10 motorcycle racing siblings

1. Michael, John and Eugene Laverty
The Northern Ireland-born trio, aged 35, 34 and 30 respectively, are household names among fans of top-level road racing. All three earned their stripes in the competitive British Supersport Championship and while middle brother John chose not to progress, both older brother Michael and younger brother Eugene went on to compete in both the superbike and GP world championships. As well as the Supersport World Championship and AMA Superbike Championship, Michael raced two seasons of grand prix in 2013 and 2014, as well as a one-off appearance the following year at the German GP. Eugene had a couple of seasons in the 250cc GP category before switching to world supersport where he finished runner up in two seasons. He moved up to world superbike in 2011 where he was a consistent front runner for four years before stepping up to MotoGP’s premier class for 2015 and 2016. Eugene is back in the world superbike paddock for 2017 with Aprilia and alongside Lorenzo Savadori. Michael is racing in the 2017 British Superbike Championship, while John is continuing his role as Eugene’s manager.

2. Jake and Matt Moss
Often clouded in controversy, twins Jake and Matt Moss are two of Australia’s most talented and successful off-road racers. The twins are multi-time Australian champions and competed with success in the hugely competitive AMA series in America. Jake became one of just a handful of Aussies who stood on the podium of 450cc AMA Pro Motocross round, Matt flourished in the AMA Supercross series and stood on the third step of the 2011 Motocross de Nations podiums alongside teammates Chad Reed and Brett Metcalfe. In May 2016, while back in Australia competing in the MX Nationals series, the duo failed a drug test conducted by the Australian Sports Anti-doping Authority and Jake was slapped with a four-year ban. And while Matt retired for so-called personal reasons before the results were published, he later responded saying: “I do not accept the results of the test and I am in the process of challenging those results.” The duo is currently working at their father’s motocross riding school, Moss Institute.

3. Murray and Jeff Sayle
Jeff and his elder brother Murray were two of four Sayle siblings born and raised in Sydney during the 1950s. Murray won a handful of Castrol 6-Hour races: he claimed the 250cc class in 1972 with brother-in-law Warren Willing and backed it up the following year with brother Jeff. He picked up the outright gong in 1975 with Gregg Hansford and the pair were the biggest names in Aussie road racing around the same time. Both the Sayle brothers ventured off to race grand prix machinery overseas. Murray lined up in both a 250cc and 350cc world championship race in 1979 and picked up 15 world championship points and Jeff was active on the world stage for 11 years between 1979 and 1989, picking up six podiums in the 250cc and 350cc categories. Jeff raced in no less than 13 TTs at the Isle of Man and narrowly missed out on a podium, finishing fourth on two occasions. Murray has worked for Kawasaki Australia for the last 30 years; he names his proudest racing moment as winning the Australian Unlimited Road Racing Championship in 1978 and says his biggest regret is not winning the 1977-78 New Zealand Marlboro 250 Series. Of course we can’t mention the Sayle brothers without tipping our lids to the other successful Australian-born racing siblings in Rob, Eric and Harry Hinton.

4. Sam and Alex Lowes
Identical twins Sam and Alex Lowes are currently at the top of their game. Both aged 26, Sam is currently competing in his rookie year in MotoGP with the Aprilia Racing Team after a successful (albeit crash-strewn) year in the competitive Moto2 paddock. His brother Alex is currently racing in his fourth consecutive season in the Superbike World Championship, his second with the Yamaha factory squad. The Britons cut their teeth in the British Superbike Championship before Sam made his world championship debut in world supersport in 2009, and while Alex had a wildcard ride in the 2006 125cc British GP, he made his world supersport debut a year after Sam, in 2010. Alex lofted the 2013 British Superbike Championship trophy in the same year Sam was crowned the 2013 British supersport champion.

5. Luca Marini and Valentino Rossi
The Moto2 Forward Racing Team rider, Luca Marini, is the maternal half-brother of nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi. Almost 20 years Valentino’s junior, Luca made his world championship debut with a one-off appearance in the Moto3 category at the 2013 San Marino Grand Prix and two years later would ride the same event on a Moto2 machine. He raced in the European Moto2 title in 2015 where he was a regular top-five finisher and made the switch to Moto2 in 2016. His best finish of sixth would see him finish the 2016 season 23rd overall and with one race under his belt for the 2017 season, he currently sits in sixth overall on 10 points. Rossi, who finished third at last weekend’s curtain raiser in Qatar, needs no introduction.

6. Brad and Darryn Binder
South African-born Binder brothers Brad and Darryn are currently competing in the Moto2 and Moto3 world championships respectively after both graduating from the Red Bull Rookies Cup. After claiming the 2016 Moto3 world championship in dominant fashion and becoming just the second South African rider to loft a grand prix title trophy after four-time world champ Kork Ballington, Brad has stepped up the switch to the Moto2 category for the current season. Darryn rode his first full season in the Moto3 category in 2015 and, after two seasons of lacklustre results, the youngest Binder is looking forward to a stronger 2017 season in Moto3 where, after the first round, he finds himself in 13th place.

7. Michael and William Dunlop
When you’re born into a family with as much talent and legacy as brothers Michael and William Dunlop were, you’re bitten by the motorcycle racing bug before you’re even born. Nephews of legendary 26-time TT winner Joey Dunlop and sons of the late, great Robert Dunlop, the mantle has now been passed to 27-year-old Michael and his 31-year-old brother William. They’re fierce rivals whose competitiveness has been widely publicised, though their results are quite different, especially at the TT. The mild-mannered William has left the Glencrutchery Road starting line on 34 occasions though has failed thus far to claim victory, while his outspoken brother Michael has claimed 13 wins from his 52 starts.

8. Nicky, Roger Lee and Tommy Hayden
Five years separate the Kentucky-born motorcycle-racing Hayden brothers. Born to flat-track mad parents between 1978 and 1983 (yes, even their mum Rose raced), it was inevitable the close-knit brothers were going to end up racing bikes. While they all started (and still dabble in) flat track racing, the three of them went on to make a career out of road racing. Eldest brother Tommy spend his career in the AMA series; he won Rookie of the year in 1998, claimed the 2004 supersport crown and finished runner-up to Josh Hayes in the superbike category his final year in 2010. As well as three appearances in GPs (two MotoGP rides and one Moto2 race), and one full season in the Superbike World Championship, Roger Lee has spent the majority of his career in the AMA Superbike Championship. Between 2004 and 2009, he won the supersport title once and finished runner-up twice. Middle brother Nicky has had the longest and most successful career of the three, the pinnacle of which came in 2006 when he claimed the MotoGP World Championship from Valentino Rossi. After 14 seasons in MotoGP and almost 220 starts, Nicky was named a MotoGP Legend just before his final race in the series. He has switched to the world superbike paddock for 2017 and is riding for the Red Bull Honda team.

9. Aleix and Pol Espargaro
Spanish grand prix stars Aleix and Pol Espargaro are the only brothers on this list racing in the same class and fighting for the same title. Both stars in the 2017 MotoGP World Championship, 25-year old Pol became the youngest rider to score a world championship point in 2006 when he was drafted into the 125cc championship to replace an injured rider. He raced in the feeder series until 2010 when he got his best result of third overall, before stepping up to Moto2 in 2011. After a learning year, he was runner-up in 2012 before winning the title in 2013, and then made the switch to MotoGP in 2014 where he currently races for the Factory KTM team in its debut year. The 27-year-old Aleix is currently one race into what is his 14th season in the MotoGP paddock. Having raced in the 125cc, 250cc, Moto2 and MotoGP categories since 2004, his best year came in 2014 when he dominated the premier category’s Open Class series. He’s scored factory rides ever since, two years with Suzuki in the 2015 and 2016 seasons; he’s with Aprilia for 2017 and he handed the Italian factory its best-ever result last weekend when he finished sixth overall.

10. Marc and Alex Marquez
In 2014, Marc and Alex Marquez rewrote history by becoming the first brothers to claim a grand prix world title in the same season. For older brother Marc, it was his second consecutive MotoGP crown that came easily, almost 70 points clear of his closest rival Valentino Rossi. It was a harder battle for Alex who battled to the very last corner of the last race with Aussie hard charger Jack Miller and finished the year only two points clear of the Queenslander. These days, 24-year-old Marc has notched up another premier-class world title, again with Repsol Honda, while the 20-year-old Alex has had mixed fortunes in the Moto2 category finishing 14th and 13th in the previous two seasons. The current season is his third with the Estrella Galicia Marc VDS Moto2 squad and he finished a solid fifth place at last weekend's season opener in Qatar.