Ryota Haga was killed last Sunday in a race in Japan when his motorcycle stalled on the grid and he was struck from behind. I wrote this story about Ryo in 2009 after Portimao WSBK.

Anyone who worked in WSBK in the late 2000s knew of Ryota and his siblings from their antics on their bicycles in the paddock. They raced up and down the paddock as fast as they could, all weekend long, shouting to each other in Japanese, English and Italian. If they were told to knock it off and slow down (countless times some days) they did so, until they were out of sight of the adult yelling at them, then it was back to WFO. When they grew tired of that chaos they'd stop at a random hospitality for refreshments, piling their little bikes right in front of the entrance.

I'll always remember Ryota’s wild, joyful grin as he led the pack, pedaling furiously through the old WSBK paddock. --DFA


For the better part of two seasons, just walking in the WSBK paddock was at times hazardous.

You'd be walking along, minding your own business, trying to dodge mechanics or fans, and suddenly people would scatter like they'd just stepped on a layer of ball bearings. Out of the sea of knees, tiny bicycles would burst into sight, and tiny mops of hair would stream past, brushing against you as a tiny body pedaled hard, and then they were gone. Hey! You Kids! Slow Down! Ryo! Hey! Pronto!

Welcome to the bicycle banditos of World Superbike.

Ryota Haga, his siblings, and their friends were a charming component of what made World Superbike so much more friendly to both fans and those who work in the series.

The joyful chaos they brought created a sense of community, blending the fierce world of professional racing with a playful, family-oriented atmosphere. Their crazy laughter echoed through the paddock, a reminder that even in a high-pressure environment like WSBK, racing was a passion passed down through generations.




Kids in the paddock and second-gen racers are nothing new. Riders like Miguel DuHamel, Valentino Rossi, and (the late) Nicky Hayden grew up in the paddock. DuHamel, for example, had been to Laguna Seca a half dozen times before he ever raced there, watching his dad compete for Kawasaki and Yoshimura. He and his older brother Mario even set up a minibike trash barrel race course at the age eight. That fun lasted only one day before the AMA overlords put a stop to it.