Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/100354
CN III CARRUTHERS SAYS P170 BY PAUL CARRUTHERS THE YEAR OF JOSH PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREA WILSON E very year pundits come crawling out of the woodwork when we name our Cycle News Rider of the Year. We expect it. After all, it���s a subjective process that we go through to arrive at our decision. Thus, it���s always going to be open for debate. Not so sure if that���s the case with this year���s selection. It���s pretty damn hard not to think that three-time AMA Superbike Champion Josh Hayes isn���t deserving of the accolade. This one is pretty easy to defend. You just point to the scoreboard. In winning his third straight AMA Superbike crown, the 38-year-old won 16 of the 20 races. Of the three he didn���t win, he crashed in two, but remounted to still score points. In the other one, he finished second by .002 of a second to Blake Young in the second of two races at Daytona. I���m no mathematician, but that means he won 80 percent of the races. That���s domination. I���m pretty sure I can���t spell mathematician correctly 80 percent of the time. And Hayes didn���t just barely win the races he won. He dominated most of them. When they added up the points at the end of the year, he had 580 of them ��� 154 more than his closest rival. As always, the list of others who had stellar seasons is long. Unfortunately, the Supercross season from 2012 will be known more for the long list of injuries than anything else. Ryan Villopoto won the title, but even he ended up on the injured list ��� his knee injury costing him his outdoor season. That title was won by Ryan Dungey, who gave KTM not only its first-ever 450cc class Supercross win but its first outdoor National Championship in the premiere class. Dungey also missed some rounds of the Supercross season, but still ended up third - just nine points behind series runner-up Davi Millsaps. The Motocross/Supercross season was also noted for the divorce between James Stewart and JGRMX Yamaha team - the seemingly perfect marriage not even making it to the seven-year itch. He ended up on a Suzuki, won the first two outdoor Nationals, but then got injured. When all was said and done, it was the 250 class that got the attention of race fans. The field was deep and four different riders won overalls in a season of bitter battles and parity. But it was Blake Baggett who came out on top in the title chase, holding the points lead from start to finish though it was hard-fought throughout. It���s worth noting that Justin Barcia not only finished second to Baggett in the championship, but he also won the Monster Energy Cup ��� in his first Supercross on the factory Muscle Milk Honda 450. And that was after he���d won the East Lites Supercross title while his teammate Eli Tomac won the west version in a season to remember for the GEICO Honda team.