Joshua Kurt "Josh" Hayes (born April 4, 1975 in Gulfport, Mississippi) is a professional motorcycleroadracer who started his road racing career at age 19 and made a quick ascension up through the ranks where he won his first three WERA titles in 1994 and numerous others in the following four years. He turned pro in 1996 and also raced in MotoGP.[1] Riding Suzuki GSX-R motorcycles, Hayes won the 1999 750 SuperSport race at Daytona and finished third in the Formula Extreme class for the season. He won the 2003 AMA 750 SuperStock Championship riding an Attack Suzuki GSX-R750, the 2006 and the 2007 AMA Formula Xtreme Championships on an Erion Honda CBR600RR, and four AMA Superbike Championships on a Yamaha YZF-R1 (2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014).
Hayes racing in 2013Hayes leaning left at Road America, 2015
Hayes joined the Yamaha Factory Racing team in 2009 and competed aboard a Yamaha YZF-R1 in the AMA Pro Racing SuperBike Championship, winning seven races en route to second place in the Championship. He also raced a Yamaha YZF-R6 in the Daytona 200.
The 2010 season saw Hayes fulfill his lifelong goal of becoming AMA Pro SuperBike Champion. In the process, he also won Yamaha's first SuperBike title in 19 years, scoring seven race victories and earning multiple bonus points for pole positions and laps led on the season.
Hayes won his second consecutive SuperBike Championship in 2011. He captured seven poles, three wins, and nine podium finishes in defending his championship. He only finished off the podium twice over the course of the entire season, and he won the Championship on the final lap of the final race.
Hayes made his MotoGP debut at the 2011 Valencian Grand Prix riding the Tech 3 Yamaha YZR-M1 as a replacement rider for injured countryman Colin Edwards. Hayes led the wet morning warmup session, and then, he went on to finish seventh in the race.
In 2012, Hayes won his third consecutive SuperBike Championship, and he did it in record-setting fashion, rewriting AMA Pro Road Racing history in several categories. He set a new record for most SuperBike wins in a single season with 16, and he also set a new record for most consecutive SuperBike wins in a single season with 10. In addition, Hayes tied the record for most SuperBike poles in a single season with 10, and he had seven perfect weekends. In seven rounds during the 2012 season, Hayes qualified his #1 Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha R1 SuperBike in the pole position, won both SuperBike races, and also led the most laps in both races.
Finishing a close second in the 2013 AMA Pro SuperBike points standings to his Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha teammate and 2013 SuperBike Champion Josh Herrin, Hayes won eight races and earned two additional podiums. He also had a season sweep in qualifying, earning all eight SuperBike pole positions, and he set a new lap record at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
Hayes showed in 2014 that the #4 on his Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha R1 SuperBike was an omen. On the strength of his 7 race wins and 3 second-place finishes out of 11 races this season, Josh captured his fourth AMA Pro SuperBike Championship. He also won the GEICO Motorcycle Superbike Shootout Championship that same year.
In 2015, Hayes notched 10 Superbike wins during MotoAmerica's inaugural season. He also reached the podium in 16 out of 18 races and earned 5 pole positions. His teammate Cameron Beaubier nipped him by just four points for the 2015 MotoAmerica Superbike title.
In 2016, Hayes finished the MotoAmerica season just six points behind his teammate Beaubier, and it came down to the final race of the season at New Jersey Motorsports Park to decide it all.
Hayes finished fourth in the 2017 MotoAmerica Championship, reaching the podium 8 times, which included a victory at VIRginia International Raceway.
On July 29, 2023 at Brainerd International Raceway, at age 48, Hayes secured his 87th career MotoAmerica/AMA race win, giving him the all-time record for the most wins across all MotoAmerica/AMA Pro roadracing classes.
John "Hopper" Hopkins is a former motorcycle road racer based in the United States. During 2017 he raced in the British Superbike Championship aboard a Ducati 1199 Panigale for Moto Rapido Racing, but suffered injuries from a crash at the season-finale race meeting in October, meaning he could not participate during 2018. He has not made a full recovery, which has so far precluded hopes of a comeback, but he has become involved in rider coaching.
Noriyuki Haga is a Japanese former professional motorcycle racer. He won 43 world championship superbike races during a 25 year racing career, making him one of the most accomplished competitors never to have won a Superbike World Championship. Haga was the runner-up in the championship three times and, four times finished in third place. His 43 victories ranks fifth all time in the history of the Superbike World Championship behind Jonathan Rea, Carl Fogarty, Alvaro Bautista and Troy Bayliss. Haga ranks fourth behind Troy Corser, Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea in career World Superbike race starts with 313. He last competed in the 2018 CIV Supersport 600 Championship, aboard a Yamaha YZF-R6.
Neil Stuart Hodgson is a British former motorcycle racer, who won the 2000 British Superbike Championship, and the 2003 Superbike World Championship titles. He then went on to have a moderately successful four years in the American Superbike Championship, with a best 5th place championship finish.
James Desmond Ellison is an English motorcycle racer. After two seasons on a Yamaha R1, Ellison expected to retire at the end of 2018, but in 2019 again competed in the British Superbike Championship series aboard a BMW S1000RR, before parting company with his team half-way through the season in August. He then joined another British Superbike team for the remainder of the 2019 season, starting from the September event at Oulton Park, on the ex-Danny Kent machine, previously an ex-Leon Camier 2016 MV Agusta F4.
Chaz Davies, is a former motorcycle racer who announced his retirement from regular competition in September 2021. From 2022, Davies is a rider-coach working with Ducati and Feel Racing, mentoring Alvaro Bautista and Michael Ruben Rinaldi in World Superbikes and Nicolo Bulega in Ducati's inaugural World Supersport season, riding the Panigale V-twin.
Michael Laverty is an occasional motorcycle racer from Toomebridge, Northern Ireland. After participating in the 2017 season in the British Superbike Championship aboard a Yamaha YZF-R1, and the 2018 season on a Tyco BMW, Laverty became a television commentator and occasional rider in Endurance events.
Ben Spies, is an American team principal for a MotoAmerica Supersport (600cc) professional motorcycle road racing team who previously was a racer himself. He was sometimes nicknamed "Elbows" due to his riding style, in which his elbows protruded outward. Spies won the AMA Superbike Championship for Yoshimura Suzuki in 2006, and successfully defended it in 2007 and 2008.
Anthony Keith West,, is an Australian motorcycle road racer. He most recently raced in the 2019 Brazilian Superbike Championship for the Kawasaki Racing Team. West was suspended from participating at any FIM sanctioned events for 24 months due to testing positive for banned substances from 8 July 2018 to 14 September 2020. In 2018 he competed in the Supersport World Championship, aboard a Kawasaki ZX-6R and in the Asia Road Race SS600 Championship, aboard a Yamaha YZF-R6.
Eric Bostrom is an American professional motorcycle racer and brother of Ben Bostrom, who also races motorcycles professionally.
Jakub 'Kuba' Smrž is a professional motorcycle road racer. He currently competes in the Superbike World Championship, aboard a Yamaha YZF-R1. For 2017 and 2018 he rode a BMW S1000RR in the British Superbike Championship, but in June 2018 he suffered a serious shoulder injury when guest-riding for Czech BMW team Mercury Racing in the Oschersleben eight-hour event in Germany. Luke Hedger rode Smrž' machine in his absence.
Max Neukirchner is a professional motorcycle racer currently competing in the Endurance FIM World Championship aboard a Yamaha YZF-R1.
Dominique Aegerter is a Swiss professional circuit racer of solo motorcycles, competing in World superbike Championship. He won the Supersport World Championship in 2021 and 2022. He also won the MotoE World Cup in 2022.He is also the first Swiss rider to step foot on a world SBK podium.
Josh Herrin is an American motorcycle racer. He currently competes in the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship for the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC team.
James Douglas Beach is an American motorcycle racer. He currently races a Yamaha YZF-R1 in the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship.
Luca Scassa is an Italian motorcycle racer who is a Ducati Corse test rider. He previously competed in the MotoGP World Championship, the Superbike World Championship the Supersport World Championship, the AMA Superbike Championship and the British Superbike Championship. He was the Italian Superbike champion in 2008 riding a MV Agusta. In 2022 FIM Endurance World Championship he rides for Italian based No Limits Motor Team in superstock category.
James Rispoli is an American motorcycle racer. In 2018, he will compete in the British Supersport Championship aboard a Yamaha YZF-R6.
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu is a Turkish motorcycle racer competing in the Superbike World Championship aboard a factory-team Yamaha YZF-R1. He won the 2021 Superbike World Championship, ending Jonathan Rea's 6-year reign. Razgatlıoğlu is the first Turkish Superbike World Champion.
MotoAmerica is the organization that promotes the AMA Superbike Series since 2015. Sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), it features six classes of road racing: Superbike, Stock 1000, Supersport, Twins Cup, Junior Cup, and Mini Cup.
Axel Bassani is an Italian motorcycle racer competing in the Superbike World Championship aboard a Ducati Panigale V4 with Team Motocorsa Racing since 2021.
Garrett Gerloff is an American motorcycle racer who has competed in the Superbike World Championship since 2020 riding a Yamaha YZF-R1. New for 2023 is a move to a BMW M1000RR2 machine.
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