Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125694
... '" 0> '" Q. ~, 0>, o' N "American's No. 1 weekly motorcycle newspaper. You'll always see it FIRST in Cycle News!" Publ isher _ Charles Clayton Business Manager Sharon Clayton General Manager Tom Culp Advertising Manager Tom ;VIIalsh Ed itor ; Bob Sanford Assistant Editor John Bethea Circulation Manager Rheba Smith Lili Lakich Art Director Lab Technician Diane Sosnoski Advertising Asst Bruce Braly Bookkeeper Dorothea Lang Bookkeeper Eleanor Duke Receptionist Chris Pratt Circulation Asst Dorothy Apple Delivery .. . . . . . . : Larry Groves Cycle News East, Dixie Cycle News, and National Advertising information: Tom Culp. National Advertising Dir. Cycle News (West), P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, California 90801. (213) 427-7433 - L.A. 636-8844. TELEX NO. 673-474 Subscription: One year 2nd class mail Single copy price $7.50 $.25 Published weekly except the first and last week of the calendar year by Cycle News, Inc., Post Office Box 498, Long Beach, California, also publishers of Cycle News East, and Dixie Cycle News. Second Class Postage paid at Long Beach, Calif. Editorial stories, cartoons, photos, etc. are welcome. Write for information. • Addressed, stamped envelope assures return of editorial matter. Reprinting in whole or in part only be permission of the publishers. Advertising rates and circulation information will be sent upon request. 21 THINK ABOUT THIS: Let me begin by saying that I generally agree with your editorial policies; They are, on the whole, fair' and reasonably unbiased when compared to the "other" motorcycle publications. However, though I cannot support all the decisions made by the AMA, I do feel that your criticisms of them voiced in the Oct. 6th editorial to be a bit far fetched. If you will re-read the notice sent to the riders by Mr. Tom Clark you can see that the basis for rider selection for the UF eatured 'Main" to be as follows; "All entries will have to be submi tted on time on the official AMA entry fonns, and there will be no post entries allowed for the main event. The men to participate in the event will then be selected by the AMA and the promoter. It will but for different reasons. As you know, there will be two Champions at the end of the season; an overall champion decided by total points, and a National champion, decided by highest total points won by a competitor who has resided in the US for at least six montHs, or who has competed in at least ten AMA sanctioned pro events during the current year. It would seem, under this system, to be a simple matter for a European to take both titles, Overall AND National, simply by hitting the minimum number of required events, thereby voiding an obvious attempt by the AMA to promote a truly "National" star, which would, in turn, promote enthusiasm. But in your criticism you attack the decision to use total points in determining the Championship, as opposed to using the best four or six out of eight systeriJ.. You state that a consistently low placing rider who makes all eight events could possibly score higher in final points than one voice. be extremely important to us to make certain that all factories are fairly represented and that in the main event we have equally quali~ied riders. We feel this is very important to the overall safety of the riders competing." Now, maybe I'm missing the point, but it sounds to me as if the AMA is trying its best to promote a safe, exciting series of races, as opposed to the mess that could result from trying to adhere to everyone else's ideas of how to run a MIX series. For instance; Let's imagine you're Joe Spectator at the "First Annual LaRue, Ohio Trans-AMA Moto-Cross", and you show 'up on Sunday fully expecting to see Dick Mann, Mert LawwiU, Dave Aldana, et ai, battling it out on Greeves, Ossas and Huskies, when...Surprise! Good old Dick, Mert and little Davey got blown off on Saturday by local aces that win there every other weekend. Fair enough. So you get to see the fastest riders on the track; The same riders you saw last week...and the week before...and so on. But you did NOT get to see what you thought you paid for; Lawwill, Mann and Aldana. , "Oh, but that's not fair!" Of course it's not, but neither is it fair to exclude a talented rider like Alan Clough from the Inter-Am simply because he was not Swedish, as was done by good old Edison Dye. It seems fairly clear that the AMA is going about this thing correctly in first trying to go heavy on the promo tion end of racing by using established AMA stars in what is, to most people, an unfamiliar fonn of ,;acing. • for one, would be more interested in s.eemg Gen-e Romero on a CZ than I would Tim Hart, for example, simply because I have seen Tim ride, and I know he's fast, and extremely talented at MIX racing. But Romero, on the other hand, would be trying an almost completely new fonn of racing for the first time. 'Now THAT would be a gas to watcll. Nautrally, as time' ,progressed, the quick learners would assert themselves and make the selection much easier, and at the same time, fairer, but at least they would have the chance to sort themselves out a bit before the culling out process began after, say, one full season. You pointed out further that you think the point system to be used "stinks". Here I must agree with you, who only attended three races, but won all three. If this is the case, then someone had b.etter let Gene Romero know that he's not National Number One anymore; Jim Rice is, because .he won more races. Or maybe it's Dick Mann, since Daytona received the most publicity. As we both know, Mr. Sanford, professional racing of any kind is not for the little guy who likes to see if his Montesa is faster than Tim Harts'. As the rules stand now, an entrant is compelled to have at least two scooters; a heavyweight and a lightweight, before he can even send in an entry, since if he is not pick.ed for the Featured Main in one class, he will have to ride the Supporting Main in the opposite class. It is unfortunate that there are many talented riders who are not lucky enough to have a nice, kindly. old sponsor to rely on. But someone once told me about a certain National Number 18 who only rode four races during his first year as a professional, because he simply could not afford to travel to the distant events. Instead of browbeating the AMA about the poor, talented, "little guy", maybe you should be trying to loosen the purse-strin&s of the dealers and distributors and accessory houses and especially the manufacturers who are ge.tting fat using race oriented advertising, and giving little, or nothing to the racers who go out and generate that publicity practically for free. A prime case in point is a very large Japanese firms' American distributorship flatly, denying for many years, (or at least since the parent co~pany had bowed out of international competition) that racing success sold motorcycles; that is, until a certain Richmond y California -rider won the Daytona 200 on one of their four 'cylinder wheelbarrows. Th~ very same week, for crying out loud, there were posters, leaflets, skywriting, fireworks, bands plyajng, children laughing.....I hear they even tried to get a biIl passed through the Senate proclaiming a National holiday. And if you loo,ked very, very closely, you just might somehow discover that somewhere in all the flashy ad copy they actua:lly, if somewhat begrudgingly, admitted that there was, in fact, a lowly AMA racer- of some reput~, stashed somewhere amidst that bee-otiful, complex masterpiece of engineering science, (that you, by the (Please tum to pg. 27) Robert New Champion LAUNSDORF, AUSTRIA, October 4, 1970 - In the last round of World Championship 250cc Motocross, Joel Robert beat his Belgium teammate Sylvain Goehers to take the fantastically close race for the world championship. Robert took the lead in the first round with Goebers in hot pursuit. But Goebers bent his 'shift lever and lost a few vital seconds in straightening it. This put him out of contention. Meanwhile Robert, under great pressure fell down and aJI.owed Heiki Mikkola to slip by for the win. Robert was second, Goebers, third. I", the second round Robert again jumped into the lead ahead of Goebers arid the two went half the race that way. Then Goebers tried to pass and clipped Robert's wheel. Goebers went down; Robert didn't. Again Mikkola managed to get by f"t the win and Robert allowed fellow countryman DeCoster to get ahead so that Belgians are in the IITst three places in the championship table. In this round, it was Mikkola .IITst, Robert sc:cond, DeCoster third. The lmal Title positions are Robert, first (96), Goebers, second (94), DeCoster, third (74) and Mikkola, fourth (73). A number of records were broken by Robert's title win. Robert is the IITSt man to win the 250cc world title three consecutive times. He is now tied with Hallman for total world championships (four each). It is Suzuki's IITst world championship. Robert is reported to be quite exuberant; not only is he now world champion, but he is to be married this week to 27 year old Jeanine Bracq. Suzukis In MX Series? \ ' WORTffiNGTON, OillO, Oct. 12, 1970 - Suzuki factory motocross stars, Joel Robert and Sylvain Geboers, are once again the subject of spectulation, according to an AMA source. The two were scheduled to ride in either the Trans-AMA or Inter-Am series (depending on who you believed), but according to the AMA, both riders are in Jap;m "discussing business" with Suzuki officials. Earlier, Geboers was in t1)e middle of a controversy between Inter-Am promoter, Edison Dye and American Suzuki. Geboers had contracted to ride the Inter-Am series but the company was trying to prevent it because of differences with Dye. At last report, however, it appeared that Geboers wo.uld ride in the Inter-Am, and Robert the Trans-AMA_ There was no official explanation from the' AMA regarding Robert's absence at Sunday's first Trans-AMA event at LaRue, Ohio. But a spokesman did say that Robert was not under contract, and "If he rides (in the Trans-AMA series), he will appear at the IITst Heavyweight event, at Delta, Ohio, on Oct. 25." . American representatives for Suzuki were contacted earlier this week, regardmg the Geboers situation, but declined to state anything other than, "Geboers is under contract with Dye but Suzuki wishes he does not ride." Assault On The Salt BONNEVILLE, UTAH, Oct. 12,1970 - Harley-Davidson's assault on the ultimate motorcycle speed record came a step closer Sunday, as Cal Rayborn pJloted the 90 inch, gas powered streamliner to 212 mph, completing the preliminary runs and setting the stage for an all out attempt. Sunday's run, however, was not without difficulty, as the Dennis Manning-built shell went on its side, shortly after hitting the 2 I 2 mark. The damage was minor 3!'d expec,ted to be repaired today. , According to Bruce Flanders - the AMA official on hand for the run - the biggest problem so far has been the weather, with winds and even snow occurring with regularity. Flanders said, though, that the Harley group has "all the potential to set the record." But potential may not be enough. As Cal Rayborn said, "It was a lot easier to win Daytona twice than get this record." Meanwhile, Robert Leppan, the man who held the record for four years prior.to Don Vesco's record run three weeks ago, is on his way to the Sa:lt Flats with two Triumph Tridents mounted in his streamliner_ According to Flanders, Leppan should arrive Thursday. "I imagine, one way or the other, Vesco's record is going to get broken," Flanders added. Ascot MX To Friday LOS ANGELES, CALIF., Oct. 8, 1970 - Jim Wilson, the 19 year old star motocross rider from Torrance, has signed a contract with American Jawa and today picked up 250cc and 360cc CZ motocross machines, according to Ted Moore, the firm's western sales manager. Wilson will begin riamg the bikes as soon as he recovers from a minor foot injury, and plans are being finalized for his participation in the fifth Trans-AMA event at Dallas, Texas. Wilson, who has been riding Greeves for the past four years, said he is giving up the English bikes because he cannot get the machines or parts he needs. Wilson Mounts CZ GARDENA, CALIF. - CMC Motocross racing shifts into the Friday night (Oct. 16) slot at Ascot Park in Gardena next weekend. The motocross competition has been' one of the biggest crowd lures at the 183rd and Vennont Avenue plant this season. One of the big reasons is the huge field of competitors, which have been averaging nearly 300 weekly.