Steve Baker

Steve Baker (born September 5, 1952) is an American former professional motorcycle racer. He competed in AMA dirt track and road racing competitions from 1973 to 1976 and in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships in 1977 and 1978. Baker is notable for being the first American competitor to win a road racing world championship when he won the 1977 Formula 750 title.

Bespectacled and soft-spoken, the diminutive Baker had an unassuming demeanor that was the antithesis of a stereotypical motorcycle racer. Standing only tall, he was on the leading edge of a wave of American and Australian riders bred on dirt track racing who dominated the 500cc road racing World Championships throughout the 1980s. Baker was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999. When Yamaha of Canada's rider, Yvon Duhamel, left to join the Kawasaki factory racing team in 1971, Baker was offered Duhamel's place on the team with Bob Work as his team mechanic. He then switched to road racing and began competing in Canada, becoming a three-time Canadian champion.

Baker was one of only five riders to receive a special OW31 Yamaha TZ750 from the Yamaha factory for the 1975 season.

Although Baker's Yamaha motorcycle experienced a mechanical failure while leading the 1976 Daytona 200, he won the prestigious Imola 200 pre-season race in Italy. He then traveled to Great Britain to compete for the North American team in the 1976 Transatlantic Trophy match races which, pitted the best British riders against the top North American road racers on 750cc motorcycles in a six-race series.

Baker returned the United States to compete in the AMA Grand National Championship where he earned his first AMA national victory when he won the Loudon Classic. He finished the year by winning the Mallory Park Race of the Year, defeating the reigning World Champion Barry Sheene and multiple World Champion Giacomo Agostini amongst others. By the end of the 1976 season, Baker was considered to be Kenny Roberts' equal in road racing.

World Championships Baker's impressive results earned him a promotion to compete in the 500cc World Championship as well as the Formula 750 World Championship as a member of the Yamaha factory racing team alongside Agostini and Johnny Cecotto. He went on to score five victories along with three second places and two third places to clinch the 1977 Formula 750 World Championship. His victory marked the first time that an American competitor had won an FIM road racing World Championship.

Whereas the Yamaha TZ750 dominated the 750 class, in the 500 class, Baker had to contend with a field of competitors riding the dominant Suzuki RG 500 motorcycle, led by the defending World Champion Barry Sheene and his factory Suzuki teammate, Pat Hennen.