Absurd and idiotic, serious and spectacular, AMCN’s annual and coveted Gassit Awards pick up where the Logies left off…
The Desmo No-Mo Award
Ducati went and replaced its 937cc Testastretta V2 DVT engine with a new 890cc V2 with variable valve timing. Unlike the Testastretta engine it replaces, it employs conventional chain-driven camshafts and spring return valves operated by finger followers. Ducati lists valve-clearance checks at 45,000km, the longest interval yet, which in itself is significant as it replaces the Desmodromic valve system used by Ducati for the last 50 years.
Uncharted Waters Award
Josh Waters went from breaking his collarbone at pre-season testing and being in doubt for the opening round, to winning a record fifth Australian Superbike title with essentially a round to spare. The 38-year-old made it look easy; it was far from it. A stellar job from both team and rider.
The 18-year Itch Award
Eighteen years after shocking Daytona with its 2008 Battle of the Twins win, the Irving Vincent team is back for another swing in March. Two big air-cooled twins are already in the works, the Houston base is primed and the Horner brothers ‘are putting the band back together’. If history repeats, Daytona won’t know what hit it.
The Dulux Award
Suzuki earns this one for bravely inventing a new colour – Greige – with the release of its new SV-7GX crossover. Somewhere between grey and beige, it’s perfect for riders who want their motorcycle to look like it was painted with indecision.
Unsung Hero Award
This one goes to Gresini Racing boss Nadia Padovani. Because when a broken Marc Marquez lobbed in her family-run Ducati squad at the start of last year, she gave him the bike, the support and the culture he needed to rebuild, recharge and prepare himself for what the sporting world is now calling one the greatest comebacks of all time. And possibly one of the greatest photos of all time to go with it…
The Alternative Reality Award
This is a dead heat between Honda, who put the ‘e’ in electric bike when it first filed a patent application for an electric supercharger, followed up by the impressive V3R 900 prototype at EICMA.
The other recipient is Bajaj, because while everyone else was scrambling about looking for a spot to plug in their new electric motorcycle offering, Bajaj leapfrogged the lot by releasing a compressed natural gas offering that’s less expensive and more efficient.
Persistence Award
Goes to Fonz CEO and founder Michelle Nazzari. While deep-pocketed electric brands like Super Soco, Energica and even Zero have come and gone (and come again) in the Aussie marketplace, Michelle has spent 15 years backing her own self-belief with practical, Australian-designed electric offerings. In a market where far bigger players can’t make it work, Michelle keeps plugging in and powering on.
Hard Knocks Award
After four top-10s in his rookie Moto3 season, Jacob Roulstone suffered a horrific pre-season crash that left him with a fractured and displaced C3 vertebrae ahead of his Red Bull KTM Tech3 campaign, ruling him out of the first two rounds. He rejoined the series at COTA’s Round 3, scored 61 world championship points over the remainder of the season to finish 16th from 26 full-time riders in the category… and was swiftly booted out for his efforts.
Special mention goes to 56-year-old Troy Bayliss, who suffered seven broken ribs, a punctured lung and a broken collarbone in a dirtbike crash just two weeks after recovering from a broken ankle.
The Unplugged Award
Nothing says “Faster. Forward. Fearless” quite like shelving your forward-looking electric class. MotoGP has paused MotoE from 2026, calling it a “hiatus”, which is a polite way of saying the series has been switched off and rolled into storage. And if the world’s premier racing category doesn’t see enough upside to keep persisting with electric, it speaks volumes about where the global market’s really sitting.
The Not Ready yet Award
This one’s for the AI-powered bots offering to take the wheel… A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that of 30 vehicles with driver-assist technology tested, all of them hit a dummy representing a stationary motorcycle when their systems were tested at 70km/h. God help us!
The Racing Gods Curse Award
This one’s easy: Jorge Martin. Just 13 laps into his first-ever test of Aprilia’s RS-GP, a crash at Sepang left him with a single fracture in his right hand and three in his left foot, sidelining the new world champ for the opening three rounds. A return in Qatar ended in another crash, a collapsed lung, six broken ribs and another seven rounds on the sidelines. A handful of steady results followed his return, before an error of judgement took himself and teammate Marco Bezzecchi out of the Japanese GP in a first-turn crash, leading to a displaced fracture in his shoulder. He was forced back on the sidelines until the final round in Valencia.
Special Mention goes to Joan Mir, who suffered DNFs in 13 of the 2025 championship’s 22 grands prix, many of them not his fault.
New Tech Award
Relatively uneventful compared to previous years, the most popular ‘innovation’ for 2026 is simply… bigger screens. Last year everyone was rolling out five-inch TFT displays, this year it’s eight, clearly taking a cue from the smartphone world, where the safest upgrade is to supersize the display and call it progress.
The Triple Threat Award
Toprak Razgatlioglu earns this after nailing his third WorldSBK crown and deciding 29 is the perfect age to finally make a MotoGP debut. Most riders are thinking about winding down by then, but Toprak’s only just getting started. It’ll either make him or break him but it’ll be a fascinating watch.
The Homologation Overload Award
Harley-Davidson takes this one for the $165k CVO Road Glide RR – the ultimate proof that nothing motivates a factory quite like the thought of losing to a life-long rival. The RR homologation special almost makes other ‘racebikes for the road’ look like budget commuters. Only H-D could turn a bagger into the most expensive race ticket in town.
Evergreen Awards
Dead heat between Ant West and Ian Hutchinson. Our 2024 NZ Superbike champ Ant West picked up the Harvey Wiltshire Trophy leading into the ASBK season and finished third overall in Australia’s premier race series, aged 44. Meanwhile, after a series of top-15 TT finishes on his return from serious injuries and a stroke, Hutchy picked up a podium at the North West 200, before going on to race his 16th TT for three top-10 finishes and a best of fifth in the Superstock TT. Not bad for a 46-year-old.
Special Mention goes to 37-year-old Jason O’Halloran, whose victory on debut at the Le Mans 24 Hours after 15 seasons in the British Superbike paddock shows an insane ability to adapt and determination to succeed… then he and his YART squad pushed on to win the world title. And a shout out to 38-year-old Beau Beaton, too, who’s not only still winning races, he’s doing it on two and three wheels, and will take on the Daytona 200 in March next year with the Irving Vincent Super Hooligan entry… Oh, and to the 35-year-old Johann Zarco, who not only raced and won the Suzuka Eight Hours, but picked up his second premier-class victory in front of his adoring home crowd at Le Mans.
History makers Award
Kyle Webster and Jett and Hunter Lawrence backed up their first-ever MX of Nations win to make it two consecutive victories in 2025. The trio took on 35 nations to score just Australia’s second MXoN gold medal in the event’s 78-year history.
Cunning Stunts of the Year
No, not the any number of gravity defying displays put on by Toprak Razgatlioglu ahead of claiming his impressive third world title; this one goes squarely to Jorge Martin when he tried to back out of his Aprilia contract essentially after just 13 laps…
Special Mention goes to Marc Marquez for the chaos caused on the grid in Texas with his last-minute decision to sprint back up pitlane to swap to his slick-shod bike, in the hope that at least 10 others would follow. Of course they did, much to the disappointment of Enea Bastianini, Brad Binder and rookie Ai Ogura, the only three riders who had gambled on slick rubber ahead of the race.
Man of the Year
Daniel Sanders: After a Dominant Dakar victory, he won the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge before becoming the first rider in history to win three rallies on the trot when he cleaned up at this year’s South African Rally Raid in Sun City. The 2025 world championship was icing on the cake. Any wonder KTM has announced a 2026 KTM 450 Rally Replica Sanders Edition…
Special mention goes to Michael Dunlop for taking his TT victory tally to dizzying new heights with 33 wins, and of course to Aussie Brady Kurtz, who ran the-then five-time world SGP champ Bartosz Zmarzlik all the way to the final meeting, missing out on the title by a single agonising point.
Milestones!
Both Aprilia and MV Agusta turned 80, Brembo celebrated 50 years in international motorsport, Triumph’s Speed Twin moniker notched up 88 years, Yamaha blew out candles for its 70th anniversary and AMCN’s Speedway correspondent Peter Baker notched up 50 years of contribution to this enduring title. Kawasaki celebrated half a century in Australia, Honda’s cumulative global production of engine/motor-powered motorcycles reached 500 million units in 2025, while Royal Enfield sold over a million motorcycles in a 12-month period for the first time.
