Tag: world champions

There was a time when Americans dominated the grids and the podiums of world championship motorcycle racing. “King Kenny” Roberts, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, “Fast Freddie’ Spencer, Kevin Schwantz, Scott Russell, John Kocinski, Kenny Roberts Jr., “Texas Tornado” Colin Edwards, and “Kentucky Kid” Nicky Hayden among others all found glory on the international superbike stage. One wonders how Ben Spies would have fared had he stayed healthy, or what Josh Hayes could have achieved had he made the leap. After many years of drought, with few Americans finding success (the last American to win a superbike world championship was Hayden in 2006), American motorcycle road racing is making a comeback thanks to MotoAmerica and hence, more Americans are jumping to the world championships (WSBK and MotoGP) again.