Features 18 Dec 2015

Cycle Awards 2015

CycleOnline.com.au's third annual Australian awards feature.

Back again for a third consecutive year are the CycleOnline.com.au Cycle Awards, where we name the stars of the season past in a reflection of Australian and international racing. CycleOnline.com.au’s Cycle Awards are done purely for entertainment purposes, pieced together via what we witnessed during the year both within Australia and abroad.

Image: Russell Colvin.

Image: Russell Colvin.

National Rider of the Year – Troy Herfoss:
Riding the race-proven Team Honda Racing CBR1000RR SP, Troy Herfoss won both the Australasian Superbike Championship and Australian FX-Superbike Championships this year – fending off the almighty factory Yamaha combo of defending champ Wayne Maxwell and Glenn Allerton.

International Rider of the Year – Jorge Lorenzo:
It came down to the wire and eventually it was Jorge Lorenzo who claimed a third MotoGP World Championship. It wasn’t an overly popular win after a dramatic end to the season, but he’s a deserving champion when all’s said and done.

Rookie of the Year – Maverick Vinales:
Claiming Rookie of the Year was never the real target, but Maverick Vinales did an impressive job on the brand new Suzuki GSX-RR in 2015. With a talented line-up of MotoGP rookies, Vinales was the one who etched his name into the record books for 2015.

Race Series of the Year – MotoGP World Championship:
There are few words that describe just how good MotoGP was this season. It was surprising to see Marc Marquez lose the crown like he did after being so dominant in 2013 and 2014, but the Movistar Yamahas of Lorenzo and Rossi were in their own title fight pretty much all year long. Oh, the drama!

Source: Supplied.

Source: Supplied.

Most Anticipated Model – Honda RC213V-S:
Honda officially launched its RC213V-S during a press introduction on the eve of this weekend’s Catalunya round of the MotoGP World Championship. Three years in the making, Honda has detailed the release of its road-going MotoGP entry, which will be available in limited numbers to allow customers to get “the ultimate MotoGP experience”. We’re hearing its as good as promised.

Hottest Topic – Rossi vs. Marquez:
Friends turned foes was the case of grand prix giants this year. It really started at Phillip Island during the race where Rossi felt Marquez was purposely playing with him in favour of Lorenzo winning the title and it escalated from there. Malaysia was where the major controversy hit, resulting in the #SepangClash and from there, all hell broke loose.

Top Team – Movistar Yamaha:
Yamaha engineers nailed it in 2015, developing its YZR-M1 into a MotoGP World Championship winner once again after the crown went down to the wire between Lorenzo and Rossi. We can’t say enough about their 1-2 result this season.

Best Event – Australian MotoGP:
Over 32,000 fans packed into the grandstands witnessed one of the most exciting races in the history of the world championship as Marquez was involved in a race-long scrap with title rivals Lorenzo and Rossi, plus the Ducati of Iannone. Marquez won, but to give you an idea of how close it was, just a second separated the four across the line.

Image: Russell Colvin.

Image: Russell Colvin.

Most Surprising Moment – Stoner’s Ducati homecoming:
Whispers of a Stoner return to Ducati first emerged during the post-race Valencia MotoGP test and it was confirmed soon afterwards. He’ll test and we may see him do wildcards, but don’t expect a fulltime racing return from the Aussie legend. Another major surprise was Troy Bayliss racing the opening WorldSBK rounds out of retirement!

Social Standout – Wayne Maxwell:
Like last year, Maxwell delivered a consistent recollection of his season and events all year long. The multiple national champion puts a lot of effort into this area of his career, which is paying dividends when it comes to marketing his brand.

Special Mention – Brookes the BSB champ:
We followed Josh Brookes’ progress closely all year long in the British Superbike Championship. Armed with a new YZF-R1 for this year, he essentially dominated the series after a long time of trying. Next year he will move to WorldSBK with the exact same team, albeit on BMW machinery.

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