Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

By J .N. Roberts (Hus) raced toward the camera for the cover of Issue #18, on his way t o winning his third straight desert race the Red Dots MC Hare Scrambles . Larry Pfu tzenreute r (Bul ) and Wes Ander son Jr. (Bul) followed Roberts' Open -class machine home on their 250s for second and third overall, respectively... The head of the CMC, Stu Peters , wrote a lette r asking for the cooperation of the other mo tocross pro moters in grading the riders - to help prevent cherry -picking... We featured our first Cycl e News Consu mer Test (of a 1971 Ossa Pion eer ), which was co nceived to give our readers an accurate, real -worl d evaluation of motorcycles and products by bu yi n g th em an d t est in g th em for an extended period of t im e. Th is way , t he manu factu rers co uldn 't give us special bikes that they prepared specifically for us... Dave Damron won the 350cc Production. 350cc GP and 500cc GP classes at Willow Springs Raceway in Southern Califomia . Harl ey-Davidson factory dirt tracker Jay Spring steen slid across the cover of Issue #18 after winning round six of the AMA Grand National Champio nship D i rt Track Se ries in San Jose, California. Gary Scott and Hank Scott fi ni shed second and third , and Spring steen's win moved him to with in four points of the points lead... Team Suzuk i's Mark Barn ett endured a race-long battl e with defending champi on Mike Bell (Yam) to win round 10 of the AMA Sup ercross Series in Kan sas City , Mi ssou r i. Th e win ex te nd ed Barn ett ' s points lead to 40 ... A full -page ad for the Bob Hannah /Steve Wise Moto-X School advertised then-upcoming dates at Stormy A cres Cy c le Ranch. Th e m otto of the school was, "We don't teach you to ride, we teach yo u to win!" .. . Team Suzuki's Frank Sta cy rode his 250cc machine to the win at round three of the AMA Two Day Qualifier Series in McMinn ville, Ore gon . Frank Gallo (KTM ) and Terry Cunningham (Hus) rounded out the top three overall on their Open-class mach ines. 10 YEARS AGO.•. MA Y 15, 1991 . Team Green's Larry roosted Ro e se le r acro ss the co v er o f Issue # 18 after winning round one of the AMA National Cham pionship Endu ro Reli ab ility Series in Sand Springs, Okl ahoma. The John Zink Ranch hosted the event, and would also host the 1994 ISDE .. . T eam Suz u k i ' s Mike laRocco grabbed a rare holeshot and won his first 250cc Supercross in Las Vegas, Nevada - rou nd 14 of the AMA Ca mel Supercross Series. Points leader and thirdplace fin isher Jea n- Mi c he l Ba y l e announced that he would be back in 1992 to defend his championship but would race 250cc Road Race Grands Prix starting in 1993. Jeremy McGrath (Hon) and Jimmy Button (Yam) went one-two in the 125cc main, respectively ... Doug Polen (Due) won both legs of th e World Championship Superbike Series' second round in Jarama, Spa in. Rob Philli s (K aw) and St ephane Mert ens (Duc) took turns finishing second to the Am erican ... Fantic -mounted Diego Bosis took the overall victory at round two of the World Championship Observed Trials Series in Hoghton Tower. England. Donato Miglio (Apr) and defending champion Jordi Tarres (Bet) roundedout the top three. DAVEY COOMBS ith a suc cessfu l 200 I EA Sports Supercross Series presented by Speed Stick com ing to a close. people are starting to d iscuss the future o f supercross. While it's obv ious that big issues loom on th e horizon for riders , the indu st ry, the AMA and SFX Motor Sports, one topic recently caught m y attention . It seems that a case is being made b y a vocal minority to end the form at o f dividing th e 125cc class into W Eastern and Western Reg ions in favor of a single national series . T h at ' s a really bad idea . As a c on cerned fan who is fortuna te enough to go to ev ery race of the series , as well as sit in on t he occasio nal meeting or conversation concerning the future of our sport, I would like to expla in here why the 125cc SX format works as it is and should continue. Fi rst of all , remember tha t it is the wish o f th e manufacturers, the ind ustry , the series promoter and the sanc tion ing body to have a single, premier d iv i sion in supercross - the 250cc class . The 125cc class was conceived as a feeder sys tem to th e 250 s, allowing young or in ex p eri en ced riders to hone th e ir s k i lls o n real SX tracks while at t he same t ime building a career fo r t h e mselves . It is a sa fe, fa ir (for th e most part) way t o funnel tal ent into t he 250cc cl ass while build ing more opportunities for rid ers and spo nsors. It also makes fo r a be tter show , which anyon e wh o has been to a supercross race since 1984 - the la st y e a r without a 125cc class w ou ld surel y tell yo u. Sure, so me ex p lo it the system by trying to stay in t he 125cc cl ass for too long, bu t other s (i. e., Mike Jones, Jeromy Buehl a nd J immy G a d d i s ) w e r e hurt b y being forced out too early . With on ly one true ama teu r su percross r a c e in existence - t h e M DA Amateur Day in Pontiac's Silverdome - kids rarely get an o p po rtunity to ride on a real SX track. For most, the first time they will face the obstacles and pressure of the sport w ill be the Reason for Bein 125cc SX sc en e with seem ing ly twice a s m an y crashes as wins . Ricky h it th e ground so m an y times that j ou r nalists used to h ave a betting pool on how lo ng h e woul d last before cra sh ing . But , i n his s e cond y e a r , Carm ichael put togeth er a perfe ct 12 5cc Eastern Region Series on his wa y to the title . One y ear later, RC was bac k on t he ground o ft en. having moved up to the 250cc SX School of Hard Knocks . Battered , bruised and embarrassed , Carmichael never made the podium . Now he's never off of it! W ould Ricky Carmichael h av e turned out to be a s healthy or ca pable a racer as he is now had he been required to enter twice as many 125cc SX ra ces ba ck in ' 9 7, when he was still a wild , fearless rookie? No w think o f Travis Pastrana . His first 18 months as a pro , like C a rmichael's , resulted i n a 125cc Nat i ona l MX title, fol lowed by a 125 cc Ea st Region SX title. But even Before y o u ans wer that , a lso a sk you rself how many 250cc class riders a r e now on the p a yro ll at Honda, Kawasa ki. Suzu ki and Honda? Two p er team , at most. W ith two 125cc titles up for grabs, the d oor is open to m ore jobs, more spo n so rs and more o p port u ni ti es for exposu re for everyone a t Yamah a of Troy , P ro C ircuit/Kawasak i/SplitFire, KTM Red Bull , Plano Hond a/MSR , MotoworldRacing .com/Answer Yamaha, Planet Honda, etc . Ex posure wa s th e id ea behi nd having 125cc East and W est Regions in the first place . A generation ago, fac tory support went primarily to ri ders lo cated out west because there w ere n o real sh owcase s for those in t h e east. The regional conc ept o bviously w orked , because now there ar e factory-supported rid ers fr om Florida, Maryland, Ohio , Georg ia , Tennessee, L ou is iana , M ich ig an , Ok lahoma and Pennsylvan ia , not to m ention Costa Ri c a , South Africa and France . The tables have turned so far that it' s ri ders out west who benefit most from the split reg ions to secure rides r iders li k e Casey Lytle , B il l y Payne, Greg Schnell , Travis E lliot and the Te des co brothers . One othe r thin g to consider is edu cation . As lo n g as ou r sport allows 16 - and 17 y ea r -aids to co m pet e as professional s , th e i dea of r equ i r ing th em to attend a 16 -race tou r in th e m id dle of th e school ye ar is irrespon sib le. Even in thi s a ge o f h ome - schooling f or young athlet es, su pe rc ross w ould be p erc e iv e d a s anti-ed uc atio n a l. T h e situation c an b e d iff ic ult enough for families faced with a limite d reg ional schedu le. Now imagine w h at it would be like t o tra vel st raight t h roug h fro m January to May, with one w eek off for E ast er. The current form at for 12 5cc SX rac ing i s safe for r iders , good for business an d great for fans . It is a f itting showcase for the future of supercross . Why chang e it now after W i t h tuvo 1 2 5cc title s up for grabs, the doo r is open to m o re j o b s, more sponsors and more opportunities for exposure for everyone. first time they enter a real SX race . Anyone who th inks arenacross racing or local night t rack s are close enough has never been in a rea l supercros s race . Th e 125c c c l a ss he lps r id ers learn and grow at a sa fe pace. Take Ricky Carrnichael , fo r exa m ple . Ba ck in 19 9 7 . he landed o n th e w ith all o f h is na tura l talent an d supp o rt , lo ok at the diffic ulty T rav is is curre ntly having fini shing e ve ry w eekend be tween t he 12 5cc East and selected 250cc r ac es. He m a y hav e w o n th e number -on e plate in t h e reg ional class, b ut he ha s fo u r DNFs in five race s in the prem ier class . If t h e ex t raordin ar ily talented Pa strana is havi ng a tough time getti ng through a full sch ed u le, imagine wh at it would b e l i k e f or a lesser-skilled privateer, on e who is also trying to ge t his bike and body from one race to the next. Ho w much experience and track time would that rider get each week , driving from A naheim to Indianapolis or Pontiac to Dallas? Supercross i s tough enou g h as it i s on y ou ng pro riders ; just ask Branden Jes sem a n, Bobb y Bonds or Steve Bon iface . Co m bi ni n g the E ast and We st Region w ou ld also mean c utt ing jobs in h alf for r id e r s , m echani cs and othe r relate d p erson n el. How man y t eams w ou ld h ir e four fu ll -time riders and t u ners for a sin g le 125 c c se ries? Coming up in Cycle News 17 successful years? It was a good id ea in 1985, and it's an even better eN id e a now. D a v ey Coombs is t he ed ito r in ch ief of Rac er X Illustrated magazine, and the floo r a nnou nce r for the telev ision coverage of the EA Sports Supercross Series. He is also now a memeber of the AMA Boa rd of Trustees . • Las Vegas Supercross Rnale • Trials Shootout • Electric Dirt Bike cue I e n e _ s • MAV9 , 2001 107

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