{{short description|Canadian motorcycle racer (1880-1913)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox motorcycle rider | name = Jake DeRosier | nationality = {{flagicon|CAN|1868}} Canadian | birth_date = 1880 | death_date = {{Death year and age|1913|1880|2}} | TT Contested = 1 (1911) | TT Wins = 0 | TT Podiums = 0 }}
'''Jacob DeRosier''' (1880 – February 25, 1913) was a Canadian professional motorcycle racer. He was one of the first factory-backed motorcycle racers of the early 20th century. He rode for Indian and then Excelsior, and was the fastest rider in the United States in the early 1900s.<ref name="Jacob DeRosier at The Motorcycle Hall of Fame">[http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/hofbiopage.asp?id=95 Jacob DeRosier at The Motorcycle Hall of Fame] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216134845/http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/hofbiopage.asp?id=95 |date=2008-12-16 }}</ref>
== Early years == Jake DeRosier was born in Quebec, Canada in 1880 and came to the United States at the age of four. He started his bicycle racing career as a teenager. French auto racing driver Henri Fournier introduced DeRosier to motorcycles in 1898 while visiting the United States.<ref name="Jacob DeRosier at The Motorcycle Hall of Fame"/> Motorcycles like Fournier's were used to pace bicycle racers, drafting them in order to attain higher speeds. After acquiring skills with the motorbike, DeRosier was among the first to enter the new sport of motorcycle racing in 1901.
DeRosier earned a strong reputation as a daring rider not only by winning races, but bouncing back from numerous injuries. His diminutive physique, once described as "a slight, slender fellow that a strong Christmas breath might blow over," was actually an advantage. His light weight helped the primitive, low power motors of the time achieve greater speed.
== Factory rider for Indian == After winning top rider honors at the Federation of American Motorcyclists national championship in 1908 at Paterson, New Jersey, he attracted the attention of the Indian {{not a typo|Motocycle}} Company.<ref name="Jacob DeRosier at The Motorcycle Hall of Fame"/><ref>[http://www.indianmotorcycle.com/history/racingchampionships/tabid/100/default.aspx Jacob DeRosier at Indian Motorcycles.com]</ref> He was signed to a contract and began racing every week, amassing hundreds of victories over time. Like the bicycles, the motorcycles raced on wooden velodromes, {{convert|1/4|to|1/2|mi|km|spell=in}} saucer shaped board track speedways. This was dangerous as riders would crash into the boards, breaking bones and driving splinters deep under their skin.
DeRosier's reputation grew and by the time he entered the first motorized competition at the new Indianapolis Motor Speedway for their August 1909 Federation of American Motorcyclists (FAM) meet, newspapers called him "world champion." An injury on the Speedway's unpaved gravel surface nearly proved deadly. Severely injured in a match race with a top California rider named Ed Lingenfelder, DeRosier hemorrhaged for a week. Against doctors' advice, DeRosier entered a Lowell, New Jersey race just a few weeks later on September 10, 1909.
In 1910 he set the FAM speed record at {{cvt|79.6|mph}}. On February 7, 1911 he ran 90 consecutive miles to claim every FAM speed record from 1 to 100 miles.
In June 1911 DeRosier tackled the 1911 Isle of Man TT race.<ref name="Jacob DeRosier at The Motorcycle Hall of Fame"/> While he set fast time in practice, he crashed out of competition after leading early.<ref>[http://www.iomtt.com/TT-Database/competitors.aspx?ride_id=1 Charles Collier at iomtt.com]</ref> Redeeming himself, he defeated English Champion Charles Collier at the famous Brooklands oval speedway in a match race just a few days later.<ref name="Jacob DeRosier at The Motorcycle Hall of Fame"/>
At the Brooklands (England) races of July 8 he was recorded at {{cvt|87|mph}} (''The MotorCycle'' July 13, 1911). At Brooklands on August 5, 1911 he broke the outright speed record (held by Henri Cissac since July 1905) when he covered a flying kilo in 25.2 seconds equal to {{cvt|88.77|mph}}. He was riding his well known 7 hp Indian racer "No 21". (''The MotorCycle'' August 10, 1911).
== Move to Excelsior == After DeRosier returned from England in 1911, he had an argument with company founder George Hendee and was fired from Indian.<ref name="Jacob DeRosier at The Motorcycle Hall of Fame"/> He was immediately hired by Excelsior Motorcycles.<ref name="Jacob DeRosier at The Motorcycle Hall of Fame"/> He then set a kilometer speed record for Excelsior at {{cvt|94|mph}}.
== Injuries and death == While Jake DeRosier was widely respected for his skills at the wheel of a motorcycle, he spent much of his career injured in spectacular accidents. He broke his left leg three times, his left forearm once, had one rib removed, fractured his skull, severed an artery and suffered serious leg burns from flaming engines.
He suffered the most serious injuries of his career on March 12, 1912. Injuries to his left leg and thigh were extensive. He endured three corrective surgeries, losing his life to complications from the final operation on February 25, 1913.<ref name="Jacob DeRosier at The Motorcycle Hall of Fame"/>
== Notes == {{reflist}}
==References== *{{citation|work=Indianapolis Motor Speedway Red Bull Indianapolis GP Program|title=1909, The Great Motorcycle Invasion|date=September 14, 2008}} *{{citation|work=Indianapolis Motor Speedway Red Bull Indianapolis GP Program|title=Jake DeRosier - This Ain't No Tea Party|date=September 14, 2008}} *{{citation|publisher=American Motorcyclist Association Motorcycle Museum|url=http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?RacerID=95&lpos=-615px&letter=D&txtFname=&rblFname=S&txtLname=&rblLname=S&discipline=0|title=Motorcycle Hall of Fame biography|access-date=2013-06-05}} *{{citation|publisher=The Indianapolis Star|title=Jake DeRosier is Ambulance Hero|date=March 20, 1910|page=12}} *{{citation|publisher=The Indianapolis News|title=Motorcyclists Will Own City Next Week|date=August 7, 1909|page=8}} *{{citation|publisher=The Lowell Sun|title=Motorcycle Races|date=September 11, 1909|page=1}} *{{citation|publisher=The Elyria Evening Telegram (Ohio)|title=Four Tracks Safe for Big Cycles|date=April 27, 1911|page=3}} *{{citation|work=The New York Times|title=DeRosier Holds Record for Mile|date=December 31, 1911}} *{{citation|title=Isle of Man TT Official Web Site|url=http://www.iomtt.com/TT-Database/competitors.aspx?ride_id=1&filter=C|access-date=2008-12-31}} *Brooklands, William Boddy, William Boddy, 1957 & 2001, page 13. *{{citation|publisher=Oakland Tribune|title=DeRosier Coming Back to America|date=August 20, 1911|page=38}} *{{citation|author=Daniel K. Statnekov|url=http://www.statnekov.com/motorcycles/lives3.html|title=Pioneers of American motorcycle racing|access-date=2009-12-18}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Derosier, Jake}} Category:1880 births Category:1913 deaths Category:Canadian motorcycle racers Category:American motorcycle racers Category:Isle of Man TT riders