Rider Files

MotoGP™ set for Germanic championship battle at the Sachsenring
Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo and Repsol Honda Team’s Casey Stoner, both points even at the top of the MotoGP™ championship table, were joined by Andrea Dovizioso, Stefan Bradl and Mattia Pasini at the press conference on Thursday marking the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland at the Sachsenring. Read more.

Bradls go head to head in Legends meeting at the Sachsenring
On the eve of the first practice sessions of the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, the Sachsenring grid was already roaring with activity as current and former MotoGP™ riders gathered for a photo opportunity to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the German track. Read more.

Sachsenring – Racing Numbers
Brush up on your MotoGP™ knowledge before this weekend’s eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland with some interesting facts and figures from motogp.com. Read more.

Markus Reiterberger replaces injured Lundh for MZ Racing Team
18-year-old German, Markus Reiterberger from Bavaria, will ride the Moto2™ bike of the MZ Racing Team at the German Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Sachsenring this weekend. Read more.

Bridgestone MotoGP™ Race Preview – Sachsenring
The Sachsenring is one of the most extreme circuits for tyres owing to its abrasive tarmac and long sequence of left-hand turns and its unique layout has produced many thrilling contests since being included on the Grand Prix calendar in 1998. Read more.

Hubert Few races his Suzuki GS1100 at Roebling Road Raceway during a WERA A Production race in March of 1985. Few had a string of top finishes in the A Production, A Superbike and Formula 1 Novice classes in the Southeast Region that season.  The GS1100 was a very stable and speedy racing platform for a production bike, but offered fairly limited ground clearance.

Hubert Few races his Suzuki GS1100 at Roebling Road Raceway during a WERA A Production race in March of 1985. (Larry Lawrence photo)

David Marchino on a Yamaha FZR600 leads Reuben Frankenfield in a WERA C Superstock race at Putnam Park in June of 1992. Marchino tragically died in a crash at Putnam Park exactly 20 years ago today. (Larry Lawrence photo)

It’s been two decades, but I still remember it like it happened yesterday. It was 20 years ago today – July 5, 1992 – I was covering a WERA sprint racing event at Putnam Park in west central Indiana. There was a good battle going on in the B Superstock final between Reuben Frankenfield, Eric Smith and David Marchino.

The fact that Marchino was battling for the lead was notable in itself. He was a first-year expert, who’d won a regional WERA title as a novice the year before and he was rising rapidly that summer, regularly challenging for expert wins on his Yamaha FZR600.

On this day Marchino passed Frankenfield and Smith going into turn one to take over the lead. But the double draft had sucked him in too fast and he didn’t make the turn.  He pitched it in trying in vain to hold the line before his Yamaha flicked him off the high side.

The ambulance rolled, but no one thought much about it. Sure Marchino crashed at a high rate of speed, but he didn’t make contact with another bike or any barriers. We figured he might have been beat up a little, or maybe even broken a bone or two. No one dreamed what had really happened.

It turns out his impact from the highside was so violent that it ruptured David’s aorta. Almost unbelievably Marchino was rushed to an area hospital, but was never revived. He was just 26 years old. When word got back to the track that he’d died I remember just standing there wondering if I’d heard right. A gloom was cast over the track and we all quietly left that evening in collective shock.  David was coming up at such a rapid rate there’s no telling where he might have gone in racing.

So today I just wanted everyone who reads the Rider Files to take a moment to remember a young fallen racer, who was taken from us just as he was hitting his stride.

If you remember David, his brother has a memorial Facebook website. Click here to leave your comment.

I love this photo simply for the fact of being able to see so many riders in one shot. I’ve been able to identify at least 18 riders in this start from what is probably a WERA B Superbike race at Blackhawk Farms Raceway in August of 1984. On the front row is Bill McGuire (No. 47 Kawasaki GPz750), Steve Tayler (No. 49 Yamaha RG500) and Ed Key (No. 34 Honda 500 Interceptor). Those were the top three finishers of the race with McGuire winning over Key and Taylor. Also visible in the photo are David Klosterman (No. 996 Yamaha FJ600), Tom Forsterling (No. 714 Honda VF750), who won the novice class, unidentified rider 558, Toni Sharpless (No. 239 Yamaha RG500), unidentified rider 42, Kathleen Coburn (No. 60 Yamaha RZ500), Michael Schultz (No. 367 Kawasaki GPz750), Chuck Stephen Jr. (No. 959 Suzuki GS750), Ned Hart (No. 224 Honda VF750), Michael Harper (No. 765 Kawasaki GPz750), Randy Milford (No. 987 Yamaha FJ600), Roger Bolwerk (No. 212 Kawasaki GPz550), Charly Buse (No. 741 Suzuki GS700E), Alan Schneider (No. 680), Chuck McCabe (No. 486), Al Bickner (No. 254) and James Garton (No. 536). This photo was emblematic of the huge grids of WERA races in the mid-1980s.

The entire grid of a WERA B Superbike race at Blackhawk Farms in August of 1984, blast off at the drop of the green flag. Bill McGuire (No. 47) won the race over Ed Key (No. 34) and Steve Tayler (No. 49). Tom Forsterling (No. 714) won the novice division. (Larry Lawrence photo)

Márquez the man to beat as Moto2™ heads to the Sachsenring
Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol’s Marc Márquez remains the man to beat at the top of the championship standings at this weekend’s eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland at the Sachsenring after a tremendous display last time out at Assen. Read more.

Excitement brews as Moto3™ grid descends on Germany
Following what was one of the most thrilling battles in the new Moto3™ class last time out at Assen, which saw some pulsating last laps and a photo finish, the excitement is already building ahead of this weekend’s eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland at the Sachsenring. Read more.

Battaini to replace Abraham in Germany
Ducati Team test rider Franco Battaini will replace Karel Abraham in the Cardion AB Racing team at this weekend’s eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland after the Czech rider failed to recover from a hand injury in time. Read more.

Red Bull MotoGP Rookies: Alt v Oettl face off at Sachsenring
The championship pressure builds as the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup heads for the Sachsenring in Germany for races 9 and 10 this weekend. Read more.

San Carlo determined to make amends at Sachsenring
After a bittersweet weekend in the Netherlands Team San Carlo Honda Gresini head directly to their next appointment across the border in neighbouring Germany. Read more.

Pedrosa looking for Sachsenring repeat as Stoner chases lead
With no time to take a breath and just five days after the challenging race at Assen, the Repsol Honda Team follows the Championship to Sachsenring for this weekend’s Grand Prix of Germany, the eighth round of the season. Read more.

Yamaha looks for reversal in fortunes in Germany
Yamaha Factory Racing riders Ben Spies and Jorge Lorenzo move to Sachsenring this week for the Grand Prix of Germany, the second of three consecutive race weekends. Read more.

Ducati Team prepares for Sachsenring challenge
The Sachsenring is a unique track: short, narrow and, for the most part, slow and twisty, seemingly little-suited for the power of MotoGP bikes. Read more.

As the dust settles on an eventful and incident-packed Dutch Grand Prix, the MotoGP™ contingent has only a few days off before heading across the border to the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland at the Sachsenring to do battle once more for championship supremacy. Read more.