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/1063250
CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE I f you click on CycleNews.com 25 years from now there's a good chance that Archives will be looking back at least a few of the motorcycle racing stories we just lived through in 2018. Check it out: I remember when Jason Anderson won that Supercross title on a Husky. A company mak- ing electric motorcycles went belly up? Yamaha had a tough time winning in MotoGP with both Maverick and Valentino on the team? Indian sure was tough on the flat tracks back then. That was an ugly weekend for Team USA at RedBud. And what was that dude thinking, grabbing the front brake of one of his fellow racers at 100-plus MPH? The top stories of 2018 ran the gamut, from the amazing come- back of Ken Roczen from what appeared to be a career-ending injury, to the absurd thinking of Ro- mano Fenati, the end of eras with the retirements of Dani Pedrosa, P166 American Flat Track that the Motor Company did not win a national. The three factory riders for the squad — Sammy Halbert, Jarod Vanderkooi and Brandon Robin- son—finished 10th, 13th and 14th, respectively, in the championship. Unless Harley finds some miracles with the XG750R this winter (or pay Jared Mees a million bucks to come back), it seems like their next win could be a long way off. 9. Romano Fenati Contro- versy – Rarely have we seen the kind of reaction, fueled by social media, generated when Romano Fenati grabbed rival Stefano Manzi's brake lever while travel- ing at an estimated 130 mph on a straight during the Moto2 race at San Marino. Racing fans called for everything from a lifetime ban to public flogging. Fenati apolo- gized for his actions and then issued a statement saying he was leaving the sport permanently. Eventually the furor calmed and Fenati was given a demotion to Moto3 for 2019. 8. Ken Roczen Comeback Kenny Coolbeth, Roger Hayden and Davi Millsaps, and finally the sad loss of racing heroes, such as former Kawasaki factory road racer Hurley Wilvert; 1990s GP star Ralf Waldman; Johnny Gibson, winner of 1956 Daytona 200, and Eric Geboers, the first motocross racer to win world championships in all three classes, to industry stalwarts like race announcer Brian Drebber, former Harley CEO Vaughn Beals, pioneering race promoter Gavin Trippe, Jeff Fox, the former presi- dent and CEO of LeMans Corp., just to name a few of the notables. So, without further ado let me take a stab at ranking the top 10 stories from 2018, that motorcycle enthusiasts may still remember and talk about in 2042. 10. Harley-Davidson Goes Winless for the First Time - Harley- Davidson continued its struggles on the track in 2018. This year was perhaps the low point. For the first time in the 65-year history of THE STORIES OF 2018 WE'LL REMEMBER Do you agree Team USA failing to win the MX of Nations on home soil was the top racing story of 2018?