Speed Dating: October 12 - 18

October 12

J.D. Beach (US) was born on this date in 1991. The versatile rider grew up racing flat track but proved his prowess in road racing by winning the 2008 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup. For the 2009 season, Beach raced in the AMA SuperSport East championship, taking second place in the championship. He also competes in the AMA Flat Track Pro Singles Championship, and is fourth in the standings with three wins as of today.

October 13

Lee Acree (US) was born on this date in 1970. Acree is multi-time WERA and Formula USA champion and has competed in the AMA Pro Racing championships with the Millennium/KWS team. He was seriously injured in a crash during the AMA Superstock race at Infineon in May 2008, but returned to competition this season in the WERA championships. In addition to his racing, Acree is an instructor at the Kevin Schwantz School.

October 15

Carlos Checa (ES) was born on this date in 1972. Checa competed in the 500cc/MotoGP World Championship from 1995 through 2007 and won two races with the Sito Pons Honda team, in 1996 and 1998. His highest championship finish came in the 1998 season when he finished fourth. Checa currently rides for the Ten Kate Honda team in the Superbike World Championship, where he sits seventh in the championship entering the final round at Portimao.

On this date in 2006, Dani Pedrosa knocked down Repsol Honda teammate and points leader Nicky Hayden while racing for position during the penultimate round of the MotoGP championship at Estoril. The crash negated the lead Hayden held over Valentino Rossi throughout the season, but Hayden bounced back with a third-place finish at the final round at Valencia to secure the championship.

October 16

Happy birthday to Casey Stoner (AU), who was born on this date in 1985. Stoner grew up racing on the Australian dirt track circuit but moved to the UK to compete in 125GP racing at the age of 14. Stoner steadily rose up through the national and international ranks, reaching MotoGP in 2006 with Team LCR Honda.  Stoner moved to the Ducati Corse team in 2007 and claimed ten race wins to earn the MotoGP championship in the first year of the 800cc rules. This season, Stoner was sidelined for three rounds with a mysterious stomach illness, but he claimed a podium finish upon his return at Estoril. He currently sits fourth in the championship.

October 17

Evel Knievel (US) was born on this date in 1938. Knievel started jumping motorcycles as part of his own daredevil show in 1966. He moved from performances at local fairs to larger and larger venues, culminating with his nationally televised jumps on ABC’s Wide World of Sports. He was known as much for his spectacular crashes as his successes, from his landing accident while jumping the fountain at the Caesar’s Palace Casino to the failure of his rocket powered “skycycle” while attempting to leap the Snake River Canyon in Idaho. Knievel retired in 1981 and died of pulmonary fibrosis and complications from diabetes on November 30, 2007.

Yvon Duhamel (CA) was born on this date in 1939. Duhamel was a member of the Kawasaki factory AMA team in the 1970s, racing the H2R 750cc two-stroke triple to five national victories. Duhamel also proved successful in the AMA production classes, taking multiple wins with the Kawasaki Z-1. Duhamel scaled back his racing efforts to limited endurance and vintage events in the following decade, but he still proved competitive on the track, racing in the 1988 Bol d’Or 24 hour with sons Miguel and Mario.

October 18

Alex Barros (BR) was born on this date in 1970. The Brazilian made his debut in the 500cc World Championship in 1990 and raced in the premier class for a total of seventeen seasons, retiring in 2007. Barros took a total of seven wins during his career, but he never finished higher than fourth in the championship. He moved to the World Superbike Championship for the 2006 season to ride for the Klaffi Honda team, but returned to MotoGP in 2007 to finish his career with the Pramac D’Antin Ducati team.