Absurd and idiotic, serious and spectacular, AMCN’s annual and coveted Gassit Awards pick up where the Logies left off…
Ironman Award
Take a bow, Troy Herfoss. Because when he was laying in a hospital bed in 2021 after crashing into a concrete barrier, he and many others believed it might spell the end of his racing career. Not only did he bounce back to race-winning form by the end of 2022, he clinched the ASBK title in the final round of 2023, then headed Stateside to try his luck in the outrageously competitive King of the Baggers series, which he won in his rookie campaign – on a bike he’d never ridden and on circuits he’d never seen! Oh, and he scored two wins for fourth overall in the SuperHooligans category and notched up four podiums and a win in three rounds of ASBK in the same season.
Special mention, indeed, to Michael Dunlop, who became the Isle of Man TT’s most successful rider ever with 29 wins.
‘The Bull’ finally turned into the GOAT.
Raw Talent Award
Goes to Toprak Razgatlioglu. Toprak’s Spanish round of the WorldSBK championship in March represented the first feature-length win for BMW since 2013 and the first race win for the M 1000 RR full stop. To go on and win the world title in such an utterly dominant fashion was, frankly, extraordinary.
Close, but no cigar
Kawasaki’s Hydrogen H2 which, while successfully being a 998cc supercharged clean-emission alternative to the silent and somewhat soulless EV option, would-be owners get all the bulk of a luxo-tourer, but with all the luggage-carrying capacity of a single-seat cafe racer. Because despite being possibly the largest motorcycle ever to grace the Suzuka circuit, all that so-called luggage space is needed to store the many banks of canisters housing the compressed hydrogen…
First to Four Award
With four riders tied on three Australian Superbike titles, the pressure was on. After an up-and-down season, the milestone went to McMartin Racing Ducati’s Josh Waters when, a year after losing it to Troy Herfoss, he clinched his fourth ASBK title from Mike Jones during the final round at SA’s The Bend.
Not Again?! Award
Dorna and Pirelli need to learn from past mistakes. Because after Bridgestone was left red-faced during the 2013 Australian round of the MotoGP following the now infamous Blunder Down Under, how on earth did the WorldSBK grid find itself yet again coming in for mandatory pitstops during what were shortened races at this year’s chaotic WorldSBK curtain raiser at Phillip Island?!
Quote of the Year
Must go to KTM board member Hubert Trunkenpolz – the T in KTM – who undoubtedly caused a few coffees to be spat out when he said: “There should not be an MV Agusta of any kind costing below $40,000.” It did sound quite out of touch given the state of the world’s economic climate, but it might go some way to explaining why KTM has gone from pocketing a profit of $A85 million in the first half of last year, to a loss of $A277 million in the first half of this one…
Poor Torque Award
Pedro Acosta was ruing Dorna’s zero-emission paddock vehicle mandate during the all-important Friday afternoon practice session at Mugello when he was forced to hitch a ride on the back of a photographer’s scooter after a tumble. His urgency to get back to the garage was hardly reflected in the rider’s vain attempts to power his now two-up electric scooter up a steep slip road – Pedro started paddling first, but it was when the photographer also began paddling with both feet and when the scoot all but came to a stop that Pedro was forced off the back and instead found himself pushing the photographer and his electric scooter up the hill.
Keen Bean Award
This goes to Aussie veteran racer Anthony West. Because you’ve got to be keen to put 26 years between making your world championship debut with a wildcard entry in the 125cc category and having the determination to win the New Zealand Superbike title at the age of 42 simply as a precursor to your ASBK season. And don’t forget he put together another Suzuka 8 Hours campaign this year, too.
Although a special mention must go to Marc Marquez, who was so keen to get out on circuit after the four-week spring break, he headed out on track without any kneesliders.
Didn’t see that coming!
Could you imagine the look on Valentino Rossi’s face if you told him at the end of his disastrous two-year stint with Ducati that he’d own the official Ducati satellite team 14 years later?
Special mention goes to Bimota, who blindsided more than a few when it was announced it would replace Kawasaki as the official KRT WorldSBK squad. Oh, and when Princess Beatrice rocked up to the TT saying she’s a “huge motorsport fan”.
Disappearing acts of the year
As well as the increasingly inappropriate Fred Gassit being controversially euthanised, many were shocked by reigning ASBK champ Honda’s decision to withdraw from Australia’s premier Superbike championship. Likewise when all three Pierer Mobility Group brands disappeared out of the Rally Raid World Championship, soon after giving two-time Dakar winner Toby Price the flick.
Rookie of the Year
This one’s a four-way tie. Nicolo Bulega became the first WorldSBK rookie to secure pole position since Ben Spies in 2009 thanks to his new track best lap of 1m27.916sec at Cremona. Another WorldSBK rookie, Andrea Iannone, scored five podiums including one win, while MotoGP’s star rookie Pedro Acosta managed five Sunday podiums, however his maiden win has so far eluded him. And we can’t talk about impressive rookies and not mention Australia’s Jacob Roulstone who made his Moto3 season debut with the Tech3 GasGas squad in 2024 where he picked up five top-10 finishes.
Rolls Off the Tongue Award
You really have to wonder if the person in charge of signing off on the names of new bikes actually says them out loud before giving them the green light. Surely the person who approved BMW’s R 1300 GS Option 719 Tramuntana didn’t…
Resurrection of the Year
Convincing councils and environmentalists that it’s a great idea to reopen a racetrack that sits on the fringes of urbanisation is pretty much unheard of these days, but that’s exactly what brothers Greg and Steve Shelley managed to do. After Wakefield Park shut its gates in 2022 for what we all believed was the very last time, the Shelleys managed to tick all the requirement boxes to see it successfully reopen as One Raceway in October.
Special mention to Jack Miller who looked well and truly out of options for 2025 in July this year, but managed to resurrect his premier-class career with a lifeline from the newly-formed Pramac Yamaha squad.
Save of the Year
Adrian Huertas’ effort is worthy of a Save of the Decade gong after he miraculously stayed on after running wide in the wet during the French WorldSBK round. The eventual WorldSSP champ hung onto five rear-end fishtails, ran off the track onto the grass, busted right through advertising hoarding, rubbed shoulders – hard – with the trackside wall and then eased his way off it again, only to plunge into the deep, damp gravel trap. And he still stayed on!
Gatecrasher of the Year
Maverick Vinales, whose victory at the Circuit of the Americas meant Ducati was unable to say that it won each and every one of the full-length Grands Prix in 2024.
Special mention unfortunately must go to Aussie Supersport rider Marcus Chiodo, who stomped into rival Archie McDonald’s garage swinging punches, when the former thought the latter was running an illegal ECU.
High Achiever of the Year
While many suspected electric bikes to be the movers and shakers of the modern motorcycle market, the meteoric rise of Chinese manufacturers during the past 12 months have caught many off guard. Once limited to low-capacity and low-cost commuters, Chinese brands have been targeting the mainstream with a swag of mid-to-high capacity machinery replete with all the electronic gadgetry you’d expect from Europe’s finest. The biggest surprise came in the form of the Great Wall’s sub-brand Souo, which unveiled a 2000cc horizontally opposed eight-cylinder super tourer called, rather unimaginatively, the S2000.
Notable tech of the year
• Semi-automatic gearboxes
• CFMoto’s camera-based road-reading tech
• BMW’s patent for active aerodynamics
• QJMotor’s twin-piston single cylinder – yes, really!
• Zero’s pseudo-clutch
• Benda’s rear-wheel steering patent and pop-up headlights!
• Baja’s production bike powered by compressed natural gas
• CFMoto’s questionable seatbelt patent
New Arrival Award
Goes to the number four by a nose from the number five, both of which are appearing with a troubling amount of regularity at the front of new bike prices. As AMCN went to print there were no less than 45 models priced between $40,000 and $50,000, 14 between $50,000 and $60,000 with 10 models costing in excess of $60k!
Special Mention to the Liberty Media Group who added the MotoGP and WorldSBK Championships to Formula 1 in its list of acquired motorsport series after purchasing an 86 percent share of Dorna Sports for a cool AU$7 billion.
