Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ACROSS THE ATLANTIC By GeoffMeyers .T ·.c, ....·• · h e Wo rld Moto cr o ss cha m p ions hi ps a re going through some se rious changes. For d ecad es the Eu ro pea n-held events ran like clockwork. Ru n mainly th rou gh ou t Europe, the race for the FIM number -on e p late was for all intents and purposes a complete success. Th en things b e g an to cha nge. Crowds tha t once flocked to the Gra nds Prix were dwind ling; legendary tracks w ere closed as the g reenies p o inted to ward land erosion a nd no ise p ollution . Rumor s continued to surface, saying on ly th e 250cc mac hine s w ill run GPs in the future, wit h the once-p remier 500cc cla s s an d the 125cc class being d ropped fro m the FIM calendar. Wh at ev er the p roblems, so mething had to be d on e. So, in an effort to rekindl e interes t in th e World Motocross Cha m pionsh ips a n d to ge t th e e ve n ts t o run m ore smoothly, the FIM brou ght in the Action Group in 1997, a profes siona l prom otio n team , to run the 250cc cham pionships. So far it has proved to be a huge success, w ith the Actio n Group arr anging major television tim e for the GPs, a nd with tha t, cro wds a re now s ta r ting to come back. But even Action Group has its detractors. World SOOcc Motocross champio n Joel Smets was recentl y qu oted as saying the Action Group is a long way off of wh at is needed to grow the spo rt. "I think they ha ve forgot ten w ha t mot ocross is abo u t," Sme ts sa id . "They are tryin g to sell it like road racing." While m a n y journalists a n d fan s en te re d th e 1997 season won de ring w ha t Action Group will do for (or to) the 250cc class, statistics say the new promote rs a re o n the ball, alt houg h they d id ru n th e recently held Mo tocross des ations in Belgium and that, for all in tents and purposes, was a com plete joke. To put all the blame on Ac tion Grou p fo r th a t onewou ld be much too harsh, thou gh , as it was as mu ch the Belgian Fed eration at fault as any body. Now.comes th e news that bot h the 125 a nd 250cc Ind o nes ia n Motocro ss GPs have been canceled and that othe r cou n tries w ere fighting for thei r p lace on the calenda r. What abo ut television ? While Ame rican Su percross / Motocro ss has the television world at its feet, their Europea n b ro the rs are fig h ting too th and nail to ge t equal rights. Luckil y fo r th e World Mo to cr o ss boys, Form ula One has jumped ship to a new cable channel and the World Su perbike Championship is ru n on Ge rma n ca b le tele vision, leavin g mot ocr oss to get a slot on the lar gest cable cha n nel in Europe - Eu rosport. The 250cc GPs wiII be sho wn live in man y cou nt ries, whil e the 125 and SOOcc GPs look likely to be g iven la te time slo ts, with home GP s being beamed direct on na tiona l televisio n in the host countries. It mi ght sou n d like a joke to the America n motocro ss jo u rna lis ts w h o co ve r U .S. racing , bu t Ac tion G ro u p introd uced major changes on the public- relations level of the spo rt that had not often bee n see n on the World Motocro ss level. Huge press tents were erected at the races, and information about th e wee kend's events was read ily available. Specia l p ress pa sses were also issued , granting the bearers more access to the facilities, and also inclu ded comp limentary meals as well as fax and teleph one services at the track - all of which were a major brea kthro ugh for Eur op ean jou rnalists, making ou r job in relating the news m uch easier. It's a small point, but these th ings mak e a journalist happy and you are therefore su re to ge t a better report w ritten a bo u t yo u r even t, thus making the spo rt more a ttractive to the read ers. In the pas t, p ress faci li ties at so me Grand Prix tracks were just abou t no nexisten t, and w hi le th e lan gua ge barrier is alwa ys a prob lem, if you are a journalist and yo u have no fax machine or ph on e, it' s p retty hard to get t he news ou t th at a World Cha mpionsh ip rou nd has been ru n and who the w inner s are. On e of the majo r complaints fro m the .teams was about s ta rti ng thei r racing season outside of Europe, yet when the '98 ca le nd ar was first introduced, th e 250cc class started in So uth Africa and th e 125s in Ind onesia , w ith o n ly the 500cc rid e rs b e in g g iven w ha t th e y wa nted - a Euro sta rt. Some of the tracks in Europe are still in bad sha pe. Nis rnes, the la ugha b le Mot ocro ss d es Nations track back in September, ha s been put on the World 125cc calendar, while Eng- land' s '98 GP was to be held at Donington Park ' s roa d racing pa rking lot (until the FIM s te pped in a nd ca nceled it) . Events in South America and Indonesia ca me under a ttack af ter poor facilities and bad ly p repa red tracks left many of the teams wondering w hat they we re d o i ng in these terrib le p laces . T he Ind on esian 250cc GP was ru n on a highspeed dust bowl. wit h World Cha mpion Ste fan Eve rts certa in. tha t it was not a good m ove by the FIM . "You canno t ex pect rid ers to r id e th e s e places," Everts sai d. " It was not good. From now on, the people in cha rge s ho uld come her e in ad vance and check these tra cks ou t." H is w ish was gran ted, as a number of Action Gro u p perso nnel and FIM delega tes wen t to Greece (the fina l round of the 1998 250cc series ) to inspect the track under race cond itions, with Everts and Tallon Vohland also invited along. Th e United States, w hich had asked fo r a rou nd o f the 1998 250cc Wo rld Champion ship, backed out; it was a big disappointm ent for the European teams, as at leas t track preparation wo uld not be too disappointing at a Ll.S, event. N o d ou bt abo u t it , it' s a make-orbreak time for Euro pea n motocross, and w hil e yo u can cou n t on the history of the Wo rld Champion ships to continue to prod uce great cham pio ns, it's time for the FIM a nd natio na l fed era ti ons to move ahea d . O nly tim e will tell, but if 1997 was any ind icat ion , the FIM is at I:' least movi ng with the time s. ~6OKING BACK...· 30 YEARS AGO... FEBRUARY 1 1 6, 968 Motocross Series ... We wer e no t yet in the era of political correc tness, as Can -Am ran a n a d for th e ir Quali fi e r m od el li n e of enduro bikes. Along wit h the sloga n "Tha t Damn Ca n-A m," the co py des cri bed the bikes as hard -ch a rging Ca nadia n end u ro ma ch ines th at kee p climbing right up the Japanese Big Four' s kimonos... Part three of the "Ho w to rid e like the Hu rrica ne " series d iscu ssed braking technique... We tested the Yamaha IT400E end uro, and ru led it ou t as a choice for Western enduros. a ry Bailey m a d e t h e cove r, as he s ki m m ed h is G ree ves 360 ov er a jump at Ca sta ic Moto-Cross in Cas taic , Ca lifornia . Bailey w a s co ns ide re d to b e th e m ost avid m otocro sser in the United States. He wo uld . usuall y en ter three cla sses and often bring home three trophies ... Preston Petty (Suz) - sans fro nt fender _ 1 0YEARS AGO••• s lip ped and s lid hi s way FEBRURARY 10, 1988 to th e w in in th e 250cc J eff Ward (Kaw) was the man to bea t at the .:::::~, o pen ing round of th e Co ors Supe rcross Expe rt clas s at the Carl sSerie s in th e H o u ston Astrod ome . The b ad Moto cros s, a n d h e was featu red in a Suz uki Super cross Series was engaged in a d irect comwi n ad on page 9... Rick .~~$;~ petitio n wit h M ick ey "Fl ash " Gordon rod e his gas -bu rni ng H a rleyDav id s on throu g h a field of eight contenders to ta ke top bi ke hon ors at th e Lions Dra g S tri p in San ta A na , Cali fornia ... Skip Van Leeuwen (Tri) w on the firs t Ascot Pa rk TT of 1968... Motorcycle manufacturer White Interna tiona l Corporation ran an advertisement for its 250cc Wh ite Tornado motocross / scrambles machin e. Aski ng price was $745... Jim Ei narsson (Kaw) won th e seas on -o pen er Jo ll y Rog ers scrambles in Seattle, Washington . G -l-------.. 20 YEARS AGO... FEBRUARY 15, 1978 teve Ekl un d (Yam) mu gged for the cover sho t a fter becoming the first man to wi n both the Ho us ton Sh ort Trac k a nd TT on th e sa me w eek end , a nd thu s sta rt ed o ff the 1978 Camel Pro Series w it h th e points lead ... Ja ck De Weese won the Jun ior Invitation al Short Track; and Bill O rr w on the Junior Invit ati on al TT... In The Latest Poop, Toyota announced its title spon so rship of th e AMA Supercross Series. In ad di tion to pumpin g $50,000 into th e p oints fu nd , Toyota also a nnou nce d it s pl an to initiat e th e Toyota Amateu r S 60 Thompson 's Stadi um Motocro ss Series ... Chuck Springsteen (Ho n) won the final round of the AMA Ind oor In vitati on al Pro Ice Race Series in Muskegon, Michigan... Dan Smith (Hus) kep t h is string of desert wins alive wit h a win at the SCORE Parke r 400 in the Arizona desert.. . Italian Eddy Orioli rode a Hond a NXR750 to the overall victory in the motorcycle class at the 8500mile Paris-to-Dakar rally... Cycle News interv iewed former 250cc MX Wor ld Champion Jacky Vimond . The Frenchman was a ttemp tin g a co me back after a freak acci dent in Cabaret, Fra nce, w here he wa s se riously injured after plummeting to the floor while being lowe re d from th e cei lin g as h e w as m a k i n g a g r a nd entrance at a party in his hon or... AMA 125cc ational Hare & Hound Champ ion Jeff Miller was also inter1:\ viewed .

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