Mike Trimby will be named a MotoGP™ Legend in 2024, honouring a life dedicated to motorcycle Grand Prix racing. Trimby was the founder and CEO of IRTA, thereby becoming one of the most important figures in the history of motorcycle Grand Prix racing and playing a pivotal role in shaping the sport MotoGP™ has become.
To celebrate his contribution to the sport, he will become the first person inducted into the Hall of Fame wholly due to their work off-track.
That said, Trimby did begin his career as a rider and mechanic in the 1960s. However, he soon started to emerge as a key figure off-track and had established himself as such by the late 1970s. In 1982, the riders officially requested Trimby to act as their representative, something further formalised a few years later with the founding of the International Road Racing Teams Association (IRTA) in 1986, with Trimby at the helm.
Advocating for riders and teams, IRTA has remained a pivotal part of the sport. The huge progress in safety made since the organisation was founded is thanks in large part to the work undertaken by Trimby, his wife Irene, and IRTA.
1992 also marked the beginning of the great collaboration between the FIM, IRTA and Dorna Sports, which likewise owes much to the foundations laid by IRTA over the decade before, giving riders and teams a voice at the table.
Trimby will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in a ceremony at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, officially becoming a MotoGP™ Legend.
Irene Trimby: “Mike would have been very honoured about receiving this prestigious award, and everyone who knew him knows he never would have expected it either. It’s wonderful for his work and legacy to be acknowledged in this way, although I’m sure he might also have been a little embarrassed to see us putting on a ceremony and giving him a trophy! It’s also something very special for me, for everyone who worked closely with him, and everyone who continues to miss him very much. Thank you very much.”
Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports: “Mike’s contribution to motorcycle Grand Prix racing is truly monumental, and we’re proud to name him a MotoGP Legend. Since the concept of MotoGP Legends was born, it has always been about more than numbers. There are no criteria based on simple race wins or number of championships, it’s about contribution to the sport – be it off-track, on-track or a combination of the two. So it’s fitting that Mike becomes the first figure honoured purely for his off-track impact, as his work in this sport was truly second to none. It will be an honour for us, and for me, to induct Mike into the Hall of Fame. He is greatly missed and we race on in his memory.”
Mike Trimby will join the list of his fellow MotoGP™ Legends in the Hall of Fame: Giacomo Agostini, Hugh Anderson, Hans-Georg Anscheidt, Kork Ballington, Max Biaggi, Alex Crivillé, Mick Doohan, Stefan Dörflinger, Andrea Dovizioso, Geoff Duke, Wayne Gardner, Mike Hailwood, Nicky Hayden, Jorge Lorenzo, Daijiro Kato, Eddie Lawson, Marco Lucchinelli, Randy Mamola, Anton Mang, Jorge ‘Aspar’ Martinez, Angel Nieto, Dani Pedrosa, Wayne Rainey, Phil Read, Jim Redman, Kenny Roberts, Kenny Roberts Jr, Valentino Rossi, Jarno Saarinen, Kevin Schwantz, Barry Sheene, Marco Simoncelli, Freddie Spencer, Casey Stoner, John Surtees, Luigi Taveri, Carlo Ubbiali and Franco Uncini.
