Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

J L : No . 1 th ink fro m o ur st and point w e tend t o ex p lo it st adiu m M X . We reco gni ze th at th ey a re va lid ra cin g even ts , bu t we d o n 't p ret en d th a t t hey are mo tocross . We think they are more of a ci rcus than that. b ut the re is a pla ce for the m. They expose t he sport to a lot of p eo p le who would n o t normally be seeing it and that is the fu nction that I see them se rvi n g. If we e xpose en ough people to the sp ort , then we ca n turn th em on to the pure form an d get them to where the y wiII w ander aro und a real trac k to watc h and understand what's goi ng on . e.:\': It seems th at th e stad ium ex travaganzas tend to be somewhat unsafe especi ally when y ou h av e a full field of riders co m p e ting. Rl) : I thi nk it is very h ard to make a go od artificia l track . Especially when it is t o be used o n ly once. It costs much mo ney t o b uild a nd then yo u have to add fe nci ng a n d a ll t he ne cess ary th in gs. J L : A fte r request s fro m a lot of the riders w e too k the poin ts ( l n t e r ·A ~ I A , Trans -Alvl A o r Nation a l} a way fro m thos e events because we don't pretend th a t th cy a rc actually a rca l motocross. Th ey a re a good se ll ing job of the spo r t and th ey p a y a lot o f mo ney a nd rew a rd you if y ou 'r e lu c ky . C N: 0 0 the Feder a t ions in Eu ro pe ha ve eno ug h power t o regul at e tra cks an d pro moters? Ro: Fi rs t o f all yo u m u st und er stan d that in Belgium and in mo st co unt ries in Eu rope th at all indi vidual ca n n o t org anize a race; yo u must b e a ch a rt ere d cl ub . T o have an in te rna tio nal race you must have organi zed events fo r three years . A refer ee ha s the p owe r to say a gate is n ot h igh e no ugh or other th in gs but , in n ine chances of te n , he w on 't beca use he belo ngs t o another club a nd somed ay so m e o ne fr om t hi s p rom o tin g cl ub will be at h is cl ub's race . It 's too man y d ouble funct ions. CN: Do e s h avin g a club p ro m o te events make fo r a st ronger organization? Ro : No , I th ink t he American way is better . Yo u must have so me reg ulations. t hough , a nd so meone to ap ply th em . JL : We've go t t he rules an d the h ammer to ap p ly t hem . It's j ust a matter of d o in g it. CN : It a pp ear s that q uite o ft en a good facilit y wi ll not ge t a sa nc tio n w hil e a poorer o ne wil l. J L: We j us t fi nis h e d w ith the Pr ofessiona l Rules Committee m ee t in gs an d a ft er checkin g th e a p p lica t io ns fo r nex t yea r's races I b e lie ve tha t no o ne who had a go od t rack we n t wantin g. There are a lot o f pie -in -th e -sky pe o ple there ; ones w h o a rc go ing to do this an d t hat a nd very few of th e m got e ven ts , a t lea st not th e b ig race s . \\'e o perate o n a theo ry o f giving th e m a q ua lifier a nd "A merican riders have no heroes to look up -to " seei ng how they hand le t hat ; the n we go from there . In Euro pe they h ave had many y ears to organize races. He re we're j ust sta rting and it 's getting pre tt y diffi c u lt to co me up with eigh t o r nine good tra c ks fo r a se ries a nd ge tti ng- th em sp read th rough out the U. S . _ JW : You ca n ' t make e veryone ha ppy , but I t hin k that the maj o rity of t he races t hat I've run thi s year were prett y good . T hen . o f co urse , the re was Uta h . PK : A lso , it you hav e a club b e h ind t he e ven t, y ou have a lo t mo re han ds tha t ca n hel p you. O ne pro moter only h as t wo hand s so h e h as to b uy h is hel p . J L: T h a t is a problem th a t m a n y promo ters ' c ry abo u t: th e large expense of e x tra help , II d o cs ta ke a good hun k o f m oney . IIA : I thi nk as far as dub organi zing for th e ra ces goes t hat th ey arc als o in th a t sit uation because mainl y it 's o nly t w o o r t hree peop le w ho do the work while the o ther ones co me 10 see the e vent. CN : I' d like to ge t b ac k o n t he subject o f t ra c ks. fl o w do o urs co m pare? 111\: It's much more easy he re . The tracks are not diffi cult. eN: Too eas y for you ? 111\ : ~ Iay bc no t to o e asy, but ver y much differen t from Europe. .\ J : 1 have the sa me o p in ion . Th e New York trac k- Un ad illa was very go od, o ne o f th e best , It see ms like a lmos t all your tra ck s a re m ade bv m achines . Thev ca n never be ~ood ; they must be laid ~ u t in th e natural te rrain. C:-I: \l'hat ar e S wed ish trac k s like ? ,\1 : \l'e ha ve b ad tra c ks al so. \\"e a re wor king o n the m . Our G P track s are bad a lso but I th ink we (t he riders ) have sta rte d to ma ke so me n oi se a nd the o rga ni ze rs arc st ar t in g to lis te n . C:'\ : \l'h y ca n ' t we give a b ook let to th e promoter to give him an idea o n wh at mo to cross tra ck co nd itio ns sho u ld be ? Jl. : It 's very diffi cul t to get across to some people to leave the track n atural. I thi nk t h e big thing is that thev a lso ru n a l o t of ama teur e ve n ts ' and the a mateur s want sm ooth tr acks . (Agree m e n t by m o st of t he people in the ro o m ) CN: But th a t's 'IT , not m o t oc ro ss. ./L : 1 u nde rstand tha t, but tha t 's wh at th e rider an d / o r hi s paren ts w an t. T he promoter has to run amate ur even ts , in mo st cases, t o su p p o rt hi s fac ilit y. C e rt ai n t ra cks don' t rely o n th a t pro ced u re t o keep t he m going a nd th o se are us ually t he nat ura l terra in that hasn 't been rid de n to deat h . If yo u lea ve a track rough o r natural the a ma te ur guys will start breaking wheels. falling a lot and tending to ride o ver their heads . C:\' o But doesn't Euro pe h ave the same problem t hen ? They h ave ama teur riders . J L: 1 think, if y o u look a t it , that Europe is t he breeding grou nd o f the best riders in the world an d always ha s been . althou gh w e m a y be catch ing u p a little. Amate u rs in Euro pe ride on the sa me tracks as th e pro s. Our A ma te urs are spoiled; t hey ride o n smooth tra cks so . tha t by the tim e th ey a re a pro a nd adj ust to the ro ugh tra cks they are ei ther o ld or bro ke n . C:\'o Is it easy to ge t a sponsorsh ip in Eu ro p e ? Rl) : It is d ifficult to ge t a sp onsorsh ip in Eu rop e. He re in Ame rica, if a rid er wi n s o ne or tw o races h e a lread y thinks abo u t being sponso red . In Europe you h ave to wi n a cham p io n sh ip b e fore so mebody th in ks to sp o nso r you . I feel th a t ma ny o f t he American rider s think t oo ea rly abou t m aki ng a lo t o f m o ney fro m racing . Money be comes much mo re importan t th an it sho u ld b e . eN : Ho w lo ng were you an unsp onsored rid e r Ro ge r ? RD : I w as si x ye a rs d o in g every t h ing my self. T ha t was going to a race rac ing bot h classes then b uying p ar t s to fix th e b ike m y self. HA : I got a sponsor aft er I was second in the Sw edish cha mpio ns hi ps . AJ : It w as also t he sa me for me . T h e yea r 1 won the Swedish championship (19 64 ) 1 got a sponsorsh ip fro m the Husqvarn a factory . At that ti me t he on ly other rider sponsored in Sweden was Torsten Hallman. Befo re that I had my o w n bike a nd d id m y o w n wo rk o n it. Now things have ch anged because motocross is a lot more pop ular. There are man y motocross racers and it is easier to get a b ike . CN: Wh a t will it ta ke to make the American mo to cross race r a better rider ? JL : I'd like to see a re-d ire cted e mphasis o n t he a ma te ur rider program . That's whe re o ur guys a rc co m ing from 'a nd as lo ng as they want smoot h tracks and a he lping h and all the time t hen we'll still be the three years away th at we w er e in 1967. lts got to co me from the bott om. The riders have desire but rhev d on 't have the real background that the Europea n riders grew up w ith . T here has n' t b ee n a World Champio n from Am e rica so we have a w hat -t he -hell atti tu de a nd as lo ng as that p revail s w e w on' t f lood t he G P ranks w it h Am e rican names . II a ll goes back to I he ama te ur Ic\'C'I : maybe w hat we need is a program o f sc hoolboy scrambles like the y ha ve in Engl and where it's pUT<' spo rt. ~ laybe we can get awa y from the co mmerc ia l aspect , al th ough 1 don't th ink we will. ~ Ii n ib i k e and am ateur races make mo ney for peop le a nd hell, we're in A me rica and it 's the lan d the d o llar b ui lt . • Special Christmas Sale Racing Accessories Stree t Accessories Christmas Specials on riding apparel Helmets, boots, gloves, le athers, tires, monoshock bicycle frames , & many more items to choose from. mail order Jack Hateley Ent. Eddie Mulder Accessories 18552 Parthenia Northridge, CA 91324 213-886-8432 ! !i~~~~~~~~~~~~~t;:;J. ~ One coupon per cus to m er i I ~ ~ ~ ~ 1\ ~ ~ cert.ficate For Pay to ~5 ap~::e:~:::~~I.~'0.00 . accesso~ 53 00 purch a se th a t e xceeds in accesso ries (Valid u ntil Jan. 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