Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

David Bailey: " No one knows how much ta lent it takes to race a motorcycle - it looks so easy on TV." How To: Be a Motocross Star! By David Bailey with Thomas Scott Part Four: Public relations - projecting professionalism In the first part of m y series I di scussed how to start planning yo u r career, and now I d like to tell you how to approach life on th e road o nce yo u start following a race. circuit full-tim e, like I do. 20 Without a doubt, public relations is really important if you ever pl an to go anywhere with your racing career, or if you plan to get an y respect from your sponsors. It makes you feel good to get up and talk to a stadium full of people at a Supercross, but being able to do that takes a certain skill and so me practice. When I'm up there, 70.000 people are focusing on what I'm saying. so it had better be right. In this section of my series I'd like to give you an outline and a few pointers on how I handle the PR end of things as a MX star. " When I go to a press day (which are held prior to supercross races) I go there to tal k. to represent my sponsors in the best possible wa y, and to make myself known to the media people who attend. Too many riders go to press day to ride the track. It's a privilege to ride that track; riders should be attending press day to make them selves available to the press , a nd to answer a ny questions tha t wo u ld help the press cover supercross. My main purpose is a lways to ma ke th e sport sound positive and good. and that 's been a bit difficult for me this year d ue to some of th e p ro blems I've encountered regarding rule changes a nd the promotion o f th e sport. Sometimes I feel it's righ t to say what I feel and what I believe, instead of saying wh at a lot of people would like to hear. I'v e don e th at so me this year, an d a bunch of peop le listened to what I had to sa y. I'm not reall y proud of that , but I am proud that I spoke up. People started realizing that we onl y get paid Sl ,500 to win a main event, instead of the five grand many thought we were getting. Part of PR is letting the fans be aware of what is going on. but you have to be as professiona l as possible about it. My overall goal is to make m yself and the sport look more professional, which will lend it more credibility. I tr y to project my self a s a professiona l athlete. I go out and work hard every week, a nd I have to mentally and physically prepare for my next event. It 's a lot tougher than some people think ; if a normal guy went out there and started riding around without any preparation time, he'd probably find himself on th e ground in no time. Supercross has become a very competitive sport, and that 's what I want the media to know . I used to be able to ride at a bo u t 75%of my capability, a nd I could win races that way. Now. I have to ride beyond my 100% level to win a ra ce, and it 's become so intense th at everv la p you 're out there yo u get out 0'[ shape at least once. It's actuall y scary , but that 's the type o f at h lete you have to be to win supercross races . Supercross racing is just as demanding as any other sport, but th e media just doesn 't present that wa y. Motorcycles aren't as appealing to people as tennis ra cquets . An yon e ca n go o u t and bu y a racquet a n d pl aya little tennis, but not everyone ca n afford to bu y a 2000 motorcycl e so th at he can race a nd relate to th e sport . I've accepted that my sp ort isn 't as recognized as o ther major sports, a nd I work a t publicit y [rom th at angl e. You have to real ize how ha rd it is to get just a few minutes o f air time on TV for th e sport. In 1983 th e Wrangler PR rep lined up a n interview [or m e a t ABC in New York, so th a t I co u ld get a segment o n th e ABC World New s, We h ad to £Iy up to New York [rom North Carolina. th en stay o vern ig h t in a motel. just so we co u ld be a t ABC a t 8:00 a. m. We were th ere [or [our hours, and a bo u t three weeks lat er I wa s featured in a sh ort pi ece o n th e morning news . That trip cos t Wrang ler over a tho usand dollars , a n d I had to put in quite a bit of effort, a ll [or a minute and a half of television . Look how car raci ng is taking 0[[ o n TV. The thing is th at everyo ne h as a car, a n d the y ca n a ll pr etend th ey'r e Darrell Walt rip o n Sunday aftern oon wh en th ey wat ch th e races. 1"0 one kn ows how m uch talent it tak es to ra ce a motorcycle - it a ll look s so easy on TV. Almost everyone's gone into a slide in their ca r, a n d so th ey know how it feel s wh en a 1"ASCAR driver spins O U I. I reall y don ' t" believe people will know just how difficult motocross is. It' s not the type of sport yo u go into to be reall y famou s a nd make a trillion dollars. The thing is I love motocross, a nd it's what I do best. I' ll alwavs keep doing my best to promote niy form o f racing. There a re a number of things you ca n work on co n cern ing yo u r PR im age as an a ma teu r. One of the simplest things is to develop a friendship with th e person wh o cov ers your races [or Cycle News. He goes to the ra ces, a nd a t first he probably doesn't kn ow man y peop le, and it's good if you can be friends with him. Pretty soo n he'll be co m in g up to yo u aft er th e races, askin g [or a quote on how the tra ck wa s or how yo u felt . Have a little conversation with him , and pretty soon yo u 'll see a little pi ece of yo u rself in Cycle N euis, People will start noticing th at , a nd prett y soo n they'll think you 're pretty cool because yo u al ways say the ri ght thing when yo u ' re asked. It 's good when yo u build a relationship with the people who write about the races in your area, so that when they come up to you, you won't .be caught off guard and give stupid answers. When you know the reason , you can han g out with them a little bit and talk. You can help them understand what's going on out on the race track, and in turn you 'll see a bett er story in print. Something I a lways watch [or when I read stories about th e races is how other riders reacted to the questions they were asked. Th ere's a lot of pressure on a ll facto ry riders to win races , a n d if they don' t win the press usua lly a sks them why . Some riders will ta lk about th eir bad start, or that the y got a dirt ba ll ca ught in their throa t or somet hing like tha t. In some cases responses like that are excuses - the rid er probably didn ' t push as hard as he needed to . In th ose situa tio ns it's best to be honest and sa y what really happened. I know th at I have some good week s and some bad week s, and if it happens to be one of my bad weeks I' ll try to be ho nest abou t it to the press. If it's been a good week and I won. there' s still always room to compliment the rider or riders I beat , There's a lways someone who will give yo u a bit of a battle, a n d it 's good to m ention th at, If I win a National , l don ' t like to put Broc Glover down; I try to let th e media kn ow Bro c was on rnv tail. and th at if I mad e a mistake h e"d have pa ssed me. That 's the way I th ink win n ing shou ld be handl ed. Wh en yo ur co m pe tition reads that, th ey think a lot more of yo u. Wh en yo u' re talking to th e medi a people a bo u t th e ra ce, always rem em ber how ha rd the o the r gu y tried. I'v e read sto ries in Cycle News where so meo ne ha s led a n ent ire race, but ge ts stalled by a lapped rid er o n th e last lap. Th e seco nd pl ace guy ends up with th e win. and he tell s th e reporter how th e race was a breeze a nd th at h e blew 'em awa y. Th e gu y never mention s th at he wa s ru n n ing seco nd , or th at th e initia l leader had so me bad luck. You 'Il ga in a lot of respect by tell in g what rea lly happen ed . and spea king well o f o thers wh en th ev have so me bad lu ck. For som e riders , it works to be co n troversial once in a wh il e. T he v'lI be as ked a question by a reporter. and use it to th eir ad van tage by g iving a cocky or radica l a ns wer. Bob Hannah has proved that it works, because he has received more a tte nt io n th an anyo ne . I'm not reall v into that too much ; if I h ave a bad clay I acce p t it. a nd if I have a good day I enjoy it . I don 't need to tell anyone th a t I'm a bad a ss and th at th e track was mv stvle a nd that no one had a chanc~ a li da y. I don 't lik e to brag, but so me o f th e fans lik e to hear th at type o f talk, so it's reall y personal o p in io n. It 's just that I don't like to hear it when a rid er talks a bo u t using so meo ne for a berm, because I might be the rider tha tends up bei ng a berm ! The more a guy like tha t opens his mouth. th e more determined I am to beat him. I think that P R shou ld be a tta cked aggressively, and th at 1'011 shou ld publicize yo u rself as a person more than a mo torcycl e rider. so th at the press ca n be ed uca ted . I see reporters . pick up a team pr ess ki t at th e races, a nd it has information a bo u t five riders in it, and it take s th e reporter forever to go through th e material. Instead , I believe in one personal press kit - I have had one done at my own expe nse for th e past two years . My ki t is laid ou t so that a ll th e information is easy to get to, a nd the reporter can write a story righ t from the kit. Hopefull y, people can relate to me better th an th ey ca n to some of the other riders, wh~ sit home and don't attend press days. It's important to put out a littl e bit to get something back . I'm cu rrent ly having my own pos ter done. along with some autograph cards for the fans. I know what it 's like to' get something from an " MX Star" - I can remember asking Gerrit Wolsink for his jersey back in 1976, I was a nervous wreck! I still hav e that jersey. and I'll always remember getting it, It 's important to lake time for th e kids at the races . I get fan mail. and sometimes when I have time I'll call a fan back when he sen ds me his p hone n um ber. I figure that when I ca ll a young [an, it would be like if Sylvester Stallone ca lled me to say hi . It's importan t to me that my fans know I appreciate their attention . The next time m y series runs in Cycle N ews, I'll be talking to you about pursuing sponsors, and how 10 invest your money once yo u start making the kind of money a big fac-.,,• tory-contract will bring.. . & , " .. . 1 & ., • •

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