Roads Rider of the Year: 3rd - Peter Hickman

After another epic season of racing, MCN’s sports team of Michael Guy (Sports Editor), Simon Patterson (MotoGP Reporter) and Oli Rushby (Superbike Reporter) sat down to discuss who impressed them the most in each race series we cover to establish MCN’s top five riders in each category.

And with this year’s insanely close road racing season, it wasn’t an easy call to decide who deserved what spot in our top five riders of the year. Here’s what we think –  but feel free to disagree with us in the comments!

3^rd – Peter Hickman   

Since becoming the Isle of Man TT’s fastest ever newcomer in 2014, Peter Hickman has continued to rise through the ranks of road racing, but 2017 saw him fully establish himself as a front runner.

While that debut mountain course win just eluded him, the Lincolnshire ace managed to bag a whopping five podiums from five starts at this year’s TT show he’s not far away.

After pushing Ian Hutchinson all the way in the opening Superbike race, Hickman lost out on a chance to push for victory as his BMW started to run out of fuel on the final lap, but he’d still record a debut TT podium with second place.

From there they just kept on coming, with a surprise third place in the Supersport race aboard the Trooper Triumph. Hickman’s 100% podium record continued with another second place in the Superstock outing, before another shock podium in the Lightweight race after Ivan Lintin suffered issues.

He’d crown off his epic TT with another runner-up spot in the blue riband Senior race.

Off the back of his TT success, Hickman went to the Ulster Grand Prix riding the crest of the wave. He’d dominate practice and qualifying at the iconic Dundrod circuit, before going on to take four victories including the Dundrod 150 Superbike race. He’d unfortunately miss out on a clean sweep after being pipped by Bruce Anstey in the first Ulster GP Superbike race and then suffering an engine blow out in the second.  His year finished with second place at the Macau Grand Prix.  

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