At 34, Dominique Aegerter is the most famous Swiss motorbike pilot

The motorbike season ended on Sunday with the last GP in Barcelona. The balance sheet from a Swiss perspective: Noah Dettwiler (19) will not be the next Tom Lüthi. The best and most famous Swiss motorbike pilot is still Dominique Aegerter (34). Our motorbike world is surprisingly similar to our… tennis scene.

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The “Belle Epoque” is over. The shining figure Tom Lüthi (elected “Swiss Sportsman of the Year” ahead of Roger Federer in 2005) no longer drives. Noah Dettwiler, the only Swiss in the GP circus, has made no progress apart from a small highlight at the US GP. The most famous of all Swiss asphalt cowboys is still the old warhorse Dominique Aegerter (34), who once challenged Tom Lüthi in vain.

Federer (left) congratulates Lüthi on the award.Bild: PHOTOPRESS

All of this reminds us astonishingly of our tennis world: here too, the “Belle Epoque” has long been history. The shining light Roger Federer no longer plays. Dominic Stricker (22), the greatest talent, has made no progress apart from a small highlight at the US Open. The old warhorse Stan Wawrinka (39), who once unsuccessfully challenged Roger Federer, is still the most famous of all.

Dettwiler only scored once

Noah Dettwiler only scored world championship points once in his first GP season in the wild Moto3 World Championship: in 14th place at the USA GP. Otherwise he did not achieve any rankings in the top 15. In 20 races he has only finished in the top 20 seven times and in the final World Cup he is ranked 25th. No progress since his first GP.

Although no Swiss motorcycle racing driver has ever had such good conditions at the start of his career as Dettwiler: preparation in Spain, looked after by specialists of all stripes, Tom Lüthi as an advisor, a good team and no money worries. In his case there are no excuses, otherwise cheap in motorcycle racing.

His critics say he is simply not good enough for a Moto3 World Championship and point out that he has never finished higher than 5th place in over 100 races at various levels at international level. His supporters warn that Jason Dupasquier, at the same age, did not score any points in his first season in the Moto3 World Championship and then fell behind in the second year. The tragedy of this career: Dupasquier, by far the greatest talent since Lüthi, had a fatal accident in his second year on May 30, 2021 at the Italian GP in Mugello.

Second chance 2025

The “Noah Dettwiler Project” is designed to last two years and is financed for two years. So he will compete again in Alain Bronec’s team in 2025. In a Moto3 World Championship that is wild, balanced and at a higher level than perhaps ever before.

Dettwiler in spring in Qatar.Bild: keystone

Media interest in road racing focuses almost exclusively on the Grand Prix circuit. The superbike scene is demanding and spectacular. But the races take place largely to the exclusion of a large sporting public: TV images are only available on private niche channels or on the Internet. Anyone who manages to stay in the conversation beyond the motorcycle scene under these circumstances must achieve something extraordinary. Dominique Aegerter still manages to do exactly that.

Aegerter finds a way

How is it possible that he is still the most famous Swiss motorcycle racing driver? In autumn 2019, after an unsuccessful Moto2 World Championship season, he left the GP stage after more than ten years. He is already 29 years old at this point and has the future behind him. In 99 out of 100 cases, a Swiss rider’s international motorbike career comes to an end without appearing on the GP stage.

But Aegerter finds a way. He will spend a year in the racing series with battery bikes and in 2021 he will enter the superbike scene. As in the GP circus (MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3), there are three classes in the superbike business: Superbike, Supersport and Supersport 300. Aegerter immediately dominated the 2021 Supersport World Championship and defended the title in 2022. At the same time, he will also win the battery motorcycle championship in 2022.

Winners remain in the conversation. What also helps him: He can keep the number 77, which he has developed into his trademark over the years in the GP circus.

Bon vivant Aegerter in Australia.Bild: keystone

Contract extended by one year

In autumn 2022, at 32, Dominique Aegerter is actually too old for a new challenge. But he dares a new adventure: He leaves the Supersport World Championship, which he could have continued to dominate almost at will, and moves up to the Superbike World Championship. Yamaha is giving him the chance in the “premier class” of the superbike scene.

Aegerter finished the first Superbike World Championship in 2023 as the second-best Yamaha rider in 10th place. He exceeds expectations and the extension of his contract with Yamaha is logical. In 2024 it was “only” enough to finish 16th in the final World Cup. After a good start to the season, technical deficiencies became apparent and after a training crash on his mountain bike, he had to miss 9 of 36 races. He got the best out of a difficult situation and Yamaha has now extended the contract for another year.

The Rohrbacher will drive the 2025 Superbike World Championship in the same team. So next season he will compete under the same conditions but against even stronger and better motorized competition. Winning the World Cup is not possible. He has learned to live with it and is adapting. The legendary end-of-season party at Campus Perspectives in Huttwil on December 7th is no longer called the “World Champion Party” like it was in 2021 and 2022. It is now simply “Domi Fighter’s Racing Party” again. It will still rock. Even after the 2024 season, Aegerter is still the best-known, most famous motorcycle racing driver in the country.

What does the future hold?

The next Dominique Aegerter is still not in sight, and the next Tom Lüthi is certainly not in sight. Are there no other talents besides Noah Dettwiler? Daniel M. Epp once made Tom Lüthi’s career possible. Today he is one of Dettwiler’s sponsors and a benefactors’ association that aims to support Swiss talent.

Epp has a good overview and currently sees a talent with potential: Lenoxx Phommara (17). He will also be racing at the highest junior level (Red Bull Rookies Cup) next season. Connoisseurs say Phommara is more snappy and talented than Dettwiler. With the profile of becoming the next Dominique Aegerter.

Jannik Sinner crowned his year with a home victory at the ATP Finals in Turin. The 23-year-old world number one beat American Taylor Fritz 6:4, 6:4 in the final in 1:24 hours.

For Jannik Sinner, who won his first Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and US Open in 2024 and remained without losing a set in all five games in Turin, it is the eighth tournament victory of the season. He ends the year at the top of the world rankings, more than 3,000 points ahead of Alexander Zverev.