Better With Age

As Marc Marquez attempts to win a ninth world title as one of the oldest riders on the 2025 MotoGP grid, we celebrate some of motorcycling’s most evergreen racers

At 32 years of age, Marc Marquez is now the second oldest rider on the grid after Johann Zarco. And while 32 certainly isn’t anything approaching old, it’s getting up there by MotoGP standards, especially when you consider it’s his 17th year in the paddock and he’s the bookies’ favourite for the title. His longevity becomes even more plain to see when you realise Valentino Rossi’s last world title came in his 14th year of trying – and he finished sixth overall in his 17th.

When you think about it, slowing down or stopping is the antithesis of motorcycle racing. For riders who have built an entire life around racing – career, identity, the lot – if they’re still enjoying it and they’re still fast, it’s easy to understand why they want to keep going.

The adaptation required to do so is commendable. There’s emerging technologies, evolving rule books, increasing performance and a never-ending supply of younger, hungrier riders looking to carve a career and an identity of their own by beating the best.

Evergreen riders have been around since a 38-year-old Les Graham won the inaugural 500cc world championship way back in 1949. But the world was a different place then; riders had to earn the money they needed to go racing in order to earn the results that would get them noticed. And all in a world that was much larger than our internet-enabled one is now.

Earning that money took time. Much more than the energy drink-funded road-to-MotoGP approach today. And while starting so young can often lead to premature burn-out – Australia’s double world champ Casey Stoner called it quits at 27 – for a touched few, it means careers can now span decades.

For these riders, some who have more money than they’ll probably ever need and have had more accolades than most of us could ever dream of, the determination and desire to stand on that top step and loft race- and title-winning trophies remains as strong as ever. For others, it’s simply a powerful combination of passion, identity and the unique thrill that only racing can provide.

Les Harris – age 99

In early 2023, New Zealand’s Leslie Harris earned Guinness World Record status as the world’s oldest competitive motorcycle racer when he participated in the 43rd Classic Motorcycle Festival at Pukekohe near Auckland, just three weeks shy of his 98th birthday. During 2024, he participated in the 44th Classic Festival in February at the Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon before sourcing a retired ambulance to convert into a new race van. Not known for his well-organised shed, a trip and a medical episode meant he was forced to have more downtime than he wanted, but he was back spectating at Whangarei’s Parakao Dirt Drags just three weeks after surgery.

Les is registered to ride again at the 46th Classic Festival, and again in March just after he turns 100 on February 26. Unstoppable and determined, one of his favourite quotes is: “Had a nap, ready for a blat.”

Jeremy McWilliams – age 60

Jeremy McWilliams’ racing career has spanned three decades. Born in 1964 in Northern Ireland, McWilliams made his grand prix debut in the 250cc championship in 1993 and has competed across various classes, including 500cc, MotoGP and Moto2 since. With a highest finish of sixth overall in 2001, he switched to the MotoGP category in 2002 where he picked up a pole position in Australia as well as a handful of top-10 finishes.

Many thought starting his role as a development rider for KTM in 2009 would spell the end of his competitive racing career, but he finished second to Ryan Farquhar in the Supertwins category of the 2012 North West 200, was granted a wildcard entry in the 2014 British Moto2 Grand Prix when he was 50 years old, and was signed to ride the factory-supported Mission Foods/S&S Cycle Indian in the King of the Baggers series in 2022 alongside reigning champ Tyler O’Hara. It took him just three months to notch up his first victory, which came in the second race during the Daytona 200 weekend, when he edged out O’Hara by a mere 0.025 seconds. He was one month shy of his 58th birthday. In May 2024, aged 60, he finished on the podium of the North West 200’s Supertwins race behind Peter Hickman and Richard Cooper and, according to his Facebook page, is “looking for new challenges in 2025”.

Andrew Houlihan – age 55

Australian rally star Andrew Houlihan was 51 when he made his debut in the gruelling Dakar Rally in 2021. He finished a creditable 50th overall despite fracturing his wrist on just day three of the two-week event. Mind you, the gritty Albury native is pretty accustomed to pain – pain that would turn many off motorcycling for good. An accident in 2017 left him with severe injuries, including multiple fractures and infections that required 21 surgeries. Then, less than 100 days out from Dakar 2022, he crashed at 160km/h, which not only left his bike snapped in half but broke his hand, neck and four ribs, fractured an eye socket and punctured a lung – which then collapsed.

Incredibly, he made the start… then broke another handful of ribs during the race and was deemed unfit during Stage 5. In 2023, he was sitting second overall in the Veterans Class and sixth outright in the 450cc category of the FIM Bajas World Cup when a training crash put him back under the knife, but returned for the 2025 Dakar Rally, where he entered in the unassisted Original by Motul class. He went over the handlebar on Stage 6, breaking three ribs, his scapula and left collarbone but took some positives out of the experience: “I was constantly in the top 15 of the Original by Motul class and top 5 of the Veterans class. I pushed each stage as hard as I could.”

John McGuinness (and Co.) – age 53

When John McGuinness launches down Bray Hill during this June’s Isle of Man TT on a factory-supported Honda CBR1000RR-R, he’ll be 53 years old. Twenty-nine years after his TT debut and 26 years after his first TT win, the likeable Morecambe-born rider is currently the TT’s third most successful, with 23 wins to his name from 106 starts.

His good mate and rival Michael Rutter will also be 53 if he returns to the TT this year, after the 2024 event marked three decades since the seven-time TT winner’s debut.

Sidecar legend and chassis engineer Dave Molyneux was 60 when he scored his final podium last year, nearly 40 years after his 1985 TT debut. The 17-time TT winner announced his retirement during last year’s event.

Mind you, you can’t talk evergreen TT riders and not mention Dave Madsen-Mygdal, who notched up 151 starts in 2024. Now 69, he also made his TT debut in 1985 and he was the first rider to reach 100 TT starts back in 2013. His best finish of fourth came in 2003. Ian Lougher, a 10-time TT winner, has the next highest number of starts at 136.

Graham Jarvis – age 49

Of the 56 starters at the final round of the 2024 Hard Enduro World Championship, 49-year-old Graham Jarvis was one of only five riders to complete all five laps of the gruelling 24MX Hixpania event in Spain. Narrowly missing the podium, he finished fourth behind three riders almost half his age, ahead of serial winner Wade Young, and was one of four top-10 finishers in what is described as one of the world’s most challenging off-road motorcycle races.

No stranger to winning, Jarvis is one of the most successful trials riders in the world. He won his first-ever club event in 1985 when he was 10 and was crowned British Trials Champion on five occasions. He won the hugely competitive Scottish Six Day Trial four times and, despite missing out on a Trials World Championship, won the infamous Scott Trial a total of nine times – which is still more than any other rider in the event’s 110-year history.

When Jarvis’ glittering trials career came to an end in his early 30s, he went looking for a harder challenge and used his trials background to become a dominant force in the Hard Enduro scene, notching up more than 30 wins in the category; 2025 will be his 20th season.

Anthony West – age 43

West is the oldest competitor in the ASBK championship and the one with the longest CV. After picking up the 125cc Australian dirt- and long-track titles in 1996, he switched to road racing in 1997 and won the 250cc Production Championship the following year, the same year he made his 125cc World Championship debut with a wildcard entry at Phillip Island. Since then he’s raced in 250cc, 500cc, Moto2, MotoGP, World Supersport and World Superbike. He competed in the Brazilian Superbike Championship with plenty of success, the Asian Road Racing Championship, MotoAmerica, and even lofted the NZ Superbike Championship trophy as recently as last year!

He’s signed on to race his third season with the Addicted To Track squad for the 2025 ASBK championship, where he’ll be looking to improve on his creditable fifth-place finish in 2024. His preparation is on point, too, having just beat the evergreen Josh Brookes to the 2025 Harvie Wiltshire Perpetual Trophy.

In retrospect

This evergreen lark ain’t a new thing after all…

Ancient history: 42 / Jack Findlay

Australian legend Jack Findlay’s first world championship race was at the German Grand Prix in 1958. Some 19 years later he became the second-oldest rider after Arthur Wheeler to win a grand prix, taking victory at the 1977 500cc Austrian GP, aged 42. His last race was the 1978 West German GP, giving the Victorian native one of the longest-spanning careers in GP history. A bronze statue of Findlay was erected in 2006 in his hometown of Mooroopna in a park that was rightly renamed Jack Findlay Reserve.

Modern history: 48 / Troy Bayliss

The late starter and Aussie legend won his three WSBK titles (2001, 2006, 2008) at ages 32, 37 and 39 respectively, securing 52 race wins along the way. After retiring from international racing, Bayliss made a surprise return to competitive racing in 2018 when he was 48 with an entry in the Australian Superbike Championship. Riding a Ducati Panigale 1299 for the DesmoSport Ducati squad, he secured multiple podium finishes throughout the season and finished third overall, a remarkable achievement given his almost 10-year absence from superbike racing.

Recent history: 49 / Greg Hancock

American speedway rider Greg Hancock was 49 when he retired from professional racing in February 2020. By the end of his career, he had participated in a record 218 Speedway GPs, accumulating 2655 championship points from 1248 heats, with 455 heat wins. He reached the final 88 times, securing 66 podium finishes, including 21 victories. His fourth and final world championship came in 2016, when over two decades of sliding on slate culminated in title glory right here on Aussie soil at the season finale at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium.

Making history: 42 / Valentino Rossi

When Valentino Rossi crossed the line to win the 2017 Dutch TT at age 38, he became the oldest MotoGP race winner in over two decades, surpassing Troy Bayliss. The Aussie held the record after he claimed the flag-to-flag victory at the 2006 season-ending Spanish GP at Valencia aged 37 years and 213 days. Rossi’s final MotoGP podium came at the 2020 Andalusian GP at Jerez, when he finished third behind Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Vinales – aged 21 and 25 respectively. He was 41 at the time.   

Grand old age

Hermann Paul Muller secured the 250cc World Championship in 1955 at the age of 45 years and 287 days, making the West German the oldest rider to win a world championship title. At 46 years and 70 days old, Briton Arthur Wheeler became the oldest rider to win a Grand Prix race by securing victory in the 250cc class at the 1962 Argentine GP. Interestingly, of the 10 oldest riders in history to win either a two-stroke 500cc or modern-era MotoGP premier-class race, three of them were Aussies!