Cycle News

CN III CARRUTHERS SAYS P88 BY PAUL CARRUTHERS TROUBLING TIMES E ven the most ardent nonBlake Young fan can't argue the simple fact that the two-time AMA Superbike Championship runner-up should be getting himself ready for another assault at the AMA Superbike title. Even though he stumbled a bit last year, over the past two seasons he's still one of only a very few riders in AMA racing who has shown that he's at least capable of beating Josh Hayes. And even though his 2012 season didn't live up to expectations – his and everyone else's – let's not forget that when they added up the points at the end of the season, he still had the second most. Let's not forget that Young won seven races in 2011 and three in 2012. That's 10 in the past two years. The dominant Hayes has won 19 over the same time span. Tommy Hayden, another without a ride, won eight races in 2010 and 2011. And the rest of them… you can count their combined wins on one hand. But instead of licking his chops in anticipation of a full plate of racing in 2013, Young is slowly coming to grips with the fact that instead he only has part-time work on the schedule. And he feels fortunate to have that. Thanks to Attack Performance and team owner Richard Stamboli, Young at least has three U.S. Grand Prix wild card rides to look forward to. The Wisconsinite will ride the team's Kawasaki-powered CRT bike at the Circuit of The Americas, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway rounds of MotoGP, but prior to and in between those three starts, he will do what top riders without rides do these days. Like hungry lawyers, they chase ambulances. don't start the season with one. Just ask Tommy Hayden. When Garrett Gerloff suffered a broken leg in the opening practice session at Daytona, Yamaha had Hayden on speed dial and it was a ride he got to keep for the rest of the season. Since Hayden had also proved in 2010 and 2011 that he too was capable of racing with Hayes, it's also a sign of the THE ANSWER FOR YOUNG IN 2013 MIGHT BE TO CHASE AMBULANCES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC. "At this point, I really don't have a full-season ride in AMA," Young said last week in the palatial Cycle News offices. "I'm going to probably end up sitting on the sidelines and watching, but if there's any opportunity that comes along throughout the year, I can jump on it." By opportunity, Young means someone else with a top-level ride getting hurt. These guys don't like to say it, and they definitely don't wish for it, but the nature of the business at this point is taking advantage of the situation if one of your comrades should suffer injury. In this day and age, that's how you get a ride if you times that he's once again on the outside looking in. But back to Young. At the moment he's searching for answers and keeping his options open. Wide open. When Young paid us a visit last week, Cycle News European Editor Alan Cathcart was also here. Young figured the guy with the British accent might have some answers. "How does an American racer get over to Europe to race," Young asked. "He buys himself a plane ticket and flies there," Cathcart deadpanned. It might not have been the an-

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