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In 2019, for the first time since 1993, there won't be a Hayden brother competing in a national professional motorcycle road race. Roger Hayden announced yesterday that this will be his last year in the MotoAmerica Motul Superbike series.
It's undeniably a cliche but equally undeniably true that this is the end of an era in U.S. roadracing.
It was at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 1993 that Tommy Hayden, the oldest of the three brothers from Owensboro, Kentucky, raced (at age 15, but with a fudged date on his AMA pro license saying he was the required 16) the AMA 250 GP class, then one of the supporting classes for AMA Superbike. Tommy was followed by Nicky, who in 2002 became the youngest ever AMA Superbike champion. That was also the same year that Tommy, Nicky and Roger swept the podium at the Springfield TT dirt-track race, the only time brothers have taken every spot on a Grand National podium and a magical piece of American racing history.
As for the youngest of the three brothers, Roger's first professional road races were in the AMA Supersport class in 1999, though he was also racing professionally in flat-track then. Like his brothers before him, he made the switch to full-time roadracing as soon as he could because of the better opportunities it offered. He won the AMA Supersport championship in 2007 and was Superbike rookie of the year in 2006, at a time when some riders raced in more than one class.
For most of his career, Roger raced for either Suzuki or Kawasaki, and mostly in the U.S. domestic series. In 2010, however, he competed the full year in World Superbike with the Kawasaki team and he also did wild card rides in MotoGP and Moto2. He joined the Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing team in 2014 and was the only rider who could nip at the back tires of the dominant Yamahas. That changed in 2017 when the new GSX-R1000 came out and Hayden and his teammate, Toni Elias, took first and second in the MotoAmerica championship.
Unfortunately for Hayden, it was Elias who finished first. A Superbike title has eluded him, and from early on this season, it was clear 2018 was not going to be his year, either. Early crashes and problems put him out of contention.
“This is not something I’ve decided lightly,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I’ve been going to races on the weekends since I was nine and I just thought it was the right time to move on to the next chapter in my life. I want to spend more time with my wife and maybe do some traveling and start a family at some point soon.
“Yoshimura and Suzuki have felt like a family to me. Don (Sakakura) and Pat (Alexander) are more like friends to me than a boss. We talk about life, sports, you name it and it’s just been a pleasure to be part of the team. I’ve had some of my greatest success with Yoshimura Suzuki and the entire team has always worked hard at giving me great motorcycles to race.
“I would like to stay involved in racing in some way. I enjoy working with the young riders coming up and we’ll see what the future holds.”
"Twenty seasons of professional road racing is an impressive accomplishment," said Sakakura. "Equally, I respect Roger for his integrity and his core family values. We’ve all enjoyed the company of the Hayden family for countless years."
A coveted seat opens at Yoshimura Suzuki
It's the nature of the competitive environment of roadracing — where opportunities are few, talented competitors are many and careers are short — that even before the news is old, thoughts will be turning to who will get Hayden's ride. That's more true in this case because Yoshimura Suzuki is one of the two elite teams in MotoAmerica Motul Superbike, along with the Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing team.
The obvious candidates would be Valentin Debise, riding for the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki team in Supersport, and Jake Lewis, riding for M4 ECSTAR Suzuki in Superbike. Debise, riding an outdated GSX-R600, has been the only rider able to match the speed of the Yamahas in Supersport. And Lewis, currently sixth in the Superbike standings, was originally on the Yoshimura Superbike team. He had to sit out the beginning of the 2016 season due to injury and after his replacement, Elias, went on a winning streak, Lewis never got his Superbike seat back.
Though it's natural to look at those two Suzuki riders, there has also been talk in the paddock that Yamalube Westby Racing's Mathew Scholtz could be considered for the spot.
It's a little unseemly to talk about who will get Hayden's seat before he even takes a parade lap for the fans, much less finishes his racing career. But such is the nature of the sport, especially considering Yoshimura is the winningest team in U.S. national Superbike racing with a 40-year history of success.
If you never got a chance to see a Hayden race, you now have four more opportunities: Sonoma Raceway, Pittsburgh International Race Complex, New Jersey Motorsports Park and Barber Motorsports Park. Miss that, and you may have to wait until Roger starts that family and grooms the next generation.
