Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127975
25th anniversary AMA Supercross Series (Above) Kawasaki's Ricky Carmichael will make his presence known in the 250cc class. (Left) Team Honda's Ezra Lusk will be a serious threat for the '99 SX title. ~ t=' ~ i .., 16 see them set up and race on 12 consecutive weekends. And while a weekend off for the soon-to-be-road-weary race teams would be nice, it appears that shadowy politics between PACE and the AMA just won't let that happen, "The schedule is the best we've ever had, as far as mileage and routing," Becker claims, "And if we could ever create the relationship needed with the AMA to find that lucky date in February to work with, we could arrange a week off for the race teams. Unfortunately, we have not been able to get to thafpoint. Our relationship with the AMA has disintegrated to the point where it seems like they just don't care about working with us on the schedule, There's a lack of willingness on the Pilrt of the AMA to sit down with PACE and the NPG (National Promoters' Group) to discuss the sch'ed ule and take into account the stadiums, the riders, the outdoor promoters. All these i sues could be dealt with if someone at the AMA would just deal with us." . In 1999, there will be upward of 20 race teams, not to mention dozens of small and humble privateer and shoplevel efforts, going about their business in a wishful hope-and-glory mode. And while only a handful of them will be able to experience the joys of winning, everybody starts the season tied in points and at the top of the leaderboard. That being the case, let's take a good, hard look at the major teams that will gallivant across the United States promoting their prod ucts, sponsors, goods and services, in an effort to make a few bucks along the way. Defending series champion Jeremy McGrath - a seven-time winner last year - is not ready to hang up his Superman cape just yet. After losing the 1997 title to longtime adversary Jeff Emig in a bitterly fought points race, McGrath began hearing the whispers that his tenure as the world's most beloved supercross rider was in its twilight stage. Motivated by the rumor mongering and muckraking, McGrath used the negativity as a motivational tool in 1998, catching fire at Seattle and finding the rhythm that made him so dominant in years past. By the time the reign of terror was over, McGrath had won seven events and the 1998 title. Back with Chaparral for 1999, McGrath has to be considered the. favorite rolling into Anaheim. Joining him on the San Bernardino-based shop/factory-satellite hybrid race operation will be former American Honda teammate Steve Lamson. A battered Lamson, coming off an injury-riddled 1998 campaign, has the speed and desire to pull off a win if the stars are aligned. Torrance, California-based Team Honda will head into Anaheim with a four-man-assault that has to make every team with which they will cross swords a bit nervous and jittery. Led by field marshal/team manager Cliff White, a 21-year veteran of the American moto wars, Honda will send out a four-man team led by Ezra Lusk, a four-time winner in 1998. Lusk will spearhead a wellheeled effort that will have newly crowned 250cc World Champion Sebastien Tortelli of France - the man who ended the Stefan Everts juggernaut in Europe - at his flank. Tailgunning for Lusk and Tortelli will be another Frenchman, Mickael Pichon. Finally, Kevin Windham, shaking off the effects of a legal firestorm that was ignited due to a rushed departure from Team Yamaha last fall, will round out the team. Windham, who won both the New Orleans and St. Louis rounds in 1998, is claimed to have been astonishingly fast in off-season training and testing, and he enters the new season with a very realistic shot at the title. The Keith McCarty-managed Yamaha factory effort will leave its home base in Cypress, California, cloaked in a thin veil of controversy. American moto hero Doug Henry is currently in a holding pattern regarding his future career plans (word has it he will not return to the team until the Daytona Supercross on March 6), while Windham has moved over to Honda. Nonetheless, Yamaha will still field a deathly seripus effort in the form of 1998 Charlotte winner John Dowd (who moves up to the 250c class after winning the 1998 125cc West Region title) and team rookie Jimmy Button (who will go to war on the booming YZ400F four-stroke). French 250cc Grand Prix rider David Vuillemin, who won three 125cc West Region . events last season, is also slated to ride a number of 250cc events before heading back to Europe for the 250cc GP opener at Talavera de la Reina, Spain, on March 21. Aiter a splendid championship-winning season in 1997, the wheels fell off the Kawasaki miracle machine in 1998. Jeff Emig started the 1998 season in a deep blue funk that he never really found his way out of. And to make matters worse, an injured Damon Huffman was placed on the reserve list due to the broken femur he suffered at Pontiac. The third member of the team, Ryan Hughes (who will ride the 250cc GP circuit in 1998 as a member of the Pamo Honda team), was also besieged by injuries. Undaunted, team manager Bruce Stjernstrom has rallied his troops during the off-season and will surface at Anaheim with global racing sensation Ricky Carmichael - who did not lose a 125cc stadium race in 1998 - at his side. R.C. will be teamed with an "on form" Jeff Emig and a healed-up Damon Huffman, who showed he still has plenty of speed with an impressive win at the glamorous off-season U.S. Open of Supercross in Las Vegas. This could be Team Suzuki's year. Former teen sensation Robbie Reynard, a rider whose injury-riddled career was thought by many to be over, came charging back in the 125cc a tional series this past summer. Bolstered by a newfound sense of confidence, Reynard stormed the off-season FIM World Supercross Series, winning the title in a very impressive fashion. As a reward, Reynard was presented with a factory contract by Suzuki team manager Roger DeCoster, which he duly signed. If he starts off strong - and picks up where he left off - Reynard could be this season's dark horse, Riding in formation with the Oklahoma native will be 1998 Tampa Supercross winner Larry Ward and South African threat Greg Albertyn. Aiter a rough go at Team Suzuki in 1997, Mike LaRocco found a new lease on life with the Factory Connection/ Jack in the Box/Honda team in 1998. Strong, consistent and aggressive as ever, LaRocco wound up fifth overall in the 1998 series point standings. Supported by Cliff White .and the mighty resources of American Honda, LaRocco is a serious contender who can pull off a win on any given Saturday night in 1999. A new semi sporting the sign 'Team Planet Honda/Pro Grip" will grace the AMA Supercross paddock this winter. Brought to life by the Metro Powersports shop in Michigan, the team will be receiving serious support from Honda and Pro Grip clothing. Team manager Paul Lindsey, formerly of the Tecate/Kawasaki of Mexico outfit, will manage the squad that has tapped French-Canadian speedster JeanSebastien Roy and American journey" man Mike Craig to carry its banner into the whooped-out fray. Planet will also field a 125cc effort that will support great Northwest natives Jason McCormick and Ryan Huffman in the one-eighth-liter division. McCormick, of Vancouver, Washington, will ride the East Region series, while Huffman, of Roseburg, Oregon, will do time in the West. Then tllere are the handsomely supported and factory-underwritten 125cc satellite teams, all of which now operate independently of the factory-financed 18-wheelers. Leading the charge - and, if truth be told, the pioneer of the satellite movement - is Mitch Payton's Team SplitFire/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki operation. Benefactor to Ricky Carmichael during his successful 1998 stadium tour, Payton will have some large boots to fill due to the diminutive redhead's move up to the 250cc class. To that end, Payton has hired 125cc veteran Scott Sheak. Sheak will lead a young and talented team that consists of Nathan Ramsey and Billy Payne, all three of whom will compete in the West Region. Michigan native Nick Wey will run in the East Region with Shae Bentley, who looked very impressive at the Chaparral Winter Warmup race in San Bernardino on December 27. Team Honda has handed their 125cc program over to FMF for the second consecutive year. Though he was a bit young and inexperienced in 1998, team manager and former 125cc