Bruce Ogilvie: 2016 Trailblazers H.O.F. Inductee

Bruce Ogilvie was born in 1953. His father, Don, was an avid off-road rider and Bruce’s happiest memories were of riding through the desert with his dad. As Bruce grew he graduated from his first bike—a Tohatsu 50—to larger and faster motorcycles and began racing in the hotly contested District 37 Desert Series. By the time he was a teenager Bruce was one of the top riders in the series.

Ogilvie’s desert racing career soon led him to the biggest prize a dust buster could go for, the Baja peninsula. His first win came at the Baja 500 in 1975, followed that same year by a victory in the Baja 1,000. More wins would follow in Baja and around the world. In his career Bruce was a 4-time Baja 1,000 winner; Baja 500 winner; San Felipe 250 winner; ISDE Gold Medalist and much more.

Even while he was still a competitive racer Bruce was recruited by Honda to manage the company’s off-road efforts. He started working for American Honda in 1984 and became a lead developer of Honda’s CRF/CRX motorcycles, and eventually rose to be the Senior Test Evaluator for Honda’s Product Evaluation department. His greatest achievement as a manager was Honda’s unbroken string of victories in the Baja 1,000. From 1996 to 2013 a Honda stood at the top of the podium at the finish line of the Baja 1,000.

Bruce Ogilvie was the only man in history to win the Baja 1000 overall in four different decades—he posted his last overall win in 2003 at the age of 51. He died on April 13, 2009 after a two-year battle with cancer, and was inducted the following year into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

The Trailblazers are proud to remember the spirit and accomplishments of Bruce Ogilvie and induct him posthumously into our Hall of Fame.