Rennie Scaysbrook | January 20, 2024
Current MotoAmerica Stock 1000 and King of The Baggers Champion Hayden Gillim will have a new teammate in 2024 at Rocco Landers joins the RevZilla/Mission/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson team.
Landers will fill the void left by James Rispoli, who departs the team to take up the second seat at the factory Harley-Davidson team alongside former champion, Kyle Wyman.
Below is a press release from the RevZilla/Mission/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson team on the new venture.
Gillim will have a new and younger teammate next year to keep him on his toes.
Vance & Hines Motorsports, a leading force in the world of motorcycle racing, will defend its MotoAmerica Mission King Of The Baggers Championship with the man who won the title in 2023, Hayden Gillim. Gillim will lead a two-rider RevZilla/Mission/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson team and will be joined by rising star Rocco Landers.
Hayden is coming off his best season of racing to date, highlighted by his Mission King Of The Baggers Championship on the Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Road Glide. In a battle that went to the final round in New Jersey, Hayden came out on top with three victories and 10 podiums in 14 races, including eight podiums in a row when it mattered most to close out the season.
“We had a great season last year and winning the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship was a highlight for me,” Gillim said. “We had to come from behind to catch up, but we got the results when we needed them at the end. I’m a family man and the Vance & Hines team is really like a big family. Everyone on the team worked hard for our success and I’m looking forward to trying to defend our championship. I can’t wait to get started and Daytona can’t get here soon enough.”
Rocco Landers will be a force on the Harley-Davidson this year.
Landers will be making his Mission King Of The Baggers debut at Daytona International Speedway in March. Landers, a two-time MotoAmerica Junior Cup Champion and the 2020 MotoAmerica Twins Cup Champion, is the win leader in both of those classes with 15 Twins Cup victories and 29 Junior Cup wins. Additionally, Landers has four victories in the highly competitive Supersport class, which gives him victories in three different MotoAmerica classes and 48 wins overall.
“I’m so excited for the season to get here,” Landers said. “I’ve never had an opportunity like this, and I plan on making the most of it. I got the chance to test the Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson this off-season and I felt comfortable on it straight away. It will be a lot of fun racing in that class, and I can learn a lot from Hayden (Gillim) and the team. Let’s go racing.”
“I’m really happy with the team we’ve put together for the 2024 season,” said Vance & Hines Motorsport owner Terry Vance. “We’ve got a good mix with Hayden (Gillim) and Rocco (Landers) and I know we’re going to get good results from both of them. Hayden had a tremendous year and brought us our first King Of The Baggers title and we know he will be at the front again this year fighting to defend that title. Rocco brings a lot of youth to the team, and I think he will be a quick study and will surprise people with his speed on the Bagger.”
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