Former factory Yamaha and Suzuki racer Scott Burnworth has passed away suddenly. It is believed he had a heart attack.

Californian Burnworth was well known as a top minibike racer then factory supercross and motocross racer in the early 1980s. Our photo, taken by MotoHead’s Adam Duckworth in 1982, was at the Los Angeles Coliseum Supercross where Scott was a team-mate to Broc Glover and Mike Bell on factory Yamahas.

Burnworth was one of the riders from the ‘El Cajon Zone’ near San Diego that included Broc Glover, Ricky Johnson and Ron Lechien. Lots of Californian riders dominated USA motocross in the 1980s, packing the factory teams’ line-ups.

In recent years Scott raced in the Farleigh VMXdN where he was a hit with his British fans. He was 61.