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/128320
, Briefly... Losing Ricky \ A /hen it was announced last week that V V Ricky Cannichael had signed a multiyea r contract w ith Suzuki that will begin in 2ooS, it lelt Honda without its number-o ne rider. It also raised questions on how the biggest motorcycle co mpany in the world could allow a ride r the stature of Carmichael to leave. We were given the opportunity to interview American Honda 's vice pre sident Ray Blank on the subject, and he re's what Blank had to say. Ru m o r ha s it that Rick y Carmichael sw itc he d t o Suzuki so he co uld ride supercross o n a twostro ke a nd t hat Ho nd a was tryi ng to force him t o race t he four-stroke. Is Q this true? A Ric ky had, and still has, the choice to race I""\whateve r he is most comfortable with. w as it dollars, terms o r conditio ns that Honda couldn't or would n't match? Q A It is not appropriate for us to comme nt ~n specific details . However, over the 30-year history of AMA motocross, Hond a has w on more championships than any other manufacturer. H onda knows how to wi n. We have a formula for wi nning cham- pionships. It has to do with the way we build motorcycles, the wa y we structure our team . the w ay w e set up our development . And the way we structure our relationship w ith o ur riders is a critical part of that formula. Wh en we sign a racer, we alw ays contra ct on a salary and lncentive basis. It is our experience that incentives bring out the best perfo rmance in a rider. Philosoph ically and pract ically, th is is a critical compo nent to our racing program. Q W h Y didn't Honda try ha rder t o sig n Carmichael t o a ne w co ntract? Th e w o r d on t he street is th at Honda neve r made a seri ous atte mpt to ke ep him und e r co ntract. A First, Honda had every inte ntion of kee pI"'\;ng Ri ky. We believe in Ric ky and wantc ed to see him finish out his career as a Honda rider. Iv. Ricky's management request. we began negot iations with Ricky last summer. We continued to work toward a contract agreement with Ricky's management until Honda match Suzu ki's offe r ? A The answer to the first question is yes. We I""\c:an't speak to Suzuki's offer, but we were presented with a guaranteed salary offer from Ri ky's management group . Ou r response c was a multiyear deal that offered Ricky considerably greater financial reward s than what his management group presented to us. W ha t o ther fa ctors and co nd itio ns Q besid es money affec t a rid er's will~ ingne ss t o sign a contract? A When Ricky came to our team , he /"'\made the sta tem ent that he came primarily because of Honda's her itage of win ning, and because of Honda 's tech nology. That hasn't changed. In fact , wh at was true in 200 2 is even more true today, thanks to th e continuing deve lopme nt of the CR250R and the success and phenomenal pop ularity of the CRF450R. Q w e re licen sing an d image use or ou tsid e spons ors a st icki ng po in t with Carm ichael's co ntract? A Fran kly, the issue never came up . Acco rding to No Umits Suzuki's Rich Alexander, Jason Pridmore had surgery o n April II to repair tendons in a shoulder after cras hing at the Streets of Willow Springs in Rosamond , California, on April 10. Pridmo re was testing at the facility when he low -sided, accordi ng to Alexande r. "He hurt his collarbone, shoulder and foo t and went to [Arthur] T ing's straight away," Alexander said. "He had surgery on Sunday to repair ligame nts In his shou lder, but there were no breaks, and his foot just has a crack in it so that didn't need any repair. T ing said he should be back on the bike in th ree to four weeks, so maybe Sears Point [Infineon Raceway], but maybe not ." I can't answ er the announcement question. When we signed Ricky in the summer of 200 I , we didn't announce it until the end of the seaso n out of respect for Kawasaki's opportunity to continue their A marketing efforts with Ricky. That 's just the w ay Honda does business. Q W h Y was it necessary to sign Ca rmi ch a el so ea rly in the se ason? A This timeline was established by Ricky's /"'\management halfway through the 2002 national season. W ili Mik e G osselaar go wi t h Carmichael t o Suzuki? I can't answ er that, but I can te ll you /"'\Mi ke is a ve ry we ll-liked and res pec te d mem ber of the Hon da family, and we hope Q A Next Level Sports Management has announced the signingof motocross phe- he stays with us thr oughout the rem ainder of his career. Q A nom James St ewart with the company to act as the exclusive agency of record for HOW will this affe ct the ou t door the 18-yea r-old from Haines City, Florida. "James ' ability on the race track is a proven commodity," said Next Level Sports Management founder and president Tony Gardea. "He is breaking o utside of the normal boundaries of o ur sport and has the potential to reach levels that our industry m otocross season? The Hond a team and Ricky Carmichael /""'\have eve ry intention of w inning the 250cc outdoor nationa l title fo r th e third year in a row. Ricky is very excited about Q u nt il he inc u rr e d his kn e e inju ry, Carmichael d id noth ing but win fo r Honda , including notching up a pe r fect seaso n t hat w ill proba b ly neve r be e q ualed . He has sai d he only wan ts t o race for a few m ore years. W hy would n't Ho nda wa nt t o keep him t hrough th e e nd of his raci ng the performance of the 450R, and I think has never seen. James connects with fans of we're going to see even greater speed than all ages and backgrounds, and even those we've seen before Irom Ricky. who aren't mo tocross enthusiasts. We o nly hope to forge relationships with corporate America to put him in a position to better his career and advance the sport." Gardea has over 15 years of sports marketing experience in the motocross industry and most ca reer? rec ently handled the mark e ting and pub lic re lations for Kawasaki's motocross program A It was o ur hop e that Ricky would /""'\stay w ith Honda unt il his retirem e nt, where he was instrumental in developing the Chevy Trucks relationship. "I'm rea lly looking forward to working with Tony and Nex t Level," said Stewart. "I think he is very well respected with in the mo tocross industry, and his know ledge of the business outside of o ur spo rt w ill be a huge ben efit wh ether that meant one mo re year or two more years, or lo nger. We had hoped he would stay here as a Ho nda hero long after he had finished his career as a racer. Q Aft e r Jeremy McG r ath wo n championships for Honda, he put toge ther his own deals, went to a no t he r man ufa cturer, a nd for my caree r." SCORE International has signed a dea l guaranteeing that La Paz, Mex ico , will host the finish line for November's 37th annual Tecate SCORE Baja I000 desert race . The race will again be a peni nsula run to La Paz for the 16th time . The race will be held November 17-21 with the sta rt taking place in Ense nada, 6S miles south of the U.S. border near San Diego. Th is year's race will also feature the $40 ,000 Terrible's Bonus Purse pro vided by Herbst Gaming of Las Vegas. For more info nnation, call 818/2258402 or visit the officialwebsit e of the 2004 SCORE Desert Series at www.score - kept win ning championships. Is Honda m ak ing t hat sa m e mistake again, letting Carmic hael get awa y? A The situation with Jeremy was not a /'"\compensation issue. There are few sim ilarities between t he two fro m the very end of recent negotiations. Honda's perspective. lt seems like it 's still ve ry early Q in the season to announce new co nt racts . Did t h e Honda contract incl ude first right of refusal? Why d idn 't Q intemional.com . "Supercross: The Movie" To 20th Century Fox O fficials at Tag Entertainment have Supe rcro ss Series in Las Vegas. Tag announced that they have signed a dist ribu- Entertainment's product ion crew - in coop- tion dea l with mov ie giant 20th Century Fox to d istribute the highly ant icipated 5upercross: eration with Clear Channe l Motorsports and Sam Boyd Stad ium - will keep the stadium track intact for an add itional fo ur days of filming following the race. "T his will be a bullet-proo f, true-to -thesport story set in a high-oc tane environment tha t is the worl d of pro super cross," said Steve Boyum , d irector of Supercross: The The Movie. The de al will land Supercross: The Movie in m o re than 1000 theaters in a nationwi de release scheduled fo r the sec on d quarte r of 200S . "We' re co nfide nt th at Supercross: The Movie willdo for the spo rt of supe rcross what Days of Thunder did for NASCAR," said Tag Ente rtainment's Steve Austin, produ cer of Supercro, s: The Movie. Principal filming of the movie will begin on May I at th e finals of the THQ/AMA Movie. Boyum , a form er top-l evel motocross racer from Southern California, professional stuntman and long-t ime motorcycle racing enthusiast , added that an immense amount of attention to detail and accu racy will be paid with th is mov ie. "Ho llywoo d has a way of fictionalizing sports, especially when you have someone directing the film that isn't savvy with the sport," said Boyum. "1can assure you that the motorcycle industry will be very, VERY prou d ofthis film." In addition to supercross, Supercross: The Movie wi ll contain footage from t he Outd oor N ationals, are nacro ss, desert racing and supermoto . "It's go ing to be an action- packed thrill ride for the e ntire industry," add ed Austin. In addition to C lea r Cha nnel Moto rspo rts , Parts Unlimited and Amer ican Hond a have signed on as partners in the project. www.cycienEWs.com Cle ar Channel Entertainment' s Motor Sports has anno unced that Asterisk, the official knee brace of THQ Wo rld Supe rcross GP/THQ AMA Supercross Series , will sponsor the ann ual industry barbeq ue at Dallas' Texas Stadium Friday, April 16, fro m 2 p.m . to 6 p.m . "Each year, we enjoy bringing the racing community together fo r a good time and to thank the m for their hard work: ' said Todd Jendro, director of supercross, Clear Channel Entertainm ent - Motor Sports. "Clear Channel and Aste risk recogn ize the efforts of the entire ind ustry, and this is a good opportunity to give back to everyone who makes the season a suecess." "It's been a long season for everyone who has had an active duty at the races Continued on page 7 CYCLE NEWS • APRIL 21,2004 5