Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

exhaus tion after crossing the finish line yo u may have ag reed w it h me. Moreover, Ricky Ca rmic hael was on another level in lndaiatuba. His lap times on Saturd ay afternoon wou ld have made him th e fourth-fastest rid er in th e wo rld a nd th at incl u des every 125, 250 a nd O pen bike . Fu rt hermore, a fte r ha ving his dama ged pipe cha nged d uring the o pe n ing la p s of th e firs t m o to, Carmic hael p ull ed la p tim es that were only bettered by the Open bikes of Joel Sm et s, Andrea Bartoli ni a nd Fre deric Bolley. Th e only thing Ca rmichael can be faulted for was being a bit too eager to get to the fron t and show the wo rld wha t a brilliant rid er he is. Fin a ll y , Mik e La Ro cco was , as . exp ected, ro ck solid in Brazil, comi ng ' from way, way back in the first moto to finish fifth . The final mot o cou ld have been a g rea t op po rtuni ty for LaRocco and Windham to sho w the world w ha t American s are capable of, but both riders were hu ng up on the first lap by fallen riders - the same fate that also befell the Tortelli and the French team . I'm . n o t m a k in g exc uses for th e Ame rican team. We lost and tha t's that. Team Italy used a stro ng, consiste nt an d met hodical approach that was re mi niscent of the grea t Am er ican wi ns of the 1980s, a nd th e tri o truly d es er ved to win . In addition, Everts, Smets and Bartoli ni w ere phen omenal in Brazil , a nd no thing can be taken away from them. In conclusion, I will offer up this: The ra cing Go d s were not r in g side w ith Team USA a t th e 1999 Mo tocross d es N a tio ns . That wi th s ta n di ng , if th e y wou ld h a ve been , a n d p er haps a b it more kind , our guys - the same gu ys I feel a few fans are being a little too hard on - would ha ve been up on the pod ium, if not the very top step. In stead of looking a t th e n ega tiv e . sid e of things - it' s all too eas y to bitch let' s circl e the wagon s and look at getting the Peter Chamberlain trophy back at next yea r's Motocross des Nations in France. Eric Johnson Torrance, CA . And one more I' m getti ng so sick of these peo ple whinin g about th e Mot ocr oss d es Na tio ns . Isn't 13 wins in a row goo d? I think so. There appears to be a lot of sore losers ou t th e re . If w e won all th e time , it would ge t bo rin g. Cor re c t me if I' m wro n g, but th e team goes to prove whose team is best - not what co u n try' is best. If yo u base yo u r b elie f a nd yo u r prid e in yo ur cou ntry on how three peopl e twist the thro ttle, then you ha ve so me so rt of . problem - no t them . No body ever goes to the ga te hoping to lose, but only one can w in a nd eve ry body else loses. It' s not our fault that track ow ner s in thi s cou n try take prid e in their racing su rfaces - b e it a local o r Nation al -l evel track. If it bo the rs you that bad, go to . your local d eal e r, by a bik e and th e gea r, and go an d w in it ba ck for th e USA. Un til the n, sto p whini ng. They' re doi ng their best. To Ru ss ell in Hig hla n d , Texas, I h av e to say o ne thi ng: If yo u d on 't wan t to bu y a pl ane ticket to go to a Na tio na l Mot ocro ss, ther e is p len ty of room u p here in th e Nort heast. It' s a free cou nt ry so move on u p her e and wa tch all the Nationals your little hea rt desires. . Steve Hu ml St. Charles, OH One brand I recen tly read that the AMA is consid ering limiting the Grand Na tiona l Dir t Track competito rs to one bra nd of tire for the new mill enniu m. If this is tru e, h ow will it impro ve the co m petition? Th is seaso n m arked th e fir s t time in over a d ecad e tha t rid ers had a viable c ho ice of tir e b r a n d s (c o ns tr u c te d specifica lly for dirt track racing com petition ). After a consid era ble amo un t of time, effort and resources, bo th Co n tinenta l and Ma xxis have produced tires (ap p ro ved by the AMA ) th a t a re no t o n ly comp et iti v e (b ot h h a v e won Na tio na ls), but also less expensive. Mo st notab ly , a t trac ks w here tir e wear has bee n a safety issue, the Con tinental tire has prod uced faster lap times w it h significa n tly less tire wear. As in o t he r fo r ms of m o torcycl e ra cin g , I beli eve the co m pe t ito r s s h o u ld b e allowed a cho ice. Think abou t it, where would road raci ng and tir e technology be tod ay if those com petito rs had be en limi ted to a sing le br and of tire? Doug Wh elan Lawrence ville, GA The Open The THQ U'S, O pen in Las Vegas was awesome. The tra ck design w as va stl y im p roved ov er last yea r, the racing was some of the best I've see n and the race format ke p t us en te rt a ined . The show Jeff Emig put on proved to us all that he has red ed icated himself to the sport we all love. But the race cou ld have been better. As a Jer emy McGrat h fan, I was disappo inted to learn that he elected to sit ou t th is race. I as ked aro und in the pits to see w hy he wasn 't racing and the general answer was: "He w anted $50,000 start money." Isn' t $100,000 to w in eno ugh incentive? Wh y d idn't Chaparral insist that McGrath ride the event, since they we re . a sp onsor? I b ou g ht ou r tick ets from Chaparra l an d they ass ured me that he wou ld r ide since McGrath ' s Fox / No Fear legal probl em s had been resolved . Ma zd a was also a ma in spo nsor of the race and of Jer em y. With Spee dvision's cove rage, the even t offer s a tremend ous amo un t of expos ure for a rid er an d his sponsors. I just rea d that Jeremy went to and wo n the Sheffield Supercross in Eng land a week after the Ll.S, Op en. Yet this race will ge t littl e ex posu re .in th e United States and does not ben efit Cha p arral, Mazda or 1-800-COL LECT in any way, in m y op inion. I w as impress ed by th e Ll .S. O pen. Jeff Emig ga ined thousands of new fans a n d Jeremy M cG r ath ce r ta in ly lo s t so me . Brad Gustafson bradg@galesburg.net Missing Doug I am writing in regard to the retire men t of Doug He nry. Doug was an exam ple of a tru e cha m p ion who overcame any p rob le m . From brea king his b a ck to brea kin g hi s arms, he s till ca me ba ck and found a way to win . If peopl e kn ew the b ack ground of Dou g in his ea rly life they would know th at he stayed in Flo rida in his tru ck, eating spaghetti every night. Doug had a nev er-say-di e a ttitude, and it sure paid off for him . Well, Doug, it's been a gr eat caree r. Good lu ck in s n ow m ob ile racing or wha tever yo u d o a nd rem ember th at yo u' re always w elcome ba ck into the sport of mo tocross. Nick Mel anson Lagu na Nigu el, ~ The Legends Th e Del Ma r Show and Grand Na tiona l dirt tra ck w a s a g a in a hu ge su ccess. Th e n e w du st-free location , p erfect w ea ther , excellen t tu rnou t and a very exci ting race ma de it the bes t weekend ever. The last GN C race of this cen tury was a safe o ne (most im p ortan t) a nd the Lap of Legends, includ ing the 1949 Del Mar racers, was a big crowd -p leaser again . And the auction for both AIR (A id to In ju r e d Race rs ) and Kev in Ather ton was a success to wr ap up the racin g season. . I person all y wa nt to thank the Legends wh o cam e fro m all over the USA (i n cl u di ng 103-year-ol d Ji m Da v is ), Ch ris Aga janian, Joe O'Day a nd thei r staff for a fantastic sh ow and race, the Trailblazers mem bers for ou r exce llent "Legend ary Compet it ion Motor cycl e" exhibition and , most of all, the GN C racers who put their lives on the line every time they strap on a steel shoe for our enjoyme nt. An drea Phillips San Di ego, CA 40 plus 2 I'm hop ing that yo u w ill d o an article o n b rin gi n g. b a ck th e 40-plu s -2 -lap moto. I am an ex-race r a nd it's mak ing me sick to hear that the Ll.S, riders are on ly focu si n g on su percross . An d to wa tch totally out-of-sha pe racers sag to th e back of the pa ck and ge t creamed b y th e Eur os in th e M o to cro ss d es Nations... I have given this so me tho ught, and the bot tom line is that when we we nt 40 plus two laps, we wo n. O ur guys spent a lot of ti me in th e gym, a nd if th ey d idn 't, they los t. We ca n ca ll it th e toughes t sport in the world, but let' s be honest - at 30 plus 2 lap s, it might be d iffi cult, but it' s no t the to u g h es t. Th e beau ty of the 40-plus -2-lap moto is that it forces guys to concen tra te on fitness not just jump ing . Rob Green Redmond, WA Letters to the editor should be sen t to Voic e s, Cycle Ne ws, P.O. Box 5084 , Co sta Mesa, CA 92628-5084, fa xed to 714/751-6685 or e-ma iled to editor@ cyclenews.com. Published letters do not necessarily re flect the position of Cy cl e N ew s, Inc. Le tt e rs sh ou ld not exc eed 200 word s and all letters a re su b ject to editing. Anonymous letters will not be considered for publication. All letters s hould contain the writer's name, addre s s a n d d a ytime phone number.. . Editor. . '" '" '" M .2: E CI> > o z 7

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