
This also wraps up the decade of the 2010s. It was a decade where motorcycle racing (and motorsports in general) struggled to regain its footing after the devastating effects of the Great Recession. The sport overall is certainly smaller that it was in those salad days and the future is still troubling in some respects, with the Baby Boomers, who loved racing, getting old and giving way to Millennials, who largely ignore motorsports.
Yet in spite of the challenges motorcycle racing still enjoys strong support and garners enthusiasm among its solid core of fans.
It was also a year of loss. Motorcycling lost legends such as former AMA Grand National Champion Gene Romero, the first three-time winner of the Daytona 200 Dick Klamfoth, race announcer and journalist Chris Carter, race builder Ron Wood, designer Arlen Ness, airflow specialist Jerry Branch, former motocross standouts Ron Sun and Bill Grossi, 1980s Battle of the Twins road racer David McClure, trials legend Marland Whaley, GP and Isle of Man winner Mitsuo Ito, leading Pikes Peak contender Carlin Dunne, ISDE competitor Ron LaMastus, AMA Congress and Board member Jim Viverito, Hall of Fame off-road advocates Clark Collins and Ed Waldheim, former MX race team manager Terry Knott and historic racing promoter Bill Brown.
We also lost the print version of Motorcyclist magazine. It was the oldest continuously published motorcycle magazine in this country. Fortunately, Motorcyclist will continue as a website.
Cole Seely, James Stewart, Marco Melandri and Jorge Lorenzo all announced retired from racing this year. But don’t count them out permanently. As racers tend to come out of retirement as Roger Hayden and Jeff Ward did in 2019.
It’s always a risky proposition to try to predict what stories we’ll remember in the future, but certainly a few of the highlights from 2019 will be remembered by generations of racing fans. Now as we look forward to a new year and the 2020s, here’s our list of the top-ten stories from 2019.
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10. Many expected the 2019 American Flat Track battle to come down between defending champ Jared Mees and Bryan Smith. Instead it was another Indian factory rider, Briar Bauman, who came through to win his first AFT Twins No. 1 plate over teammate Mees. It was again a dominant year for Indian Motorcycles. In addition to winning the AFT Twins Championship for the third consecutive time, Indian riders won 16 of the 18 nationals in 2019.
9. 25 years into the future fans will look into the record books and simply see that Dylan Ferrandis won the 250cc Western Regional Supercross Championship. What those who witnessed the season finale in Las Vegas will remember is that with just two minutes left to go in the race, points leader Adam Cianciarulo handed him the championship when he crashed hard and damaged his Kawasaki. It was a dramatic conclusion to the championship no doubt. The good thing for Cianciarulo is, the way he’s been riding since, fans will likely soon forget all about his Las Vegas collapse.
8. Carlin Dunne’s fatal accident at this year’s Pikes Peak International Hillclimb was not only a tragedy for his family, friends and the racing community in general, his passing may have ultimately triggered the end motorcycle competition on the mountain. Dunne was a four-time winner and the first Pikes Peak motorcycle racer to break the 10-minute barrier. He was on track to win this year’s race when he crashed near the finish. It now appears that Cycle News Road Test Editor Rennie Scaysbrook’s 9:44.963 record set this year will stand forever.
7. It was a sad day in May when we learned of the passing of Gene Romero, one of the great legends of American racing. The 1970 AMA Grand National Champion and winner of the 1975 Daytona 200, Romero won 12 AMA nationals during his 16-year racing career. He was one of the first to bring sponsorship into the sport from outside the motorcycling industry. In 1970, Romero won the prestigious AMA Most Popular Rider of the Year Award.
6. The feel-good story of 2019 undoubtedly was three-time 500cc Motorcycle Grand Prix World Champion Wayne Rainey riding a motorcycle again for the first time since a crash at the 1993 Italian Grand Prix paralyzed him. Already an all-time hero to most American racing fans, Rainey continues to be one of the most important figures in our sport with his leadership of MotoAmerica. Seeing him have fun on a motorcycle again brought a much-needed smile to all of us.
5. After a terrible 2019 with Honda, MotoGP pundits and fans wondered fairly early in the year if Jorge Lorenzo would keep his factory seat for 2020, but things continued so badly, that it wasn’t a complete surprise when Lorenzo instead, announced his retirement at the end of the season. Shock or not, when a series loses a five-time World Champion and one of the all-time elites, it was one of the most significant stories MotoGP witnessed in recent years.
4. This was the year Harley-Davidson released their first electric motorcycle. Dubbed the LiveWire, the machine is viewed simultaneously as the wave of the future and a potential downfall for Harley. It’s safe to say no motorcycle has generated such strong views in the history of The Motor Company. While not a racing-related story, the LiveWire (along with the 2019 launch of MotoE) may indeed point to the inevitable future of the sport.
3. We already knew Marc Marquez was a generational talent, but the factory Honda rider’s 2019 MotoGP season was simply superlative. Coming back from shoulder surgery Marquez scored 12 wins, earned 18 podium finishes and 10 poles! He ended the year with 420 points. Second place Andrea Dovizioso had 269. Marquez clinched the World Championship with four rounds remaining! He continues to amaze, not even mentioning his nearly weekly spectacular saves. If you haven’t already, go and watch him race next season, just so you can tell your grandkids someday.
2. By the time Cooper Webb won the 2019 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship it didn’t seem all that surprising. The Red Bull KTM rider did after all, win a series leading seven rounds – but going into 2019 most experts and fans viewed him as a longshot. Think about it – Webb hadn’t even won a premier Supercross main event coming into last season. Webb became the 22nd rider to win the AMA Supercross title in the 46-year history of the series.
1. It was 91 years into the history of the International Six Days Enduro before the USA won its first – fortunately we didn’t have to wait that long to win again. This year in Portugal, Team USA won its second World Trophy just three years after winning its first. Riders for the team were Stu Baylor, Taylor Robert, Kailub Russell and Ryan Sipes (who amazingly also won an AFT Singles National, scored a Supercross top 10 and won a big Hillclimb event). Russell and Robert were also members of the winning squad from 2016. As a bonus, Tarah Gieger, Brandy Richards, Rebecca Sheets also won the Women’s Trophy for America. While America’s dominance of motocross may be waning, our off-road racers appear to be on the ascendancy.
