Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Cycle News 1979 09 26

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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The revised Trens-AMA. now called Trans-USA MX Series. hes received a complete restructuring for 1979. WID It breathe new life Into the dying series? Trans-USA MX Series Preview A new name, but the same exciting game By Gary Van Voorhis The 10th anniversary of international motocross in the U.S. marks a hoped-for rebirth of high energy competition between America's best and the rest of the world. The $100,000 Trans-USA MX Series sports not only a new name, but also revamped rules and an addition . to the program in the form of a 16 match race. The changes are an at· tempt to spark a growth in what was once the most interesting and eagerly awaited series on the MX scene. The Trans· USA will still provide the only battleground ':'here champions and challengers from all three National Championship classes can go heads up to see who really is the best. . However, the additional flavor of foreign riders, which in the Series' formative years ~ade it so popular, has been steadily declining in past seasons. This year appears no dif· ferent. The tide of foreign entries began to decline in the mid 1970's. The reasons are threefold: Money, the emergence of tbe U.S. as a formidable power in MX and logistics. On the money side of things purse money once ravaged by expenses and Uncle Sam's cut make racing in the series a financial disaster for an, but those with factory or big bucks sup' port. T·he second and third reasons are somewhat inter· related with the first. American riders are kicki'ng the hell out of foreign riders on nearly every occasion that they come to the U.S. The lone exception is the 500cc USGP where an American has yet to win overall. Thus, the odds on a guaran· teed top placing which were decidedly in favor of the foreign rider in the early 70's have now shifted. In ad· dition, there are still places where post·GP series take place that are ripe for cherry picking . Australia, and South Africa to name two. Logistically, the distance between the five events is more than some foreign riders travel in two seasons. What that boils down to is the intelligence of travelling 3,000 or more miles to probably get beat and more likely make little or no money. To make the series more attractive to all riders, the AMA liberalized equipment rules and added ~ new item to the program. Prior to this year, riden in the Trans· USA· (Trans·AMA) MX Series International class were restricted to Open (335·5OOcc two·stroke/361-500cc four-stroke) class machinery. No longer. Both the International and National classes will n

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