Elena Myers

Last updated

Elena Myers Court
Elena Myers after winning Race 1 Round 4 of 2010 AMA Pro Supersport Championship cropped.jpg
Myers after a win at Sonoma Raceway in 2010
Born
Elena Myers

(1993-11-21) November 21, 1993 (age 30)
Mountain View, California
NationalityAmerican
Spouse
Dean Court
​
(m. 2016)​
[1]
Current teamTeam21Motorsport
Bike number21
Website elenamyers.com, archived from the original on May 21, 2015

Elena Myers Court (born November 21, 1993 [2] ) is an American professional motorcycle racer. She made history in 2010 as the first female to win an AMA Pro Racing sprint road race. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] She is also the first woman to win a professional motorsports race of any kind at Daytona International Speedway, on March 17, 2012. [10] [11] [12]

Contents

Myers is possibly the youngest female ever to enter the AMA racing circuit. [13] In 2007, at age 13, she was under contract with Kawasaki Team Green [14] [15] three years before she was old enough to obtain a drivers license. [14] She rode a Suzuki GSX-R1000 in the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship.

Myers filed a lawsuit against Loews Hotels in February 2017, alleging she was sexually assaulted by a masseur in Philadelphia in October 2014. [16] [17]

Amateur racing

Myers began riding motorcycles at age eight, with the help and encouragement of her parents. [18] She began with pocketbike racing [19] before progressing to mini bikes and then to supermoto. [20] At age 11 (2006), Myers raced on John Ulrich's Team Roadracing World [13] in the United States Grand Prix Racers Union (USGPRU) National Series 125 cc (7.6 cu in) class and won her first race, [18] riding a 1997 Honda RS125 GP. [20] She then gained sponsorship assistance from Kawasaki and Road RacingWorld.com's "Kids: Don't Smoke!" program. [18] She also had a sponsorship from Umbrella Girls USA, a modeling agency for paddock girls. [20]

In 2008, riding a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R, she won a Western-Eastern Roadracers' Association (WERA) national race and had several podium finishes. [18] When she was 11, John Ulrich promised to take Myers to Daytona International Speedway when she was 16, the minimum age to turn pro. [13] As promised, she made her professional debut at Daytona on March 11, 2010. [21]

Professional career

Myers' first AMA Pro Racing victory came during Race 1, Round 4 of the 2010 season of the AMA Supersport Championship (AMA Supersport West series) at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, on May 15, 2010. On lap 10 of 18 scheduled laps, the race was called after being red flagged twice due to crashes, securing first place for Myers. [3] [4] The race was not allowed to run its full distance because cleaning up the track and restarting would have put the day's program too far behind schedule. [7] Myers described the time between the first and second red flags by saying, "I got a good restart off the front row and made some moves. I felt like I was getting a little bit closer to the leader with about eight or nine laps to go. I came around the next lap and the red flag was shown again." [5] (The AMA Supersport West series is limited to riders ages 16–21 riding close to stock 600 cc (37 cu in) displacement sport bikes). [3] [22]

Elena Myers achieved her second professional career win at Daytona International Speedway in SuperSport Race 2, on March 17, 2012. She won the race by .240 seconds, coming in first among a group of four closely packed riders on the final lap. [23] After the race, Myers said, "It was a phenomenal race. I stayed up there and led a little bit, then stayed behind just to see how much I could be behind and still catch up. Everyone's bikes were really fast but mine was too. [23]

For 2014, Myers rode an Apex Manufacturing/Sportbike Tracktime/Castrol backed Triumph Daytona 675R in the AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike class.[ citation needed ]

Elena Myers does weightlifting and cardio training at the gym, and travels around the U.S. to races. [13]

Her father was her coach and mechanic in the early years, but now has a reduced role. [13] "I look forward to showing up and just watching from the stands," he said. [13] Currently, Myers gets advice from AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame inductee Jimmy Filice, [14] and racer Chris Ulrich of Team RoadRacing World is a mentor. [24] She has also been coached by former AMA racer Ken Hill [25] and received instruction from Jason Pridmore's STAR Motorcycle School. [18] Team owners are Richie Morris and John Ulrich. [26]

Myers racing on her AMA Sportbike at Road America in 2013 Elena Myers AMA Pro Sportbike Road America 2013.jpg
Myers racing on her AMA Sportbike at Road America in 2013

In 2010, she had several more sponsors, including Pirelli. [18] Myers' family realized that being female helped her get noticed. [14] Some of the advertisements created by her sponsors Kawasaki and Pirelli emphasize her youth and gender to draw attention. [13] Suzuki colored their home page pink in honor of her victory riding their GSX-R600 motorcycle. [27]

Myers, at 5 feet 3 inches (1.60 m) tall and weighing 116 lb (53 kg), is aware of the perception that women lack the upper body strength for 600-class motorcycles with minimum weights of 365–385 lb (166–175 kg), says that, "it's more of a mental game." [13] Virginia Meyers, Elena's grandmother, was worried about the risks but was reassured after seeing her ride. [13] She had crashed several times as of 2007, the worst injury up to then being a broken finger. [14] In a 2008 crash she was pinned under her bike, and suffered burns, a concussion, and a lacerated spleen. [13] Of that crash, she said, "I wanted to go out and train so much. They told me to wait six weeks, and I waited three." [13] On the morning of her victory at Infineon Raceway, she had taken shots of cortisone and Lidocaine for foot pain. [7] Her parents, aware of the risks, won't allow her to go too far, while still pursuing her goals, explains her mother, Anita Myers, "she's very well balanced and just trying to take advantage of the opportunities that she has." [14]

Myers racing her family team's MotoAmerica Superbike at Road America, 2015. Superbike 21 Elena Myers leaning Road America 2015.jpg
Myers racing her family team's MotoAmerica Superbike at Road America, 2015.

Myers has stated that her long-term goals are to graduate to the AMA Daytona Sportbike Championship class, which would normally be the result of winning the AMA Pro SuperSport Championship. [26] In the longer term she has her sights on the premier motorcycling class, MotoGP. [14] [26] Kawasaki's senior media relations coordinator Jeff Herzog said in 2007, "I think she's the fastest female road racer in (the United States), and she hasn't had a chance to stretch her wings yet." [14]

Personal life

Myers graduated from high school on February 11, 2011. [28] During high school, she was a straight A student. [13] [14] [26] She took independent studies through California's Liberty High School District [13] at Independence High School in Brentwood, California. [13] [14] [26] While still in school, Myers said that not going to a traditional high school meant that, "I miss out on dances and stuff, but who cares about that — I race motorcycles!" [13]

Myers lives in Discovery Bay, California, [6] [7] [14] [24] and trains at the Stockton Motorplex, [6] where she first began on pocket bikes, [14] at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds, which is managed by her father Matt, [20] [21] a former amateur motorcycle racer [13] who ran the Stockton Mini Road Racing Club. [20]

In November, 2015, Myers announced she was engaged to British motorcycle racer Dean Court. [29] They were married in January 2016, she taking the married name Elena Myers Court. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AMA Superbike Championship</span>

AMA Superbike Championship is an American motorcycle racing series that has been run every year beginning in 1976. For most of its existence it has been considered the premier motorcycle road racing series in the United States. It is sanctioned by the AMA American Motorcyclist Association since its inception, and the promotion of the series has been licensed to several organizations over the years. Since 2015 the series has been run and promoted by MotoAmerica, who also manage several other AMA professional road racing championships, including the popular 600cc Supersport class.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports motorcycle</span> Motorcycles designed for performance

A sports motorcycle, sports bike, or sport bike is a motorcycle designed and optimized for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on asphalt concrete race tracks and roads. They are mainly designed for performance at the expense of comfort, fuel economy, safety, noise reduction and storage in comparison with other motorcycles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daytona 200</span> Motorcycle race held in Daytona, United States

The Daytona 200 is an annual motorcycle road racing competition held in early spring at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The 200-mile (320 km) race was founded in 1937 when it was sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). The original course used the beach itself before moving to a paved closed circuit in 1961. The Daytona 200 reached its zenith of worldwide popularity in the 1970s when the race attracted the largest crowds of any AMA race along with some of the top rated international motorcycle racers. The race is currently promoted by MotoAmerica and run in their middleweight Supersport Class. The race is typically held in early March.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chaz Davies</span> Welsh motorcycle racer

Chaz Richard Page Davies, is a British motorcycle racer, primarily known for his career in the Superbike World Championship, where he finished three times as runner-up. In 2024, Davies was confirmed as a rider in the MotoE World Championship, an electrically powered race series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triumph Daytona 675</span> British motorcycle

The Triumph Daytona 675 is a three-cylinder sport bike built by Triumph Motorcycles. It replaced the four-cylinder Daytona 650. The 675 proved to be remarkably light, nimble and powerful; at a maximum of 128 bhp it was also very quick, and it was very successful against the Japanese 600 cc competition. In 2016, Triumph ceased production of the base model Daytona 675 citing diminishing demand for super sport bikes and increasingly strict European emission standards. Triumph continued to produce the up-spec Triumph Daytona 675R model until the 2018 model year. Triumph filed a new trademark for the Daytona, fuelling rumors that there may be a future version sporting the new 765 cc engine. It turned out to be a 660, released in 2024.

Miguel Duhamel is a Canadian former professional motorcycle racer. He is the son of Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame member Yvon Duhamel. He is tied with Toni Elias for the fourth-winningest rider in the AMA Superbike series with 32 wins. Duhamel was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Nixon</span> American motorcycle racer

Gary Nixon was an American professional motorcycle racer who most notably won the A.M.A. Grand National Championship in 1967 and 1968 as a member of the Triumph factory racing team. He was also the winner of the 1967 Daytona 200 motorcycle race on a 500cc Triumph Daytona.

Eric Bostrom is an American professional motorcycle racer and brother of Ben Bostrom, who also races motorcycles professionally.

Jake Zemke is an American former professional motorcycle road racer of partial Japanese ancestry. He turned pro in 1992. Zemke's race number has been 98 for most of his racing career. He started his own riding school called Zemke Riding Development.

Jamie Alexander Hacking, nicknamed The Hacker, is a 3 time AMA National champion professional motorcycle racer who has spent his entire career in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh Herrin</span> American motorcycle racer (born 1990)

Josh Herrin is an American motorcycle racer. He currently competes in the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship for the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC team.

The 2011 AMA Pro Daytona Sportbike Championship was the third running of the AMA Daytona Sportbike Championship. The series covered 8 rounds beginning at Daytona International Speedway with the Daytona 200 on March 12, and concluding at New Jersey Motorsports Park on September 4. The champion was Danny Eslick riding a Suzuki.

Gavin Trippe was a motorcycle racing promoter, journalist, and publisher who was inducted to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2005. He died following an automobile accident in California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Flat Track</span> American motorcycle racing series

American Flat Track is an American motorcycle racing series. The racing series, founded and sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1954, originally encompassed five distinct forms of competitions including mile dirt track races, half-mile, short-track, TT steeplechase and road races. The championship was the premier motorcycle racing series in the United States from the 1950s up until the late 1970s.

Ed Kretz, Jr., was an American professional motorcycle racer in the 1950s and 1960s. He was the son of well known rider Ed Kretz. He was known primarily as a TT and roadracing specialist, but he also was a leading off-road rider in the 1950s.

James Rispoli is an American motorcycle racer. In 2018, he will compete in the British Supersport Championship aboard a Yamaha YZF-R6.

Kenneth E. Hill is a former motorcycle road racer turned riding and racing coach. He is considered to be one of the top motorcycle coaches in the United States for his work with successful riders in the MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Series. Hill coaches 2015 and 2018 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion J. D. Beach, and 2016 MotoAmerica race winners Valentin Debise and Cameron Petersen, as well as Daytona Anderson, Andy DiBrino, Hayden Gillim, Jake Lewis, Kyle Wyman, and Xavier Zayat. Other racers he has worked with in the past include Josh Herrin, Jayson Uribe, Elena Myers, and Martín Cárdenas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Pridmore</span> American motorcycle racer

Jason Pridmore is a retired American professional motorcycle racer who turned professional in 1990. He last raced professionally in the 2014 FIM World Endurance Championship on a BMW S1000RR for Team Penz 13. His professional career spanned 22 years, during which he won 21 American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) national races 17 of which are Superstock class wins which is second to Scott Russell. Pridmore was the AMA Formula Extreme Championship in 2002, the AMA 750 Supersport Championship in 1997 as well as the FIM Endurance World Championship title in 2003 & 2012 respectively. In addition to his professional racing career Pridmore instructs motorcyclists through his STAR Motorcycle school and JP43 Training programs. Pridmore also spends time as an expert analyst for Bein Sports coverage of the Moto America championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motorcycle Roadracing Association</span>

The Motorcycle Roadracing Association (MRA) is a Colorado-based motorcycle racing club operating as a not-for-profit 501(c)(7) organization scheduling and holding competitive motorcycle roadracing events in the local area. Typical membership is composed of racers and associate members. Annual membership usually numbers about 350 with the majority being active racers.

The 2022 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship season was the 8th season of the MotoAmerica Supersport class. The defending class champion was Sean Dylan Kelly, who vacated his title during 2022 to race internationally in Moto2.

References

  1. 1 2 Swarts, David (January 10, 2016), "Wedding: Myers - Court", Roadracing World
  2. ↑ Myers, Elena, "About Me", ElenaMyers.com, archived from the original on June 15, 2006
  3. 1 2 3 Lieback, Ron (May 17, 2010), "10th-Grade Myers: AMA Female History", Ultimate MotorCycling, retrieved May 18, 2010
  4. 1 2 Abrams, Henny Ray (May 15, 2010), "Myers Makes History; Elena Myers becomes first female AMA road race winner", CycleNews, archived from the original on March 4, 2012, retrieved May 18, 2010
  5. 1 2 "Elena Myers Talks AMA Infineon Results", Ultimate MotorCycling, May 15, 2010, retrieved May 18, 2010
  6. 1 2 3 Highfill, Bob (May 18, 2010), "Daughter's feat is a tearjerker", The Record (Stockton) , retrieved May 18, 2010
  7. 1 2 3 4 Pashelka, Curtis (May 15, 2010), "Elena Myers, 16, becomes first female to win in AMA Pro Racing'", Silicon Valley Mercury-News, retrieved May 18, 2010
  8. ↑ Harley, Bryan (May 15, 2010), "Myers Makes AMA History in Infineon SuperSport", Motorcycle USA, retrieved May 18, 2010
  9. ↑ Martin, Chris (May 15, 2010), AMA SBK: All Hayes' Way; Josh Hayes walked away with this first Superbike victory of the season while Elena Myers claimed a historic win in the SuperSport class, Speed.tv, p. 3, retrieved May 18, 2010
  10. ↑ Staff, Myers First Woman To Win At Dayton, National Speed Sport News, retrieved 2012-04-12
  11. ↑ Staff, (March 19, 2012), Elena Myers is First Female to Win at Daytona, Rider Magazine, retrieved 2012-04-12 Archived July 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ M4 Suzuki, (March 18, 2012), Elena Myers Wins DAYTONA! Archived March 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine , AMA Pro Road Racing.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Dreier, Hannah (April 6, 2010), "Discovery Bay teen motorcycle racer gathering speed", Contra Costa Times , retrieved May 18, 2010
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Linesburgh, Scott (August 17, 2007), "Teen motorcycle racer is the growing queen of speed; Discovery Bay girl, 13, a fast learner", The Record (Stockton) , retrieved May 18, 2010
  15. ↑ Riders: Elena Myers, American Motorcyclist Association, 2009, retrieved May 21, 2010
  16. ↑ Fiorillo, Victor (February 17, 2017), "Racing Star Claims Sexual Assault at Philly Hotel Made Her Leave Sport", Philadelphia
  17. ↑ Swarts, David (February 18, 2017), "Elena Myers Charges Sexual Assault In Lawsuit Filed In Philadelphia Against Hotel, Spa And Masseuse", Roadracing World, Roadracing World Publishing
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Elena Myers", Team.RoadracingWorld.com, Lake Elsinore, California: Team Roadracing World, 2010, archived from the original on May 28, 2010, retrieved May 18, 2010
  19. ↑ Earley, Charleen (May 31, 2002), "Low riders / Minimoto racers get big thrills out of tiny bikes", The San Francisco Chronicle, retrieved May 18, 2010
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 Ets-Hokin, Gabe, "Racer Girl: Elena Myers", Motorcycle.com, retrieved May 18, 2010
  21. 1 2 Linesburgh, Scott (March 3, 2010), "Teen to realize dream in professional debut; Elena Myers, 16, will make history as youngest female pro to race at storied Daytona track", The Record (Stockton) , Stockton, California: San Joaquin Media Group
  22. ↑ Four cylinder motorcycles such as the Honda CBR600RR, Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R and Yamaha YZF-R6 are limited to 600 cc (37 cu in) engine displacement, but larger displacements are permitted for V-twins such as the 849 cc (51.8 cu in) Ducati 848 and 1,124.9 cc (68.65 cu in) Buell 1125R. See AMA Supersport Championship and About: AMA Pro SuperSport, American Motorcyclist Association, 2009, retrieved May 20, 2010.
  23. 1 2 M4 Suzuki, (March 18, 2012), Elena Myers Wins DAYTONA! Archived March 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine , AMA Pro Road Racing.
  24. 1 2 Wilson, Derek (May 15, 2010), "Myers raising eyebrows with impressive day", Vallejo Times Herald , retrieved May 18, 2010
  25. ↑ Lieback, Ron (May 15, 2010). "Elena Myers Talks AMA Infineon Results". UltimateMotorcycling.com. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  26. 1 2 3 4 5 Kelly, Godwin (March 5, 2010), "Q&A with Elena Myers", The Daytona Beach News-Journal , archived from the original on June 13, 2011, retrieved May 18, 2010
  27. ↑ "Suzuki Goes Pink Over Elena Myers", UltimateMotorcycling.com, May 20, 2010, retrieved May 20, 2010
  28. ↑ Elena Myers, Facebook "Today, I graduated from High School. Words cannot explain how EXCITED I am!!!!"
  29. ↑ Ulrich, John (November 23, 2015), "MotoAmerica Racer Elena Myers Engaged To British Racer Dean Court", Roadracing World

Further reading

Audio and video
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.