VOL. 52 ISSUE 26 JUNE 30, 2015 P33
KOCINSKI
INDUCTED
T
wo-time World Champion
John Kocinski and former
Harley-Davidson Motor Co.
President, Chief Executive
Officer and Chairman Richard
Teerlink have been elected to
the AMA Motorcycle Hall of
Fame Class of 2015.
"These two men represent
the best of motorcycling—John
[Kocinski] through his perfor-
mance on the track and Richard
through his performance in
the executive suite," said Ken
Ford, a member of the Hall of
Fame executive committee and
treasurer of the AMA board of
directors.
The Class of 2015 includes
three competition category
inductees and three non-com-
petition category inductees.
Others in the Class of 2015
include racer Rodney Smith,
entrepreneur and patron John
Parham, racer Alex Jorgensen
and Yamaha Motor Corp.,
U.S.A. Racing Division Manager
Keith McCarty.
Kocinski and Teerlink are the
final inductees to be announced
for 2015.
Kocinski, who began racing
as a teenager, won the AMA
250 Grand Prix Championship
in 1987, 1988 and 1989 and
took the 1989 600 Supersport
win at Daytona International
Speedway. In 1990, in his first
full season with Team Roberts,
he won the 250cc World Cham-
pionship in Europe, claiming
eight pole positions and notch-
ing seven wins on tracks he had
never seen before. In 1997, he
won the World Superbike cham-
pionship, scoring 10 wins on a
Honda RC45, the bike's crown-
ing world title.
Kocinski went on to record
18 AMA 250 GP wins. During
his career, he raced on teams
that included AMA Motorcycle
Hall of Fame members David
Aldana, Erv Kanemoto, Eddie
Lawson and Wayne Rainey,
including Team Roberts as-
sembled by Kenny Roberts. He
officially retired from racing in
2002. Kocinski will be inducted
into the Hall of Fame in the
Road Racing category.
Teerlink was part of the execu-
tive team responsible for Harley-
Davidson's financial turnaround
in the late 1980s. As president
and CEO, Teerlink helped estab-
lish the company's new mission,
values, objectives and strategies.
His approach included working
closely with employees at all
levels of the organization, as well
as with union leaders. In addi-
tion, he believed a participative
approach with dealers, suppliers
and riders would lead to the de-
velopment of mutually beneficial
relationships.
Teerlink joined Harley-David-
son in 1981 as chief financial
officer. That year, the company
posted an operating loss of
$15.5 million on revenue of
$210 million. When Teerlink
retired as chairman and CEO
in 1999, Harley posted operat-
ing profits of $416 million on
revenue of $2.45 billion and
held nearly 50 percent of the
U.S. market for 650cc and
larger motorcycles. He will be
inducted into the Hall of Fame in
the Ambassadors and Industry
category.
Kocinski and Teerlink will
be inducted at the 2015 AMA
Motorcycle Hall of Fame Induc-
tion Ceremony on October 17, in
Orlando, Florida.
John Kocinski will be
inducted into the AMA
Motorcycle Hall of
Fame in October.
