VOL. 53 ISSUE 6 FEBRUARY 17, 2016 P17
RACING ENTHUSIASTS MOURN THE PASSING OF
SANTIAGO VILLA AND DR. DAVE KIEFFER
T
he motorcycle road racing
community is mourning the
passing of two riders well known
in the paddock who died within
a couple of days of one another.
Former Team M4 Suzuki rider
Santiago Villa of Colombia, and
longtime AMA Superbike and
Battle of the Twins racer and re-
spected orthopedic surgeon Dr.
David Kieffer both passed away
this past week. Villa, 39, died
on Friday, February 12, from
a cardiac arrest, according to
reports out of his hometown of
Bogota. Two days later, on Sun-
day, Febrary 14, Dr. Kieffer died
in hospice care near his home in
Grand Junction, Colorado. He
was 75.
Villa was a multi-time Colom-
bian road racing champion who
began racing professionally here
in the early 2000s. He became
beloved in the paddock for his
brave comebacks from injury.
He loved to race and his enthu-
siasm for the sport was appar-
ent to those who met him. Villa
won several CCS Regional and
National road racing titles. He
was a regular in AMA Pro Racing
throughout the first decade of
the 2000s. His best pro rac-
ing results came in the Daytona
Sportbike class. In 2011 he
scored two top-10 finishes and
finished the year ranked 14th in
the series.
"He was one of the real
characters of the paddock,"
said Rick Matheny, a former
mechanic for Villa. "He had as
much bravado as he had tal-
ent, and I liked that about
him. He was always so
appreciative of how hard
you worked to help him
and he would let you
know that with his heart,
which was as big as a
mountain. We lifted him
onto his bike for several
races because he was so
banged up he couldn't walk. His
lap times barely suffered, and he
was so exhausted afterwards he
couldn't even talk—a big deal for
Santi!"
Dr. Kieffer was a longtime
road racer, who raced in several
classes including AMA Super-
bike, Battle of the Twins and
endurance events. He reached
the peak of his career in the
mid-1980s when he scored five
national podium finishes in the
Battle of the Twins Series riding
Ducatis. In 1986 he finished the
season ranked third nationally in
Battle of the Twins behind Gene
Church and James Adamo.
As an orthopedic surgeon,
Kieffer was also the doctor
who put riders back together
after injuries and helped them
to return to the track as soon
as possible. He also served as
medical advisor for AMA Pro
Racing and MotoGP as well. He
also served as a team physician
for U.S. Olympic cycling and
skiing teams and was an avid
motorcycle collector.
Dr. David Kieffer was a long-
time friend and an icon in the
motorcycling world," said friend
Cliff Nobles. "Doc served the in-
dustry as both an amazing ortho-
pedic surgeon and a world-class
racer. He touched innumerable
lives and will be missed."
Larry Lawrence
Dr. Dave Kieffer, 75, passed away near his home in Colorado.
Santiago Villa
passed away at
the age of 39.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
LARRY
LAWRENCE
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
LARRY
LAWRENCE
