Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

INTHE:TAPES · ByS cottRousseau ' " ' a rnin g! M otor ey e I e racing is a da ngerous activity. Chec k the back of your ticket stub. Besides competition, the beginning of each new racing season - be it on land or sea - inevitably br ings w ith it minor ru les or policy changes by the various sanctioning bod ies involoved in motorsports. H opefull y, the in te nt o f s ai d changes are to imp rove s afety stand ards, clarify race procedures or both. The idea sho uld be that the racer always kn ow s wh at he or she can ex pect an d exactly what is expected of him or her whe n th e en try blank is signe d on th e d otted line. Unfortunately, such p oli cy cha ng es can some times do just the opposite, and i f you are 'a prof essi on a l m otorcycl e race r com peting at an AMA-sanctio ned eve nt in 1996, then you owe it to yourse lf to read and u n d ersta n d th e ,n ew ag reement found below th e sta ndard ..release and in dem nity agreement" on the bott om of you r entry blank. In so man y wo rds, th is "new ag ree ment," w hich is found below the ageold "I hereby gi ve u p all m y righ ts to sue blah, blah, blah" spie l, states: "By m y sign ature b elow, I understan d and he reby agr ee to the terms of the above releas e and further agree to abide b y the AMA Ru les for Professional Comp etition and any Special Regulations during th is event. Itl sign ing this etltry agreement I recogni ze m y obligation to th e pu blic atld Euent Prom oter, w ltich pro duces the ev ent, and a gre e to compete in the above event and qualifying events if humanly po ss ib le unless the ev e n t is p o stponed, canceled or if I fail to qualify or to b e a s s igned a startin g po s ition b y the app rop riate AMA official." O kay . So it's exactly 92 w ords and that' s exac tly what it says, but can anyone p lease tell me what it means? And why the hell is it in there now? I'm concerned , b ecau se for all its succi nc t le gal es e th is "n ew agree ment" is e xtreme ly a m b ig uous . Furthermore , com bine it w ith the release and indemnity ag reeme n t above, and it so unds as th ou gh yo u as a rid er are agreei n g to forego all of your rights when you sign up at an AMA -sanctioned eve nt. Unde r th is "new agreement," especially in the po rtion I empha size d earlier, it sou nds like yo u no t only w aive your righ t to W sue, but open yo urself up to the possibility of bein g sued for breach of contract should you decide no t to compete for a ny reaso n o ther th a n physical injury (humanly possible). No w I'm n o t about to d ebate the nu an ces of the release 'a nd indem nity policy. Everyone knows that motorcycle racing is dangerous, and that as a racer yo u h ad better be 100-percent certain that you r skills are up to the de mands of th e competition and / or th e track. It' s called assum ption of risk, an d there is a risk in everythi ng we do, w hethe r it's hurtling arou nd the banks of Daytona on a I SO-m ph su perb ike or walk ing across a traffic-crowded street. Personally, I th in k th e banks are safer. Eit her w ay, I fu lly accep t responsibility. for wha t happens to me if I choose to enter' the race track or the crosswalk . Bu t wh a t h app en s if t he tr a ck is unsafe? Wh at h appens when you show up to compet e at, say, th e Mechanicsburg Ha lf M ile Nation a l in William s Grove, Pennsyl vania, an d after yo u' ve sign ed on the dotted line, you find th at the track is so wet that it is practically under water ? You don 't think the track is safe eno ugh to ride on, yet the sanctionin g bod y and promoter - neith er of whom ha s the gu ts to get on a motorcycle and check it ou t for themselves' thin k that it is? If you decide you are not go ing to compete after you've already signed up for the event, are you opening you rself u p to a lawsu it by the promoter an d/ or the san ctio ni ng bo dy? Sou nds like it to me. Or say you get set to race in the main event of the Las Vegas Supercross and th e lights go out? If the sa nc t io n ing body or the prom oter elects to move in tempor ary ligh ts that offer questiona ble amou n ts of ill umina ti on and calls it good , are yo u go ing to be obliged to compete eve n thou gh you feel it is too dan gerou s, or face the consequ ences? It looks th at w ay accordi ng to th is ne w agr eeme nt. Now, bef ore anyone thinks th at th is is just an other character assassination of AM A Pr o Ra cin g', le t' s sit b a ck a n d thi n k abo u t th is for a min u te. I d on 't honestly believe that the AMA is going to force a rider to com pe te on a d an gerous track. Safety is certainly the fir st thing on th e association 's mind, or at leas t it sho uld be if the AMA wants to kee p the rid ers - and thus the sport hea lthy . That' s why I'm going to be ask- , ing question s and n ot providing th e answers. The biggest problem as I see it is tha t the AMA has difficulty in d eterm inin g what actua lly constitu tes "sa fe conditions" at its sanctioned eve nts. No where was this more clear ly illustrated to me th en in the recent "jumping co n test" deba te that be fell th e PJl Super Are; nacross Series, a.k.a, the AMA Na tional Arenacross Series . At each stop on the National Are nacross schedu le, ' promoter Mike Kidd handpicks three riders to compete in an aerial sty le contest at interm ission . Each rid er takes a sho t at one of the bigger ju mps on the tra ck in an attem pt to impress the crow d. These riders are the elite of the Na tional Arenacross circuit gu ys like former AMA Supercross Series regu lars Jim my Ga dd is a n d Je ro m y Bueh l, both of who m are ve ry capa ble ' riders. Recently, the AMA, acting fully wi thin its power as the sa nction ing body for the series, called for Mike Kidd .Prornotions to cease an d desist with this jumping contest, citing - as far as I' ve been to ld - safety reasons. Now th is might be a real issue if the AMA provided th e even t ins uran ce, bu t I' ve been told that it d oes not. Mike Kidd Promotions provides its own insura nce for the events. But even that is beside the po int in my estim ation. What abo ut safety? I've been to my share of AMA Supercross races, an d I cannot believe some of the aerial antics tha t these racers pu ll off rig ht in th e m iddle o f their r aces, let alone in the more contro lled non -ra cing environmen t found a t an a re na cross . Such nacs- nacs, can-cans, superm an airs and heel-clickers leave me in awe, but they've also gotten m e t o thi nking " w h a t if?" What i f Je rem y McG ra th were right in th e mi ddle of a nac-nac over the trip le when Billy Bob and Johnny Joe collided in the land ing area, leaving bikes and rid ers scatter ed ab ou t its face. Where's Su per Mac go nna go to avo id the tro uble? He' s great. But he' s not that grea t. . My po in t is not to browbea t M r. McGrath for giving the fans what they w an t, bu t ra ther to point ou t th at h is mane uvers have as mu ch o r m o re potential to be "no more safe" unde r the right conditions than those of Buehl or Gaddis at an Arena cross ' at least if we are going by the AMA's argument, anyway. If we are, the n so mebo dy better s top this looney Mike Metzger fell ow befo re he figu res ou t a way to get from th e lef t si de of h is m otorcycl e to th e right by scampering underneath it whil e in mi dair. Now flash back to the AMA Grand Na tio nal Ch amp ionship Series, where the ambiguity of the "new agreement" is sure to be in direct contradiction to the below statement which is pos ted on the side of the sig n-u p trailer at each GNC eve nt. Basically, it says: " ...If you have a n y doubts ab o u t you r personal ab ility to participate in this m eet, about th e safety of th e cir cu it, ab ou t th e competence of the officials or other competitors, or ab ou t th e safety of you r vehicle, please no tify an offici al at an y tim e prior to th e start of the secon d practice session to receive a refun d of your entry fee.:" It ' s ex ac tly 60 w ord s, a nd that ' s exac tly what it... we ll, we' ve been here before already. But what do es it mean, and which statement will take preced ence? The first one or the second? I gu ess the real qu estion th at I h ave over the "new agreement" is thi s: Was th is new langu age written in or der to avoid the' clashes that were expe rienced at places like Las Vegas or Mechanicsburg - places where safety issues led to r id er b oy co tt s, forced ca n ce lla tio ns? An d at what poin t does a ride r's loyalty to his / h er fans or resp on sib ility to the p ro mo te r ex cee d th e bound s of "safe racing" if there is such a thing? I do not believe that in eithe r instance the rid ers wer e being prima do nnas. They came to race and so me or all fou n d th at th ey cou ld no t. Wo uld they have bee n forced to race under .thi s new agreemen t? How about ap pearance mon ey? I'm not even going to tou ch that last one . Then again, ma ybeI'm just mak ing a m ountain ou t of a m oleh ill he re . I just don't want to live to see the day when a lawye r is ,a ne ce ssa ry m emb er o n a m otor cycle raci ng team - whe ther it is factor y-b acked or a priva teer e ffort. I th in k th at at th e ve ry least, th e AMA owes it to itself and to its rid ers to clarify th ese con tradictory sta te ments and to conti n ue working with its riders to ensure that all mo torcy cle racing rema ins to be done as safely as it can be. And to continue to recognize - as it very w isely did at Mechanicsburg - whe n it cannot. That's something we sho uld all agree on. And ride rs? Warning ! Motorcycle racing is a dangerous activ ity . Check yo ur entry form . No w check it again. 0 I'·LO K GBACK~.~ O IN 25 YEARS AGO... MARCH9,1971 he final i. indoor r.'l'i short track ,'" race of the win- , ter sea so n w a s held at the Cow ! Pa lac e in San Fran cisco, Califo rn ia , a nd Mike Ya rn m ilked it for !C. : ~d all it was ""!!"~"si worth. H is ~ ----~ w in p u s h ed -",..., him ahead o f p re vi o u s p o in ts leaders Dave Hansen and Al Ke nyon , who finis he d second and third in th e se ries ,.. Eve rybody was ta lking abo ut Larry Pfutzenreuter - and p robably mispronouncing his name - after the Desert Motor cycle Club' s Hare and Hou nd at Lucerne, California. Th e rising desert star to ok the ov erall w in, while Bill T 80 Bogn er finished as first 500 Expert and respectively... Victory was in the cards ~Ts:r;r-;:a r.-....:.:~finish ed and secGene Smith took top Open Expert honfor Chuck Miller at the 4 Aces Hare and ond ors ... Professional daredevil Evel Kn ievHound near Johannesburg, California, third ... In el sailed a Harley-Davidson XR over 19 as he captu red the overall win over such Hu ron, CalDodge Col ts - 43 yards , a t Southern deser t aces as Larry Ro e s ele r - who iforni a, Bria n Kehoe California ' s Ontari o 'qi7l1lI";]r:-r-.,.,..l.~::.:.:n ed in se cond - Bruce Ogilvie, and e d M ot o r Spe edwa y . II M ike Sixbery... Eric McCracken . s tormed t o Kn ievel d idn't br eak a ttacke d th e CR C Indi an Dune s the 125cc Pro anything this time Motocross at Valen cia, Ca lifornia, win in round othe r th an hi s ow n and came away with top hon ors in one of the GFl wo rld recor d, the 250cc Pro class . The ru nner -up in W i n t er tha t category was Greg Zilterkopf. M ot o c r o s s In th e Open Pro class, Mc Crac ken 15 YEARS AGO.., Seri e s N o r thfin ished seco nd to Tracy Oswald South Sh owMARCH 4,1 981 with Zitt erkopf in third. d o w n . Ste ve e ve n-tim e Lamson and Nationa l 5YEARS AGO.., Shaun Woo ten End uro cla imed th e second an d th ird spots... MARCH 6,1 991 Ch a mpion D ick - Larry' Roeseler edged out Kevin Hines n a p p i n g Honda 's five -ro und Burleson was the by the narrowest o f margins in round wi nning s treak, Ya rna has overall winner at roun d one of the ........... ..""...., _ ... one o f th e AM A Natio nal Cha mpiD amon Bradshaw was th e bi g ons hi p Enduro Series a t Clear Cr eek, AMA National End uro Cham winner at rou nd six of the AMA Camel Ca liforn ia. Roeseler finished w it h one Supercross Series in At lan ta, Ge org ia . pion ship Series at Red Mo untain, Calipo int less tha n th e former Na tion a l fornia. Ri ck Mun yon and Grant Jean-Michel Bayle and Jeff Stanton; End uro cham pion, 19-20. (-:\' Palenske fin ished in second and third, who had d ivv ied up .the previous victo- n ... l!~~~~;~~d It S S

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