Well, most of you know I love Nicky Hayden! Why? Because he rides a silver/red F4 and an RC51 and he is fun to watch. It blows my mind that such a young kid rides so well. I really enjoy watching him ride.
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Stacia
Co-Admin
'00 CBR F4 (the faster, silver/red model)
"Objects in mirror no longer matter!"
Joey Dunlop quiet, modest, big heart ( he used to load up his truck with food and goods and give them away to the needy) and he was one hell of a racer. R.I.P
I gotta say Duhamel is one of my all time favourites. He's a fellow countryman and a few of my older buddies grew up racing against him as kids. The dudes got true grit.
I dunno if Gary McCoy will win a world championship anytime soon, with the likes of Rossi and Roberts around, but nobody rides a 500 in this era of racing like he does.
Frakie Chili's an awesome rider and a great personality. Another SBK favourite would have to be Neil Hodgson.
In the area of legends it's a toss up for me between Mike Hailwood and Joey Dunlop. Both great, down to earth guys and legendary riders. R.I.P.
I hear alot of older buddies talk about Bubba Shobert saying Lawson, Schawntz, Rainey, and whoever else, had nothin' on him.
Valentino Rossi, cuz he is the shit. He, what, set the track record 6 times at Catalunya?? Check out the "Hot Shot" in recent edition of Sport Rider, great photo!! Also, he may have crashed on it, and he hasnt used it since, but the Hawaiin white and blue paint job he sported at Mugello(?).
Carl Fogerty and John Kocinski:
Never before have I ever seen men think they are so great...sure they both won championships...but these turds have nothing on GREATS like Lawson, Rainey, Spencer, and Hailwood. The latter rode everything and anything on their way to numerous titles.
For that fact alone...TRUE Hall of Famers.
Remember these quiet, efficient racers next year:
Shinya Nakano & Shinichi Itoh.
After making my first few superbike races at Mid-Ohio,I've got to nominate Anthony Gobert.At first I was intrigued by his bad-boy image,but after seeing him outride everyone this year in the 600 finals,even though injured,this guy is really gifted.Am glad to see he'll be back for Yamaha this year.
Ride safe!
Valentino is the best, he ALWAYS wins, and he flipped off Biagi in a turn ( he deserved it) To top it all off he is a cutie!! :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: cant get enough of him
Tough call. Can’t really comment on some of the earlier riders (Roberts Sr/Hailwood/Agostini), since it was hard to follow their careers from the U.S.
I’d have to say (in no particular order):
1.Wayne Rainey: 3 championships (in a row), obvious talent/bike control, rarely crashing, especially considering how hard he rode.
2.Eddie Lawson: 4 championships, smooth, and a thinking man’s racer.
3.Wayne Gardner: Bike problems? Just ride the damn thing!
4.Kevin Schwantz: To GP level quickly, probably over-riding an inferior GP bike, and left Wayne Rainey speechless with his braking pass at the end of a long straight in the German GP one year (leaving Wayne Rainey speechless automatically nominates you for the list)! Also hopped on Suzuki’s 250 GP bike once and made the regular 250 ‘Zook pilots look pitiful (many racers can’t shine on both 500 & 250cc bikes-and at the same time?).
5.Freddie Spencer: 500 & 250 champ the same year! ‘Nuff said…
Mick Doohan? Can’t decide. Poor old Mick was obviously a good/great rider, but unfortunately he often didn’t have anyone to push him (as Schwantz/Rainey). Unfortunately Mick seemed to come into his own at about the time GP racing was going through a dry spell.
Many folks I wouldn’t call the greatest are undoubtedly good/great in their respective class/field, but with the exception of Wayne Gardner (simply because until GP I hadn’t seen him), all of the above seemed to be able to ride anything they threw a leg over to its limits. Maybe it’s no mistake the above 5 eventually worked their way up to 500cc GP, and all won championships!
RCJohn and Tristan. Both are members of SportBikeWorld and both are destined to be legends. Although in John's case, it won't neccessarily be for winning any races!
Doohan was definitely up for it. Back in 1988 they held a round of the World Superbike championship in Sydney, and Doohan on his Yamaha Oz FZR750 not only did the double, but almost lapped the entire field.......this was against guys like Roche, Merkel, Luchinelli etc. Earlier that year he went to Sugo for a round and won a heat as well.
Don't forget in GP's the year he smashed his leg was gift Championship for Rainey. He was a dead cert' to win it before the accident.
But my all time favourite is fast Freddie Spencer. A tad fragile but a true genious and an inspriration to bespectecled nerds everywhere
I am starting to really like bostrom. I also like troy bayliss.
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