Speed Dating: February 22 – 28

February 22

In 1904, “Smokin’” Joe Petrali (US), one of the top American motorcycle racers during the 1920s and ‘30s, was born on this date in San Francisco. One of the last great Class A racers, Petrali participated in dirt track and board track racing, speed records, and hill climbs, claiming victory in 49 AMA national championship races (a record that stood until Scott Parker broke it in 1992). When Petrali retired in 1938, popular racing had undergone a change from purpose-built Class A racing machines to more production-based Class C motorcycles. Petrali was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.

February 23

Happy Birthday, Colin. • Photo by Andrew Northcott

Randy Krummenacher (CH), born on this date in 1990, is a Swiss motorcycle racer competing in the 125cc World Championship. Krummenacher made his debut in 2006 at Donington Park, where he claimed twentieth place for the Red Bull KTM Junior team. He followed that with two sixteenth-place finishes at Germany and Portugal. He also raced in the CEV Buckler Spanish Championship that year, finishing on the podium in his first race. In 2007, Krummenacher competed in the 125cc GP class for the factory KTM team. During that year, he obtained his first World Championship podium at Catalunya and finished fourteenth in the overall points. Krummenacher’s 2008 season was stained by a mountain bike injury that resulted in emergency surgery, and despite a thorough physical recovery, he’s never quite regained his pre-accident form. He finished twenty-first in the 2009 125cc championship for the DeGraaf Aprilia team, with whom he will continue racing for 2010.

February 24

Nicky Wimbauer (US), born in Germany in 1988, began his racing career in Colorado, winning both the 60cc and 80cc dirt track state championships in 1999. Wimbauer demonstrated his talent with several strong campaigns in various MRA and WERA championships from 2000 to 2003 before moving to Europe to pursue his racing dream. In 2004, he raced three World Supersport races and competed in the Italian SuperSport Championship. Wimbauer moved to the European Superstock 600 series for 2005 and achieved a best finish of sixth at Brands Hatch. For 2006, he raced in the German Yamaha R6 Cup series, where he made regular top-five appearances.

Takuma Aoki (JP), brother to fellow Grand Prix racers Nobuatsu and Haruchika, was born on this date in 1974. Aoki began his Grand Prix career in 1993 but switched to the Superbike World Championship for ’94, ’95, and ’96, during which time he claimed one win. The 1997 season proved to be Aoki’s best; he returned to Grand Prix racing, competed in the 500cc class for Repsol Honda, and finished fifth in the championship. In 1998, Aoki was paralyzed below the waist as the result of a motorcycle accident. He continues to work with Honda developing cars for the disabled, and has more recently has competed in long-distance rally racing events such as the Dakar Rally and the Asia Cross Country Rally.

On this date in 2003, Triumph returned to racing in the British Supersport Championship after a twenty-five-year absence from competition. Currently, Triumph’s racing efforts are spearheaded by the ParkinGo BE1 Triumph Racing team in the World Supersport Championship. Their current rider lineup consists of Chaz Davies, Sebastien Charpentier, David Salom, and American Jason DiSalvo.

February 25

On this date in 1952, Joey Dunlop (IE) was born. Best known for his real-roads racing, such as the Isle of Man TT, Dunlop is  one of motorcycling’s greatest icons. Over the years, he totaled twenty-six race wins at the Isle of Man, including hat-tricks in 1985, 1988, and 2000. He also won five consecutive TT Formula One world championship titles and was victorious at the Ulster Grand Prix on twenty-four separate occasions. Dunlop is less famous for his tireless charity work, but he was said to be more proud of those efforts than of his racing accomplishments. Dunlop died in 2000 while leading a 125cc event in Estonia. He had already won the 600cc and 750cc races, but appeared to lose control of the smaller machine due to wet conditions. On December 31, 2009, Dunlop was voted the third greatest Irish sportsperson of all time.

February 26

Toriano Wilson (BM), born on this date in 1994, was a promising young road racer from the unlikely home country of Bermuda. During the 2008 season, the 14-year old Wilson participated in the Red Bull AMA U.S. Rookies Cup and impressed the road race community with his skill and enthusiasm. Toriano’s racing career and future potential were cut short when he died later that year as a result of injuries sustained during a high-speed crash at Virginia International Raceway.

Alex turns 26 this week. • Photo by Andrew Northcott

Alex de Angelis (IT) was born on this date in 1984. De Angelis debuted in Grand Prix racing in 2000 at the age of 16 following time spent racing in the Italian and European Championships. He was named Rookie of the Year in the 125cc class that season, but a series of difficulties prevented him from mounting a serious challenge in 2001. Finishing second in the 125cc points for 2003 helped to elevate De Angelis to the quarter-liter class for 2004, where he finished fifth in the championship. Though he was unable to better those results the following year, he claimed his first Grand Prix victory in 2006, scoring eleven podium finishes and third in the 250cc championship standings along the way. After equaling that performance in 2007, De Angelis graduated to MotoGP with Gresini Honda for 2008, a move that provided mixed results. He obtained fourth-place finishes at both Mugello and Sachsenring, enabling him to hang onto his ride with Gresini for 2009, but despite getting his first MotoGP podium (second-place in Indianapolis) and finishing the season in eighth place, De Angelis was ousted from the MotoGP grid for 2010. He will campaign the inaugural Moto2 championship with Scot Racing.

February 27

Joan Lascorz Moreno (SP), born on this date in 1985, is a rider for the factory Motocard Kawasaki racing team in the World Supersport Championship. Lascorz had an early racing career that included pocket bikes, 125cc motorcycles, scooters, and Supermoto (a discipline in which he won the 2004 Spanish national championship). He raced in domestic supersport championships aboard Honda machinery for two years before graduating to World Supersport for 2007. Despite a podium finish at Vallelunga that year, he finished only eighteenth in points, but in 2008 Lascorz made an immediate impression by finishing second in Qatar and claiming a win at Valencia, which resulted in a short stint as the championship leader before getting overtaken by the more powerful factory bikes in the latter portion of the season. He retained fifth-place in the 2008 championship, however, and for 2009 (now with factory support from Kawasaki) Lascorz mounted a legitimate championship challenge with six podiums and one win, finishing fourth in the overall points. In 2010, Lascorz has shown continued strength by topping charts in early testing at Portimao and Philip Island, and is likely to be in the mix once the lights go out.

Colin Edwards (US) was born in Houston, Texas, on this date in 1974. He first threw a leg over a minibike at age 3 and entered his first motocross race a year later. He was successful in motocross before taking a break in his teens, then began road racing in 1990. By 1992, Edwards had begun racing in the AMA 250cc National Series, winning five races and the title over second-placed rider Kenny Roberts Jr. Edwards raced the AMA Superbike Championship for two years, earning fifth and sixth place overall, and was offered a factory ride with Yamaha in the Superbike World Championship for 1995. He joined the factory Honda team in 1998 and scored his first international wins aboard the RC45 that year. After finishing 1999 second overall, Edwards became World SBK champion in 2000 while riding Honda’s new V-twin RC-51 but was unable to retain his title the following year under assault from Troy Bayliss.

The 2002 season was a war between Bayliss and Edwards that culminated in the “Battle at Imola,” an amazing race that would ultimately see Edwards crowned for a second time. Passed up for a MotoGP ride with Honda for 2003, Edwards signed with Aprilia to ride the uncompetitive and contrary RS3 Cube. A 2004 stint with Telefonica Moviestar Honda garnered fifth in the championship, and a switch to the factory Gauloises Yamaha team resulted in fourth overall for 2005. The next few years with Yamaha were up and down, but a 2008 move to the satellite Yamaha Tech 3 team coincided with a resurgence in form. Edwards was the top non-factory rider in 2009 and the only one capable of regularly approaching the “Fantastic Four” (Rossi, Stoner, Lorenzo, and Pedrosa). Edwards claimed seven top-five finishes (one of them a podium) and fifth in the points. For 2010, Edwards remains with Tech 3, where he’s now teamed with fellow Texan Ben Spies, and continues to hunt for his first MotoGP victory.

Joan Lascorz kicked off his birthday week by topping this weekend's World Supersport test. • Courtesy Kawasaki Racing

Jorg Teuchert (DE), born on this date in 1970, got his start racing in Germany’s OMC Enduro Cup on 80cc and 125cc motorcycles. His first taste of tarmac came at age 24, and since then he has raced in the German IDM Supersport series as well as in the Supersport World Championship. From 2004 to 2009, Teuchert competed in the IDM Superbike class, at first aboard an MV Agusta and more recently on a Yamaha YZF-R1.

February 28

Terry Rymer (UK) was born on this date in 1967. Rymer began getting noticed in his native England when he won the 1985 BMCRC 250cc and 350cc championships. He won the British Superbike Championship in 1990 and was a regular in the World Superbike paddock from 1988 to 1994, achieving two wins and nine additional podiums with a season best of sixth in 1991. The 1992 season was a busy one for Rymer, as he also campaigned (and won) the Endurance World Championship and raced in the British Grand Prix for Harris Yamaha, finishing sixth. He competed in a few 500cc Grand Prix races for Suzuki in 1996 and also returned to the BSB series for a few more successful years. In 1999, Rymer won the Endurance World Championship for a second time. He’s also claimed five victories at the Bol d’Or and one at the 24-hours of Le Mans. He has raced in the British Formula 1 class and Northern Ireland’s Northwest 200. Since 2001, Rymer has focused his skills on four-wheeled racing, beginning with Porsches and moving more recently to trucks.