Robert William Hannah (born September 26, 1956) is an American former professional motocross racer. He competed in the AMA Motocross Championships from 1975 to 1989, most notably as a member of the Yamaha factory racing team. He was one of the most successful motocross racers in AMA history, with 70 AMA National race victories and seven motocross National Championships. Hannah was a brash and outspoken personality whose wild riding style, seemingly on the verge of losing control and often with his feet off the foot pegs, earned him the nickname, "Hurricane Hannah". His physical fitness, fierce determination on the race track and a hatred of losing, reshaped American motocross by boosting the speed and competition to higher levels. He was at the forefront of a surge in American motocross competition in the late 1970s and early 1980s that saw American riders overtake and surpass the previously dominant European motocross riders. Hannah was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2000. Early motocross career Hannah was born in Lancaster, California on the edge of the Mojave Desert. He grew up riding in the rugged Southern California deserts with his father but, because his father thought motocross was too dangerous, he didn't begin to compete in motocross racing until he was 18 years old and living on his own. A few weeks after his high school graduation, Hannah borrowed a friend’s 250cc CZ motorcycle on a challenge and won his first and only amateur motocross race on July 7, 1974, at Indian Dunes near Valencia, California, after which race officials told him he would have to move up to the expert class. In his next race, Hannah finished fourth. It would take several months before he won another event. Mick McKee, whom Hannah credited for starting his professional career, took the young rider as a student and put him through a system of daily muscle and stamina-building workouts along with weekend trips to area motocross tracks to analyze, evaluate and improve Hannah’s evolving technique. McKee also introduced Hannah to Steve Hurd, a local motorcycle dealer, who sold him a new Husqvarna motocross bike and became a sponsor and parts supplier. Hannah’s hard work and training soon began to pay dividends over the spring and summer of 1975. At one point, he won 18 straight races in ten days by competing