Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

INTERVIEW' T Vance erry ev er ybody loses. That's really the problem. I don't think the AMA wants that to happen, but the lo nger they a re reluctant to make a ch ange and ma ke it an equal playing field, the more chance there is of that happening. What in your opinion needs to be done? I think that on e of the problems is that the AM A is very sensitive to hurting H arley-Dav id son becaus e they a re a tw in -cylind er mo torcycle . My suggestion to the AMA, along with probably a few other peop le, is that they should evaluate the Du ca tis based upon their p er forman ce . Th ey need to ha ve rule based on the Desmo valve, so me thi ng tha t makes the Ducati exclu sive. I think th e AM A got in tr o u b le w h en they homologa ted the bike that (Eraldo) Ferracci races now, and I think they know that - bu t I th ink it's wate r under th e bridge because the 916 is going to get up to that level sooner or la te r anyw ay . With that being th e case, I th in k that they need to be rea l specific, they need to be v ery N ASCA R orien te d a n d if there is somebody d ominating the y should look at it very hard, fix the problem and make it competitive for everyone. If you ha ve a rider that is excellent and he's mak ing that happen, I w ould agree - b u t whe n Dave Sadow ski can rent a Du cati an d run at the front with the factory guys, it's a good indication that the rul es are not at a level playing fiel d. As you sa w at Road A merica, Da ve actuall y drafted by and pa ssed Fred Merkel on the straightaway. You were quite concerned at Road America about the 22 bikes on the superbike grid. I'm very con cerned. See that's one of the problems, it's a double-ed ged sword. If you take a way th e ad vantage of the Ducatis, so me of the privateers lose the ir ad vantage to run up front and can 't get the backing. So it's a ve ry hard thing that the AMA has to be involved in, but I think they have been spending way too much time on classes that are not as important as superbike. I think they need to fatten-up the purses and give the teams that are involved in superbike racing more money for just appearing. Again, that's a situation where the sanctioning body should be the leader and not ju s t a foll ower. I think the AMA needs to be in position so they can look a t it on a b ig picture. I th ink they are now starting to do that, and I really do ha ve a good feeling about the future. I think it looks very good. Expand on your thoughts on AMA Superbike purses. It is fru stra tin g when you see a ven ue packed w ith spectators, a nd th e track profiting from what's goin g on, and the purses are SO low it' s embarrassing. But a t th e same ti me you have to understand that a lot of these promoters have been cul tivating events for a number of years and the reason why they are now making money is because th ey did a good job. So if they can get aw ay from payin g pu rses while making the facilities bett er, and make it so the spectators ha ve a better time, tha t's impo rtant too. I definitely wo u ld n' t want to be in the promoters position, or the AMA 's, to tell the truth - they're both very hard positions. They' re ones tha t are a lways in flux and you ha ve to al ways make the right balance. . I think the fu ture of AMA racing is one of the brigh test spo rts in America, in moto rsports. I thin k we ha ve a very low-cos t racin g p rogram that they can put on tel evision and se ll to a major s pon so r a t a low co st a n d get g ood exposure. I think the racing is excellent, it ha s ne ver been be tt er. The las t tw o seaso ns of AMA road racing have been the best it has ever been. If they can just hook it up w ith a major sponsor and make it go right I think it is really going to tak e off. I see some people now ru nning superbikes and I th ink w e' ll see some runnin g them in the future w ho haven't in the past. I think you' re seeing some major competition, people saying, 'h ey, I need to be in tha t position.' You look at the exposure that superbikes ge t compared to an y other kind of racing in the United States. I think they are doing probably the best that there is in mo torcycling. Roger Ed monson will soon exit AM A racing. Wh at's your op inion on that situation? I'm sorry to see Roger go because I think he has d one a lot of great things for road racin g in the Uni ted States. He has very many critics, but I do not see any critics that he has that are doing it themselves. I think that Roger has don e a great job. The re are people who d o not agree on wha t he has d one, but you hav e to think tha t this sport has grown a lot since he becam e involved - so he must have had some han d in that. He organizes a race well, h e runs a ra ce .w ell, b etter than a n ybo d y , a n d nobod y can ' take that away fro m him. The internal relations between he and the AMA, I do n't wa nt to com men t on because that is so mething that has happened between he and the AMA . I'm sorry he cannot remain a part of the picture long-term. Edmondson has also introduced us to a style of racing w h ere th e AMA weekend incorporates a multitude of classes on a given w eekend. Would that continue if you were in charge? N o . I th in k the r e a re w ay too ma ny classes on Sunday. I think it should be a three-race affai r on Sunday, and I think the AMA is looking toward that in the future. I think that they need to mak e bigger stars out of the superbike guys. .When th ey do that they are going to find that people go to a NASCAR race to watch Waltrip race Earnhardt and they need the same thing at the AMA level James racing Merkel, or Picotte racing Edwards. They need to make those guys bigger names, more well known so there is more recognition as to who is actu ally on the sea ts. That's why Jamie James is such a great rider - he 's in a positio n where people know who he is, he treats them well, the y're app reciative of that, and I'd say that he has the biggest fan following of any rider in the Sta tes. A three-race program for Sunday would more than likely make for a much longer superbike race, likely incorporating a pit stop. Correct? I kn ow there is so me talk abou t that. I d on 't kn ow the ins and outs of it, but if that' s w hat has to ha p pen...! think the AMA has to take a position of we can't do what everybody wants us to do - we have to do what makes the fans happier. 1 th ink the Saturday program is p re tty weak and th e Sunday program is w ay too congested . That's jus t my opinion, I'm n ot a prom oter or a sanctionin g bod y, they are the on es who are go ing to have to make those d ecisions . Hopefully, they make the right one. Also, I think the AMA needs to ge t more races. Ten races isn' t enough and they need to develop programs in more metropolitan areas, and I think they're wo rkin g on that. That 's so meth ing that they'r e going to have to get an idea for. Vance & Hines Yamaha does not have a machine in the Unlimited Te am Challenge class. Do you s e e a tim e when you might? I don 't think so. Our plate is prett y full right now with the supe rbike and supersport program. I don't see my team taking on an y more responsibility. We're having a hard enough time being a s competitive as we are right now. We're very proud of the fact that our Yamahas run at the front and we want to keep it that way. In the mids t of rider shopping have you ever considered Pascal Picotte? Yeah, I think we took a look at him a couple of years ago, but he wa s tied up with Ferraro long term so we mo ved on from that. Pascal is kind of a strange on e for me. I thin k with th e confidence of winning now , he could be a very dominant figure - if the rules don 't change for the Ducati, He see ms to be such a n ice gu y it's hard to believe that he could be so competitive. He can run at the front, but I' ll tell you he ha s a litt le tr ou b le ma inta in in g his focus when he's leading . But I think, on those Ducatis, he's a front-runner. I'm wondering if an individual riding a Ducati would actually have his rider rating lowered because the machine is so good? I thin k for the record the thing to say is that if there is an ybody riding a Ducati at this stage right now, I thin k they are go in g to loo k lik e a better rid er th a n the y would on a Japanese bike. I thi nk that 's obv io us . Eve r ybod y th ou ght Doug Polen was th is su p ers ta r of the last hundred years, and Dou g's a great rider, but when he left I think it's obviou s the Duca ti had som e thi ng to do with him running up front all the time. This series is kind of evolving into one predominately raced by older riders: Fred Merkel, Dale Quarterley, Thomas Stevens and James. Speaking of Jamie how much longer do yo u expect him to race? I think Jamie is on e of the most underrated stocks in the exchange. He's got everything that a rider needs: the bulldog attitude, the right personality - he interacts with the teams and the fan s well - he's kind o f th e perfect wellrounded gu y. I am really, reall y happy that he 's coming into his own now , and I think if he were ridi ng a Ducati there w ouldn' t be an ybody else on the podium but him. I don 't think Jam ie is an ywhere near the end of his career. I think he has quite a few seasons left in him . He 's very sav vy, and he's got the ability to run up fron t. He's got the ability and th e desire. When yo u have a ll those things, experience is a hard thing not to evaluate int o yo ur equation. Will James be back with Vance & Hines Yamaha next season? Ja mie is also at th e end of a two-year contract. As far as Jamie is concern ed, I would say that there is probably nobody in the paddock who ha s given more of an effort. It's very nice to see him being so close in these cha m p ions hips at the end of the yea r and running so well. I think he 's a little frustra ted right now from not winning a superbike race this year, because he' s been rig ht there at a bunch of them . I think he's abo ut read y to punch thr ough, and he's got a good chance at Sears Poin t, or probably even m ore so at Road A tlanta . He 's really familiar with that track and rides very we ll there. I hope we have both the gu ys back. They 're a grea t team, th e y ' v e never had an y problem s between them . The organiza tion is working very well and I would jus t like to con tin ue that along with ou r eng ine development. 0

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