Six former US world champions reunite at Laguna Seca for special event

Six American 500cc world champions are gathering at Laguna Seca this weekend. It’s a poignant reminder of something that has almost completely disappeared from modern motorcycle racing: fast Americans at the very top of the sport.

There was a time when seeing an American rider at the front of a Grand Prix was barely worth mentioning – it was just to be expected. In fact, for a remarkably long period, you could probably have argued that the USA was one of the dominant forces in motorcycle circuit racing.

This weekend, six of the men responsible for that era are gathering at Laguna Seca, with Kenny Roberts, Freddie Spencer, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Kevin Schwantz and Kenny Roberts Jr. all there. The special event will see the riders signing autographs, taking part in demonstration laps and appearing together for a panel session to answer questions from fans.

It is a remarkable collection of talent. Roberts won three consecutive 500cc world championships from 1978 to 1980. Spencer took the title in 1983 and 1985, becoming the only rider to win the 500cc and 250cc championships in the same year. Lawson won four premier-class titles, Rainey took three in succession between 1990 and 1992, Schwantz became champion in 1993, and Roberts Jr completed the family story by winning in 2000.

Put all of that together, and the numbers are staggering. Between 1978 and 2000, American riders won 14 of the 23 500cc World Championships. It’s a stark contrast to the modern era of MotoGP, although the American presence didn't disappear overnight.

Nicky Hayden carried the flag into the modern MotoGP era, winning the 2006 World Championship with Repsol Honda, while Colin Edwards became a regular front-runner in both World Superbike and MotoGP. There was also John Hopkins, who spent much of the 2000s in MotoGP, before Ben Spies arrived and won the 2009 World Superbike Championship before moving into MotoGP with Yamaha.

Even after Hayden's championship, America continued to produce riders capable of competing at the highest level. Hayden remained in MotoGP until 2015, while Spies, Hopkins and Edwards all had spells on the premier-class grid. Since then, however, the flow has almost completely dried up.

That is what makes the current situation so strange. The USA hasn't stopped producing talented racers, but the days when an American rider was a regular fixture at the sharp end of the world's biggest motorcycle racing championships now feel very distant indeed.

There isn't a single American rider in MotoGP or Moto3, with only Joe Roberts representing the USA in Moto2. In World Superbike, there is just Garrett Gerloff; the Texan is now the sole American in the championship, recently signing to remain with Kawasaki for 2027. He arrived in WorldSBK after racing in MotoAmerica, where he had already established himself as one of America's quickest riders.

It is particularly strange because the USA hasn't stopped producing fast motorcycle racers. MotoAmerica still has a healthy crop of riders competing in Superbike and Supersport, while the country has its own rich racing culture and a spectacularly competitive domestic scene. The problem is that very few of those riders are making the jump from being fast in America to being fast on the world stage.

And this isn't simply a case of Americans losing interest in motorcycle racing, but the routes to MotoGP are very different now than 20 or 30 years ago. If you look at the six riders being celebrated at Laguna Seca, none of them emerged via the European junior championship ladder. Instead, they either came through the distinctly American combination of dirt-track, as was the case for Roberts and Roberts Jr., Schwantz, Lawson, and Rainey, with Freddie Spencer preferring the strictly circuit racing route via the AMA.

There are parallels here with British motorcycle racing, too. Britain has a huge history of producing Grand Prix stars, from Mike Hailwood and Barry Sheene through to the likes of Carl Fogarty, James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow, yet British riders have also become increasingly scarce at the very top of the sport. Crutchlow was the last British MotoGP race winner, while there is currently no British rider on the MotoGP grid – since his role as LCR super-sub ended. Like America, 

Britain still has plenty of fast riders and a strong domestic racing scene, but the route from being one of the quickest riders in your home championship to becoming a regular at the front of the world championship has become much harder. The difference is that Britain still has a strong presence in WorldSBK, with riders such as Alex and Sam Lowes, Scott Redding and the veteran and occasional wildcard, Jonothan Rae keeping the flag flying.

And perhaps that is why this weekend's gathering is more interesting than simply a celebration of old racers at one of America’s most famous former-GP venues. It is a reminder of something that American motorcycle racing has seemingly lost.

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