The late Tommy Aquino, who is celebrated in a new AMA Pro Racing award
The late Tommy Aquino, who is celebrated in a new AMA Pro Racing awardTommy Aquino Spirit AwardThe motorcycle-racing community lost one of its young and bright riders on February 2 – Tommy Aquino.
The 21-year-old Californian crashed while training at Piru MX Park in Piru, Calif., with family and friends.Memorials immediately began across the industry, and the latest arrives from AMA Pro Racing, Cortech and SHOEI – the “Tommy Aquino Spirit Award.”The award, which celebrates Aquino’s positive spirit in the paddock, will be granted to an “AMA Pro Road Racing rider who best embodies the spirit of the paddock during the 2014 season.”AMA says the paddock will vote for the rider who exemplifies qualities mirroring those of Aquino, including passion for the sport, fan engagement and team interaction.“Over the past eight years we have had the pleasure of working with Tommy Aquino, but he was much more than just another SHOEI athlete,” said Hiro Mizushima, President of SHOEI Safety Helmet Corp. “His personality really shined through his radiant smile, and everyone appreciated his presence. Always easy to work with, Tommy earned a place within the SHOEI family as one of us, someone we would do anything we possibly could to help out. Losing someone like Tommy is like losing one of our family members, he will truly be missed.”“Cortech and Helmet House are honored to present this award,” said Richard Kimes, CMO and Director of Training for Cortech and Helmet House. “Tommy was like family to us and we’re proud to help carry on his legacy.”“I want to thank both Cortech and SHOEI for their gracious gesture in the name and spirit of Tommy Aquino,” said David McGrath, Senior Director of Competition, AMA Pro Racing. “Tommy brought youth, levity and an uplifting spirit to our community. His good nature and infectious smile are fondly remembered by all. He is and will be sorely missed.”About Tommy Aquino (Courtesy of AMA Pro Racing):Aquino raced in AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike from 2009-2012, finishing inside the top five on 30 occasions and acquiring nine total podiums. Aquino’s biggest on-track moment in AMA Pro Racing competition came in 2011 at New Jersey Motorsports Park where he recorded a Race 1 victory on the back of his No. 6 Yamaha Extended Service Yamaha YZF-R6.AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.
Hello everyone and welcome once again to Motos and Friends, the weekly podcast brought to you by Ultimate Motorcycling. My name is Arthur Coldwells.
Motos and Friends is brought to you by the awesome Yamaha YZF-R7. The R7 is an amazing supersport machine that is comfortable too! Check out the YZF-R7 at your local Yamaha dealer, or of course at YamahaMotorsports.com.
In this week’s first segment, Senior Editor Nic de Sena goes to the Yamaha MT-10 launch. I have to say, the R1-derived MT-10 is one of my all time favorite street bikes. It’s the perfect balance of instant, usable power, crammed into an agile yet stable chassis. All that is built into an incredibly easy-to-ride package. And I’m not even going to mention it’s ability to wheelie… The latest MT-10 has had some upgrades, so I’m very curious to hear what Nic thinks.
For our second segment this week I chat with Paul Jayson—aka The Motorcycle Broker. Paul has been restoring, collecting, and selling investment grade motorcycles and cars for several decades, and his knowledge and passion for the art of motorcycling seems pretty much unrivaled.
Paul’s quest for total authenticity and insistence on a breathtaking level of detail is incredible. Actually, one of his restorations—a classic MV Agusta—won recently at Salon Privé.
Paul’s take on how the motorcycle market developed globally, and where it’s going, I found fascinating. You can visit Paul’s website at TheMotorcycleBroker.co.uk.
From all of here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!