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The first edition of the Daytona 200 was held in 1937, and in 81 years of history (it was not run from 1942 to 1946 due to the Second World War) only one Italian rider has managed to win it: Giacomo Agostini in 1974 on his debut with Yamaha. As he declared in our interview, Niccolò Canepa will participate in the 2024 edition and will also be on a motorcycle from the Iwata company, an R6. The world endurance champion will therefore follow in the footsteps of the legendary Ago, trying to beat the Americans on home ground.
Lucchinelli and Guareschi also succeeded in the past. In fact, both triumphed in the 200 Miles race in the Batlle of the Twins category: Marco achieved success in 1987 with a Ducati 851, Gianfranco won both in 2006 and 2007 with a Moto Guzzi MGS 01.
It won't be easy for Canepa because there are 67 riders entered for this edition, representing 13 different nations. There will be last year's winner Josh Herrin, Brandon Paasch and Danny Eslick (also past winners at Daytona), 13-time TT winner Peter Hickman, 4-time AMA SBK champion Josh Hayes, 3-time Canadian SBK champion Ben Young and 2 time British Superstock champion Richard Cooper.
“We are really pleased with the number of entries for this year’s Daytona 200, and also with the amount of foreign riders who are coming to race,” said MotoAmerica President Wayne Rainey. “It shows how popular the Daytona 200 is as one of the biggest races in the world. We’re excited to start our 10th year of MotoAmerica, this year at Daytona, and we wish all our riders the best of luck. It’s going to be a lot of fun to watch.”
The race is scheduled for March 7th.
