One of these kids, Joe Roberts, was out at the local club racers last time I was at the track. He was riding an S1000RR borrowed from Keith Code and plotting his was through A group like everyone else was standing still. He came in from one session talking about how he almost chased down Jake Zemke (there were a few AMA guys out there for the race weekend).
Joe did two stints in the Red Bull rookie cup and he's currently in Spain testing bikes and deciding if he wants to race in some GP series there, or go to AMA. He's 14.
Blows my mind. Makes me pissed at my parents for not sticking me on a motorbike at 5 years old. :laugh
I've been yelling at my parents about this for a long time. Any motor vehicle I take to a track, i'm pretty fast at it. I show them Valentino Rossi or at 4 on a bike and say, "SEE, we could have millions but noooooo"
Joe will be doing another year with the Rookies, or so I have heard from a reliable source.
Right now I would have to say the 2 fastest teenagers (17 yrs old) in the country would have to be Garrett Gerloff (Graves R6) and Jake Lewis (Meen R6). These 2 have been setting 600 class track records since they were 14 yrs old. Both will be riding in their 2nd pro season in 2013 in the Daytona SportBike class. Before moving to the 600s, they raced the 125s with Joe chasing them.
It is a shame we don't have the Rookie Cup here in the States anymore. It was some of the best racing at an AMA national.
I've got a screen capture of Xavier Zayat (also rookie cup contestant last season) giving me a peace sign as he walked me through the chicane at thunderbolt on his moriwaki I GOTTA dig up.
There's a REAL nice kid up and coming right now over here. This year was his first year on the big track and he's doing REAL well too! He's also named Anthony, but (Mazziato). Me and him had a bit of fun in the rain this season. He couldn't believe you can wheelie in the rain! :laugh I've got some great video of him throwin down some good times in the HARD rain with me.
My nephew has been on wheels since 3. He rode a 4wheeler around Glamis and Ocotillo Wells. At 5 go his first two wheeler, began racing local events right away. Won his first local series at 6, continued racing and riding hard until he was diagnosed with type 1 diabeaties at 8. Sat out a year to get it under control. When my brother in law got him back out on the track he could see that he lost a bit of his drive... He's 12 years old now riding an 85 at the track, he rides a Banshee in Glamis, and now just finished 10th in the Lucus Oil Off Road Racing Series (LOORRS) and 4th in the Lucus Oil Reigonal Series in JR2 kart. I'm a very proud uncle and hope to see him up with the big boys one day.:cheers
My daughter has been on 4wheelers since 5 and now at 16 rides a TRX450R, yep, an R! Kick starts that thing herself every time. My boy has been on a 4wheeler for 2 years now and will be getting his first 2wheeler for Christmas this year. He's 7. (not my son, he came into my life at 5 and is now my boy for all I care. ) I'm also a proud Dad. :cheers
My Pop's got mad at me when I bought my first dirt bike at 20, and even more upset when I bough my first street bike at 30.... :nono
My old man taught me how to surf when I was 5, but motorbikes weren't in my life until I turned 30. It's awesome that these young kids have parents that can afford (time and money) to get their kid on a bike and to the track.
I gave my old 04 R6 to a friend's 17 year old son to convert to a track bike. You should have seen his face light up. It was awesome and i knew he could never afford it on own as he's a student right now and his parents dont have much disposable income kicking around. I had just returned from another tour "overseas" so i had a bit of extra cash, it just made sense to me. The kid will not likely be the next Valentino, but I hope he pays it forward in the end. I guess my Dad taught me more than just to surf.........karma, it s cool concept!
I just don't like how thin their tires are, but damnit can they ride! I know if I have a son I'm definitely going to get him into motor bikes and put him into things like this. I just hope if I have a 2nd child that he/she won't be into it otherwise I'll never have money for my toys
Tell me about it! First TD I did, one kid was there on a SS R6. First bike, no license, etc. Came from MX. Next thing you know, two seasons later he ran AMA this year!
The SS class is going to be real interesting this year. Some of the dominating riders are moving up, which will give the tight groups behind them a chance to move up in the order and be noticed. Of course there will be a few that won't be moving up for whatever reason, that should.
And DSB is going to see some cool (re)matchups. Can't wait to see what the new rookies bring to the table.
It's awesome to watch those kids race. Super fast. Everytime I see vids like that or see the kids run though I remember Peter Lenz. Kid was super nice when we met him at Indy. I'm sure he's dragging knee in a better place, but everytime I see a young racer i can't help but remember him.
Anyone know this kid? He races an R6 and seems to be doing big things. My younger cousin his age introduced me to him on fb, seems like a nice kid, too bad he moved to Texas he couldve hooked me up with training lol
Hunter is a good kid. Last year at Road America, his dad could not make it so they asked me to work with him. But I was having a small family reunion so I was limited on how much I could help.
Anyway, he ended up crashing and got his foot caught between the chain and sprocket. Needless to say it wasn't pretty and it pretty much finished the year for him racing.
Hopefully he can come back this year and show everyone just how talented he is.
Thats what my cousin was telling me. No doubt about his talent though, that article was saying he was pulling first against big names for 600's. His cover photo on fb of him scraping his elbow is just insane.
In speaking with a team owner (Rich of Attack performance), I was told that many prefer the young ones because they run the shit outta the bikes and not scared of crashing (just hang off like no ones biz)...He retold a story of JD Beach (when he was younger) crashing, getting run over, and just hoping back on the bike like nothing...:laugh. I want to be a kid again...
Or go have one...Very impressive these young guys are...! :yes
In the March or April issue of RoadRacing World they will have a huge section devoted to the Young Guns. They do it every year with pictures, bios and accomplishments.
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