Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

to mak e so me ch an ges. It wasn' t th at lo.ng ago th at w e w ou ld go th e Motocross des Nations and kick some se rio us ass! We were th e undisputed kings of the motocross wo rld , and we . did n't e ve n have to co mpe te in t h e G rands P ri x to pro v e it. I was v e ry p roud to be an Ameri can th en. N ow , not so much anymore as fa r as motorcross is concern ed . We ar e still the bes t at su pe rcross at least for now. But th e w riting is on . the wall, a nd it is only a matter of time . It used to be said th a t su percross and it s u lt ra -co mpetitive na ture w e re the reason that w e became so go od . Th at ma y have been tru e then, but I believe that it is one of the reasons why we are failing at th e rea l world of motocross n o w. Wit h all th e se w ell-prep a red , wa te r e d-j us t-rig h t a n d mani cu red tr acks (t hat goes fo r su perc ross a n d ou td oo r Nationa ls), we ha ve los t the ability to be comp etitive on tra cks ou tside of the U.S. When you lis ten to the rea sons that ou r rid ers give for th eir p oor performances, it is alm ost always becau se of the track. I for one am sick of h earing th e excu se! I be lieve that we need to spend less time on su pe rc ross tra cks and m o re t im e o n less-t ha n- pe rfect ou tdoor tr ack s if we ever wan t to get b a ck on to p . Look a t Stefan Everts: Fresh fro m a n in ju ry, he co mes over here a nd does ve ry we ll. We go over there, a nd o n th eir less- than-perfect track, he smokes us. You tell me who the better rid ers are. On Sep tember 26 in Braz il, th e be st proved the m selves on w ha t th e Ll .S. riders ad mit ted w as a n u npopular track. Give me a brake. All the ot her na tions had to ride on the sa me track. I haven ' t hear d any w hin ing ou t of them . Are yo u guys spo iled or wh at ? If Am erica w a nt s to rai se its head proud and be on top again, we have to d o someting about it and qu it making excuses. Ch ristine Th olund Escondido, CA Gunny 's annual salvo I' d like to take this oppo rtu nity to give a persona l thank you to all the spo nso rs a n d th e in d ivi d uals w ho worked so ha rd th is yea r at the ISDE in Portu gal. Every one that volun teered to work had a busy time, as the re were few extras to give relief. Thanks to our faithful sponsors, w ho really help to cut expe nse s by p rovid ing prod u cts to th e tea ms a nd ind iv idual rid ers: Ara i He lme ts, w ho continue to ' furnish helme ts at no cost to the rid ers tha t earn them ; Bel Ray, who provid es all th e lubrica n ts need ed ; Cycle Gea r; Malcolm Smith Raci ng; Moose Racing (Hi, Pete); and Scott USA. Now for the wo rkers; wi tho u t these peo ple there wou ldn 't be any su pp ort: My Pa re Ferme' captains Bru ce Wa keley and Peter Sto rrie, an d their helpers Bob Krause, Carl Ivey, Lee Pe ar son , Tri n ni Cunnin gham, Ed Keel ey a n d Bob Babcock . The coo ks: Michelle Stor rie and Laura, plus a host of othe rs. The n ext g ro u p is my check po in t crews : Do n Knight (Gas -Gas), w ho brou gh t a large conting ent of people that I spread o u t; Joh n a n d M ary A lice Bor e in g ; Emma a n d Lo u Wesn er; DeWa yn e Stev ens; Tony a nd Bob Ago nis; Greg and Nancy Norris; Paige Knigh t; Den n is Bla d e; Bill C o nn er; Jim Sto uffe r; Dawn Adair; Jim and Kim Thomson; Tom a n d Terr y Na p ie r ; Jim H og an ; Cha r lo tte Kn ig h t; A ndrea Da vi s a nd Kathy Bela n. Specia l th a nks to m y te a m m a n agers : Kenn y Perry - Trop hy Team; Reed Bri ght - Junior Tro p h y; Bru ce Wak el ey - Salt Fo rk Dir t Riders (to p Ll.S . C l u b Te am an d win ner o f th e "Va lencia T rophy" ); Pet e Storr ie Me rce d Dirt Rid er s, Jennifer Krause Neva da Co u n ty Woods Rid ers; Ca rl Ivey - Ne t Leased Club ; Boyd Abbott Racer Produ ction s; Don Knight - Acadia na Di rt Riders; Lore t ta Smith End u ro Rid ers; Bill Co nno r - Daytona Dirt Rid ers; Bob Ago nis - Cen tra l N .J. Enduro Riders an d Jim Stouffer - Boise Ridge Riders. Th a nks t o m y s p ecia l frie n d a nd AMA Ju ry Delegate Hugh Fleming, and to my wif e Laura Claypoole - w ho , in sp ite o f br o n ch iti s, wen t to th e Pa re Fer rne' every day to sell team shirts to raise extra su pport money. To those I've forgo tte n to me n tion , you a re no t forgotten in my thou gh ts and thanks. I'll see everyone agai n next year at the qu alifiers and in Spain. Rick "Gu n ny" Claypoole Portland, OR Ty breaker No thi ng will lea ve a ba d taste in yo u r mouth faster than a whining champion will. I lost all resp ect for Ty Davis after he w on the '99 AMA Nation al Enduro C h amp ions hip a n d s tarted whin in g abou t Rand y Ha wkins in the '96 champ ionsh ip, and abou t Alan Ra nd t an d crews and riders alike, was run on Friday, October 1. A week later Davis was back on the starting line as the defending series cha m pio n at round s ix of t he AMA National Hare and Hound series in Wendover, Nevada, on Saturday, October 9. Ty Dav is' fu ll-time mecha nic and f ull-time driver is Ty Davis, and with the possibility of w inn ing the longest race in America, and the Hare and Hound championsh ip on th e lin e, yo u shouldn't blame Davis fo r skipping a round of a series that he has already wo n , twi ce. . . M att Freem an , Associate Editor What about Lil' John? It co mes to m y attenti on th a t fo rm er 1999 AMA National Enduro champion , Ty Davis, as ide to his AMA National Hare and Hound-winning Yamaha. Mike Lafferty at the Michigan Na tional End uro . Randy Hawkins and Mike Lafferty were at the Texas National Enduro, tal k in g w it h th e cro wd a n d s ig ni ng autographs for their fans. They d idn' t s top attend ing just because the poi nts were ove r with for the yea r beca use I am sure they realize that the last races still su p p o r t th e se r ies. A ba d a tt itude , whethe r a losing or wi nni ng one , ca n have a bad effect on the sport of enduro racin g, a nd everyone has worked too long and hard for this to be allowed to hap pen jus t becau se of a rider's wh ining and bad attitude . Lloyd William s Bradey,I L Lloyd, Lloyd, Lloyd... . Bei ng an end u ro g u ru, you probably already know that Ty Dav is represent ed the United Sta tes by fin ishing eighth in the 250cc Two- st roke class, top American , at the 74th International Six Days Enduro from September 13-18 in Portuga l. Being an endu ro gu ru, you may not know that the deadli ne for im pou nd at the S ilver State Series 540-m ile Vegas to Reno race (a series that Davis also contelJds! was at 6 p.m . on Thursday , September 30 , jus t four days after the Texas enduro in ques tion . The approximate 9-hour, 12-pit-stop race, which can be a log istical nightmare for pit Natio nal #98 John Ha teley is no t in th e Hall of Fam e. Wha t' s up? Doesn 't any rem ember th e H ou s to n b od y Astrodo me in 1977? Lil' John took it to the best Class C racer s on the pl ane t, n e v er m in d h is s peed way a n d m otocros s sk ills. Re m e m b er th e Hopetowns, Baja? Oh, and how abo u t Ascot Park in Ga rde na, w here th e 405 an d the 110 collide? Co me on, let 's see a guy t ha t deserves it at least be the 98th ind uctee. Dean Lane Chatsworth, CA Good on ya, Speedvision Speed vision's accou nt of the Aus tralian GP was very exciting. Besides the commentary, which adds to the excitment, I particularly liked the filmi ng . Did you no tice the came ras runn ing along, following the bikes in some of the comers? It was like they we re on some sort of elip tical mechanical arm. They also had a good balance of on-bike and helicop ter s ho ts . And w ith Doo ha n n ot bei ng in the lineup to wa lk away w ith it, we really go t to see a 'g ood race. Robert Covington Full erton, CA Letters to the edito r shoul d b e se nt to Voi ce s, Cy cl e N ews, P.O. Box 5084, Costa Me sa, CA 92628-5084, fax ed to 714/7 51-668 5 or e-m ail ed to e d it o r@ cyclenews.co m. Pub li shed le tters do n ot n ecessari ly refl ect the po siti on of Cy cl e Ne w s, Inc. Le tt ers s h ou ld not exceed 200 w ord s an d all lett ers ar e su b ject to editing. Ano ny mous letters will no t be considered for publication. All letters sh oul d con tai n the wri ter's n ame, a d d res s and da y time phone number.. . Editor. 0' N Q; ..0 o U o 5

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