A new category, one that Honda is very proud to have a unique involvement in, is the 2010 Moto2 World Championship. Moto2 replaces the long-running 250 world championship with updated engines and prototype chassis. This highly anticipated debut season will see Honda as the sole engine supplier for the Moto2 class.
Each Moto2 machine will use a powerplant derived from Honda's supersport-spec CBR600RR, a machine that has shown itself to be one of the most powerful and popular inline 600s in history. This is the first time in Grand Prix world championship racing that a single manufacturer will supply engines for an entire class; this new category is expected to develop into a stepping stone for the MotoGP and other premier classes.
Moto2 will make only one appearance in the U.S. in 2010--at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on August 29.
Roger Lee Hayden
Roger Lee Hayden is one of three motorcycle racing brothers, and all three have risen to the top of the sport. Its no wonder the Hayden family name has captured the hearts and imaginations of motorcycle racing fans across the United States and around the world. Roger, Nicky and Tommy Hayden are racing royalty, the first family of American road racing.
The youngest of the three brothers, Roger Lee followed oldest brother Tommy and middle brother Nicky from the amateur ranks to the professional racing scene, and dominated championships just as his brothers had done. After winning AMA Supersport and Superbike championships in the USA, brother Nicky entered the world stage, and won the coveted MotoGP crown. Tommy won consecutive AMA Supersport championships in 2004 and 2005, relegating young Roger to the runner-up spot those two years. Roger followed that by taking the 2007 AMA Supersport title while also campaigning aboard an AMA Superbike the same season. That year was made all the more memorable when Roger earned the opportunity to race the USGP as a wild card entry, making his MotoGP debut on a factory Kawasaki and finishing a respectable 10th, the highest-placing American in the race.
Prior to earning a spot in the World Superbike championship for the 2010 season, Roger competed in virtually all of the AMA road racing classes, including Superbike, Formula Xtreme, Superstock and Supersport, amassing 13 national career victories--12 of them on 600cc machines.
An impressive track record indeed, and one that earned Roger a huge fan base in the U.S. Yet sit down and chat with Roger you're taken in by his homespun, all-American demeanor. It's no facade; raised in rural Kentucky by parents who hold fast to a tight family ethos, Roger's solid upbringing contributes to his affable personality and ability to roll up his sleeves and get the job done.
Roger began riding at a young age. "Riding and racing is just something I've always done," says Roger. "I started riding when I was about five years old and we always had a track out behind our house. So after school my brothers and I would go riding, and during summer vacation we'd pack up and the whole family would travel to races. I began flat-track racing when I was six, but like any other kid I also did a lot of other sports."
Like so many American road racers before him, Roger pursued flat-track racing doggedly during his early teen years and in the process he won the AMA Dirt Track Horizon Award in 1998 in recognition of his blossoming skills. He then began road racing professionally immediately after his 16th birthday (per AMA licensing requirements) even though the 1999 season was well underway. He finished an impressive fifth in his first professional race. He completed the remainder of that AMA season and raced in flat-track events, all while juggling a full-time of high school class schedule. Three years later, while most of his classmates were wondering where to begin the first stage of their adult lives, Roger had already earned the status of a seasoned rider and was competing as a top professional racer in AMA Supersport and Superbike championships.
That dual-class status endured for most of his AMA career, and this wealth of professional racing experience--more than a decade now in a rider only 27 years old--makes Roger one of the most formidable and popular competitors in the world. Having joined Pedercini Kawasaki for the 2010 World Superbike Championship, this youngest of the Hayden clan is now learning the ropes in world competition, riding new tracks all across the globe--a veteran rider meeting new challenges head-on.
Winning championships is a Hayden tradition, one Roger fully intends to continue.
Roger Lee Hayden Statistics:
2010
World Superbike
2009 (partial season due to injury)
AMA Daytona SportBike - 12th
2008 (partial season due to injury)
AMA Supersport - 29th
AMA Superbike - 22nd
2007
AMA Supersport - 1st
AMA Superbike - 10th
2006
AMA Supersport - 5th
AMA Superbike - 17th
2005
AMA Supersport - 2nd
AMA Superstock - 4th
2004
AMA Supersport - 2nd
AMA Superstock - 8th
2003
AMA 600 Supersport - 8th
AMA Formula Xtreme - 10th
2002
AMA 600 Supersport - 5th
AMA Formula Xtreme - 16th
2001
AMA 600 Supersport - 12th
AMA Formula Xtreme - 8th
2000
AMA 600 Supersport - 13th
AMA 750 Supersport - 5th
1999 (began racing in June)
AMA 600 Supersport - 21st
AMA 750 Supersport - 15th
Born: May 30, 1983, Owensboro, Kentucky
Residence: Owensboro, Kentucky
Began Riding: 1988, age 5
First Race: 1989, age 6
Hobbies: Motocross, flat track, hunting, and fishing
Height/Weight: 5' 7"/145 lbs.
Marital status: Single
Kevin Schwantz
Grand Prix World Champion Kevin Schwantz raced only one way--he raced to win. When he made his move for a pass the world held its breath.
Schwantz showed levels of desire, determination and raw courage that's never been equaled. His heart-stopping style and charismatic personality won him legions of loyal fans worldwide.
By the time he was done, Schwantz amassed 25 Grand Prix wins, 21 lap records, 29 pole positions and the 1993 500cc World Championship. When he made his tearful retirement the FIM felt the loss to the sport was so significant that they retired his signature competition number 34. It's the first time in the history of the sport that a rider had been so honored.
Schwantz detail:
At the end of the 1984 season, Schwantz was offered a test ride with the Yoshimura Suzuki Superbike team, who promptly signed the Texan to a contract. In his first race for Yoshimura, he won both legs of the 1985 Willow Springs AMA Superbike National. He would finish seventh overall in the championship despite only competing in half the races. He finished second to Eddie Lawson in the 1986 Daytona 200 on the new Suzuki GSX-R750.
The 1987 Superbike National Championship would be remembered by motorcycle fans as the beginning of Schwantz's fierce rivalry with Wayne Rainey. The two battled throughout the entire season, often coming into contact on the track. Rainey won the AMA Championship but Schwantz won five out of six races.
Schwantz began 1988 by winning the Daytona 200. He then departed for Europe and the 500cc Grand Prix Championship where he won the first Grand Prix he entered as a full time GP rider at the opening round in Suzuka, Japan. Arch rival, Rainey joined in the GP wars shortly thereafter, and for the next six years, the two would continue their intense rivalry on race tracks all across Europe. The late '80s and early '90s are remembered as one of the most competitive eras of Grand Prix racing with a field rich in talent that included Rainey, Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan, Eddie Lawson and Randy Mamola. Schwantz won the hearts of fans worldwide with his do or die riding style.
Schwantz won his only World Championship in 1993, and after suffering through many crashes in1994, the injuries he had incurred over the years began to take their toll on him, as did the career-ending injuries suffered by Rainey at the 1993 Italian Grand Prix that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Schwantz accumulated 25 Grand Prix wins during his career, but retired early in the 1995 season due to his injuries. In a rare display of respect, the FIM retired his racing number (34) as a testament to his popularity.
In the late 1990s Schwantz ran a couple of seasons of the Australian NASCAR Championship before returning home to the USA where for several years he competed in the NASCAR Busch Series, running 18 races with 2 top tens, and touring car races. He currently owns and operates a motorcycle riding school in Birmingham, Alabama. Schwantz was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999. The FIM named him a Grand Prix "Legend" in 2000.
Schwantz Racing Career/Stats:
Birthdate: June 19, 1964?
Hometown: Houston, Texas?
Residence: Austin, Texas?
Hobbies: Dirt bike riding, cycling, and golf?
Heroes: My Dad, Jim and Uncle, Darryl?
First Motorcycle and at What Age: 1968 Bonanza mini-bike 3.5HP with a Briggs & Stratton engine, 3 years old?
Favorite Track: Donington (England)?
Favorite Thing about Racing: Winning?
Favorite MotoGP Rider: Wayne Rainey?
Favorite Olympic Sport: Cycling?
Favorite Movie: Stripes?
Favorite Food: Mexican?
Favorite Musician: Lyle Lovett?
Favorite Place on Earth: Home, wherever it might be!
* 1993 500cc Grand Prix World Champion
* 25 Grand Prix wins in eight-year GP career
* 2005 Winner, Final Round, WERA National Endurance with Jamie James & Ted Cobb
* 2000 Selected as 'Legend' by the FIM/Dorna
* 1999 inducted into AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame
* Former Yoshimura Suzuki Superbike rider 85-87
* 1988 Daytona 200 winner
* First roadraced in 1984 earned factory superbike ride next year
* Still holds overall track record at Assen GP track from 1991
Kevin Erion/Erion Racing
Kevin Erion is the owner and manager of the Honda- and HRCA-supported Erion Racing, the most successful support-team in the AMA road racing. Erion Racing was American Honda's premier support team for more than 15 years, winning 16 national championships--many of them with Honda's CBR600--in the process.
Born in Buffalo, New York, in 1956, Erion moved with his parents to Santa Monica, California, when he was 3 months old. There were plenty of distractions for a kid growing up in Southern California, and the motorcycling bug didn't get to him until he turned 16. "My parents never really encouraged me to get involved with motorcycles," Erion remembers, "but they didn't discourage me either. I owned a couple of dirt bikes in my teens, but it wasn't until I bought a sport bike in the early '80s that I started using motorcycles for more than just commuting." In 1984 Erion began participating in Reg Pridmore's CLASS riding schools, where higher speeds and the lure of the race track got him thinking about racing competitively. Two years later he took the plunge.
"I entered the La Carerra race in Baja in '86," Erion says. "I won my class and almost won the overall. After that, someone told me I should go club racing at Willow Springs." He decided to give racing a serious go, and his learning curve took a meteoric rise upward. In 1987 he won the local Battle of The Twins Championship, then won the national BoTT title two years in a row, winning in 1989 aboard a tricked-out Honda Hawk GT®. That season marked the emergence of his relationship with Honda and a solid partnership started two years later.
"To be honest, I enjoy being on this end of it more than I enjoyed being on the bike. It's very singular when you're the rider. Now, I can enjoy the win as much as our riders, and I get to share it with so many people."
A family man with four daughters, Erion understands every aspect of his team's operation. He's even been known to drive his own team transporter from coast to coast, just to keep a watchful eye on things.
Ride for Kids®
The Ride for Kids® (RFK) is a motorcyclist's program that is helping find the cause and cure of pediatric brain tumors. It also serves as an educational support program for patients, their families, and the medical community.
Mike and Dianne Traynor started the Ride for Kids® program in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1984, when a friend's child was diagnosed with a brain tumor. After watching the tragic deaths of many children, they set out to help find the cause and cure of this childhood killer by soliciting help from their friends in the motorcycling community.
The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation® (PBTF) is the official charity of the Honda Rider's Club of America® (HRCA®), which has been the presenting sponsor of Ride for Kids® since 1991. Thanks to the significant support of American Honda Motor Company's motorcycle division, Honda dealers and other motorcycle industry companies, the program has raised more than $40 million for pediatric brain tumor research.
With the support of America's motorcyclists, the program began to raise awareness and funds to pay for research in the nation's leading brain tumor research centers. The success of the first Ride for Kids® event in Atlanta led to the program's expansion to Chicago in 1989. Mike and Dianne soon decided to devote full-time attention to their advocacy and fundraising efforts, and started the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation® in 1991.
This support has helped make PBTF the largest nonprofit source of funding for pediatric brain tumor research outside of the U.S. government. In addition to research grants to medical laboratories, PBTF funds started the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the U.S., a national database of disease and patient information.
Thanks to the efforts of Ride for Kids®, progress is being made in the search for the answer to this terrible affliction. Each year laboratories worldwide take steps toward new and more innovative treatments for young patients. However, until the cause is isolated the prognosis of these children will continue to cast doubt on their recovery, and for those who survive, their resulting quality of life.
What began in 1984 as one couple's quest to help these children has now become the target of thousands of caring motorcyclists who work diligently to help these children by raising funds to fight this terrible disease.
Moriwaki
For the last 34 years, Moriwaki Engineering has been competing in professional motorsports and pushing the performance envelope through innovative engineering. Moriwaki is a legendary Japanese tuning firm which is to Honda what Yoshimura is to Suzuki, and it's probably best know for its Honda V5-powered MD211VF MotoGP bike which campaigned in 2004. In conjunction with Honda, Moriwaki also created the MD250 racebike--a 250cc four-stroke single-cylinder lightweight road racer sold through select Honda dealers in the US.
With the advent of Moto2, Moriwaki has also created the stunning MD600, a purpose-built Moto2 platform that's available to teams competing within the series. At only the second race of the 2010 season, Moriwaki's MD600 took its first Moto2 victory in the hands of Gresini Racing's Toni Elias.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Established in 1909, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has long prevailed as an icon of motorsports excellence. Beginning in 2009, the Speedway celebrates its Centennial Era, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the facility in 2009 and the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race in 2011.
This celebration of two important milestones will span three years and will include several unique and historical events. Visitors to the Speedway during the Centennial Era will see not only a focus on its rich history, but a strong emphasis on looking ahead to the future.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the world's largest spectator sporting facility. It plays host annually to three events in three major racing series: Indianapolis 500 Mile Race (IZOD IndyCar Series), Brickyard 400 (NASCAR Sprint Cup Series) and Red Bull Indianapolis GP (MotoGP World Championship). The Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400 take place on the 2.5-mile oval, while the Red Bull Indianapolis GP is contested on the 16-turn, 2.621-mile road course.
