Hannah, Bob
Name/Title
Hannah, BobTags
Motocross & SupercrossDescription
- 1976, ’78 and ’79 AMA Motocross Champion - 1977-79 AMA Supercross Champion - 1978 AMA Pro Athlete of the Year Bob “Hurricane” Hannah will go down in history as one of the greatest American motocross and Supercross racers of all time. When he was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999, he had seven AMA national championships to his credit in 125cc motocross, 250cc motocross and Supercross categories, easily ranking him as one of the most versatile motocross racers of his era — and perhaps of all time. During his 15-year racing career, Hannah won Nationals in the 125cc, 250cc and 500cc categories as well as Supercross and Trans-AMA events. When he retired from racing, Hannah held the record for the most career wins in both AMA Supercross and AMA 250cc National motocross categories. Hannah was born in 1956 in Lancaster, Calif. He grew up riding in the rugged Southern California deserts with his father and got his first bike, a customized Honda Trail 55, when he was just 7 years old. The one thing Hannah didn’t do in those early years was race. “My father was against racing,” Hannah explained. “He did not mind me riding, but at the same time he didn’t want me getting hurt. I never raced until I was 18 years old and living on my own.” By the time Hannah hit the motocross tracks of Southern California, he was more than ready. Even though he didn’t have any racing experience, he had practically lived on a motorcycle since grade school and likely had more hours on a bike than any of his fellow competitors. After Hannah convincingly won his first — and only — race in the amateur ranks, local racing officials forced Hannah to move up to the expert ranks immediately. In 1975, his first year as an expert, Hannah rode in just two AMA Nationals. His best finish was sixth overall in the AMA 125cc National in San Antonio. Not bad for a rider with less than a year of racing experience under his belt. That same year, a Saddleback racetrack announcer called him “Hurricane” Hannah, and the moniker stuck: He was forever to be known as Bob “Hurricane” Hannah. Early in 1976, Hannah won the prestigious 500cc Florida Winter-AMA Series. Shortly thereafter, Yamaha took a chance on the 19-year-old phenom, who was largely unknown outside Southern California motocross circles. Yamaha officially signed Hannah to race the 125cc outdoor AMA Nationals. He started the year with some success on a 250cc machine in the AMA Supercross Series, but his real strength was on the 125cc bikes at outdoor motocross circuits. The AMA 125cc National Motocross Championships were only two years old when Hannah launched into his first full season of racing. Honda and its top rider, Marty Smith, had largely dominated the 125cc Nationals for the first two years. Smith was gunning for his third-straight title and was the heavy favorite coming into the ’76 season, when Hannah arrived and immediately complicated matters for Smith. At the first round of the series — the famous Hangtown Nationals in Plymouth, Calif. — Smith made the early laps of the first moto look like a replay of 1974 and ’75. Eight laps into the relatively dull race, the crowd came to its feet when Hannah, on his No. 39 Yamaha, came bouncing through the 21-rider field to take second place. On the next lap, Hannah took over the lead from Smith, leaving tens of thousands of Northern California fans stunned. Smith tried to get back past Hannah but fell in the process and finished a distant second. Hannah came back to win the second moto in an even more decisive fashion. It was one of the most stunning debuts for a factory rider in the history of AMA racing. Hannah proved that his 1976 opening round victory was no fluke and stormed ahead to win five of the eight 125cc nationals that year on his way to the championship. In 1977, Hannah hopped aboard a stock production Yamaha 250 and won both the Florida Winter-AMA Series and the AMA Supercross Championship in impressive fashion, taking six of the 10 rounds. By the end of the AMA Nationals season, he was in contention for the 125cc, 250cc and Open class titles — becoming the first rider to win races in all three classes in just one season. Hannah would go on to win the AMA Supercross title for three straight years. Known for his tireless training regimen and fierce demeanor on race day, his tell-it-like-it-is, never-say-die attitude toward racing endeared him to hundreds of thousands of fans, and he became the first genuine superstar of Supercross racing. The next season, in 1978, Hannah moved up to the 250cc ranks in the outdoor Nationals with devastating results for his competition. Hannah’s riding was nearly flawless. He won a record eight consecutive 250 outdoor events and continued his impressive streak in the fall Trans-AMA Series, winning four Nationals in that series and winning the championship to become the first American to win the Trans-AMA Series. In 1979, he came back and dominated the 250 outdoor Nationals again, handily winning the title by earning victories in six of the 10 events. By the late 1970s, Hannah’s career was at its zenith, and he was clearly in a class of his own. Even though Hannah had numerous offers to race in world championship motocross, he never seriously considered it. Displaying his classically dry sense of humor, Hannah noted that the main reason he didn’t want to race overseas was that the Europeans “served their drinks without ice.” Even though he preferred racing close to home, Hannah did represent his country three times in the prestigious Motocross des Nations team competition and was part of the victorious 1987 team when the international event was held at his favorite racetrack, Unadilla, in New York. Hannah’s training methods were uncommon for the era. In addition to riding countless practice laps on motocross tracks, he went back to his roots and trained by riding in the desert. He was obsessed with winning and trained every day but purposely downplayed his training regimen to maintain a psychological edge over his competitors. “There’s no better place to practice than out in the desert,” he told British journalist Chris Carter in 1981. “I ride there anytime I can. Out there the unexpected happens quickly and you have to sharpen your reactions just to stay on the bike.” Water sports were Hannah’s primary form of relaxation. A water-skiing accident in the Colorado River at the end of 1979 nearly cost Hannah his career and almost resulted in the amputation of his right leg. Hannah’s leg was broken in 12 places after he hit a submerged rock and was catapulted onto the riverbank. Doctors initially told Hannah he would never be able to race again, and he was forced to sit out the entire 1980 season while recuperating. During his recovery, Hannah spent time earning his pilot license and developing interests outside of motorcycle racing. Whether it was his leg or other seemingly endless injuries that Hannah suffered during the early 1980s — or perhaps the loss of his single-minded approach to racing — Hannah was never quite able to harness the magic needed to capture another championship. He was still a formidable force to reckon with, however, and he won 20 more Nationals during the 1980s. His best results were a second-place finish in the 250 outdoor AMA National series in 1981, and, following a switch from Yamaha to Honda, third in the same series in 1983. Hannah’s final win came in the 250 outdoor National held at Millville, Minn., on Aug. 11, 1985. He continued to race part-time with Suzuki from 1986 until his eventual retirement in 1989. After retiring from racing, Hannah continued to work as a test rider and consultant for Suzuki and later, for Yamaha, through the early 1990s. His knowledge, skill and work ethic made him a valuable bridge between racing generations, competing with the earliest AMA motocross stars and then the even bigger stars of the 1980s. Hannah was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999 and then inducted into the broader Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2000, officially ranking him among the greatest riders — and drivers — in history. In 2010 he was named an AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Legend, further cementing his status as one of the greatest motorcycle racers of all time, regardless of discipline. Through the 1990s and early 2000s, Hannah developed a lucrative second life in the aviation industry. Channeling the same killer instincts that made him such a feared competitor on the dirt two decades earlier, Hannah began competing in the famed Reno Air Races, piloting highly modified P-51 Mustangs in the Unlimited Gold Class, skimming above the Nevada desert at speeds exceeding 450 mph. During this same period, beginning in 2002, Hannah was a co-founder of Northwest Backcountry Aircraft in Caldwell, Idaho, becoming one of the nation’s premier sellers of backcountry bush planes, alongside vintage racing aircraft and even jets. Over the course of his 15-year career, Bob “Hurricane” Hannah had become the all-time win leader in AMA motocross and Supercross history, having won 70 AMA Nationals during his career. That record would stand until fellow Hall of Famer Jeremy McGrath finally broke Hannah’s overall win record in 1999. “[Hannah] was a rider of tremendous determination,” said multi-time world champion, Hall of Famer and Hannah’s team manager for the winning 1987 U.S. Motocross des Nations team, Roger De Coster. “Sort of a tough guy, like John Wayne. He didn’t make any excuses, and he always had a good rapport with the public,” De Coster said at the time. De Coster’s words were an understatement, if anything. Hurricane remains a legend to this day.Category
Class of 1999