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/128345
''A big thanks to Yamaha - the proud manufacturers of my next bike." - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - ISDE Thanks I would like to thank a few people for their unrelenting effort at the recent International Six Day Endu ro, he ld Septemberl3-18, in Miedziana Gora, Poland . First , to all t he riders representing t he United States: Great effort by all and a fine medal count of 29 medals out of 33 riders. Congratulations to Kurt Caselli for finishing th ird in class, and to Dylan Debel for w inning the Valencia Cup. To our corporate sponsors, thank you very much fo r your continued support in helping our team with a generous supply of product and monetary donations. Thanks to Arai Helmets, PJI Lubricants, Malcolm Smith Racing, GNCC Racing, Jalmar Racing, Moose Racing, Best in the Desert Racing, and Beaverton Hon daYamaha. Thank you very much to all the volun t ee r support crew made up 01 family and friends of the riders. Without the hard work and sacrifices these people made, it would have been impossible for any rider to finish the Six Days. Iwould like to make special mention of some of that support crew: the check point/gas stop captains were Bob and Tony Agon is, Randy and Shirley Mastin , Chris Hardy, and first timer Craig Debe l; the porc (erme (ma in pits) captains of Paul Bucher and Jay Hall kept things organized and runn ing sm oothly; the riders all got spaghett i at the end of their ride each day, to re load the ir tired bod ies wit h the carboh yd rates and nourish ment they needed . The people responsi ble for preparing th ose grea t meals were Beth N ef], Andi Bailey and Neena Go rdo n. Thanks to Tro phy team manager Dre w Smith for kee ping the riders pum pe d up and pr oceeding forw ar d. To ou r friend Igor Oule hla, for his ex pert assista nce in re laying to the riders w hat type of terrai n and schedu le th ey wo uld have to mainta in eve ry day and for eve ryt hing else he d id. To Pat Noel, not only for se nding back stories an d pict ure s to the AMA's website, but also for making up the time car ds used by the riders and check crews to keep eve ryone on schedule. To Gunny C laypool e , who has w o rked tirelessly for t he USA effort for more than 2S years. This year he not only res tocked, packed the mo torcycles and shipped the container we all worked out of for the two weeks, but he was also our Jury representative to the FIM. Roge r Anse l was th is year's AMA representative and th e glue that he ld the total effort t ogether. Katie Kiley was o ur - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- tour coordinktor again this year and did a fine job of scheduling flights, rental cars and our lodging, among other things . Thanks to the media for helping get the word back to the States: Dick Lague, Steve Berkner, Mark Kariya and Marshall Rose . I look forward to working with many of you at next year's ISDE, September 12I7, 2005 in Povazska Bystrica, Slovakia. Thanks, in advance, for your continued support. Bruce Wakeley via the Intern et Wakeley is the Team USA team manager (or the ISDL .Editor The Crash" Le t me get t his straight: In Mot o Gp , race d irect o r Mr. Paul Butle r says that Loris Capirossi's crash is not he same as that of last year's disservice by John Hopkins. So, does that mean the FIM rulebook goes like this : Rule 124.7: If young American crashes in first turn of race and takes out established European racers, enforce massive penalty. Rule 124.8: II established European racer crashes in first turn of race and takes out all young Americans, no penalty. What if a Japanese rider takes out an Argentinean? O r a South African takes out a Puerto Rican? O r an Eskimo takes out a re dneck? Any ru les o n t hat yet? So Loris storms fro m t he third row into seco nd place in the first turn (o bvio usly trying to win the race on the first lap as usual) o n cold tires and takes an inside line and bowl s over everyone else - and that 's not re ckless or st upid riding? No penalty t here? If I d id that in a club race I'm su re I'd suffer to so me degree (in pe nalties and a seve re th rash ing abo ut the head and to rso by my fellow race rs in the pits). Strange rules in MotoGP. Consiste ncy is not their best virtu e, I guess. Steven Holt Fallbrook, CA The Crash II Afte r re ad ing Jo hn Ho pkins' rema rk s about the crash at Motegi involving Loris Capirossi, I just have to say that he (Ho pkins) is one classy du de . No whining, no finger-pointing, despite what had previously happened to him in a similar situation . I'm definitely a fan now, St eve Erkens via t he Internet - - .....,,- teneo 10 !he educe .hould be..nllo Voice., Cycle News, PO Box 5084, Co.1o Meso, CA92628-5084; foxed 10 714·751-6685 or erociled to ed;tor@cyclenews.com. Published leners do not necessarily reRect !he pos;l;onofCycle News, Inc. letters should not exceed 200 words, and all ore subjectto editing. Anonymous Ie"erswill notbeconsidered for publication. --.... All letters should contain thewriter's nome, address and daytimephonenumber... Editor. It Was Her! Yamaha Kudos I am responding to No Fan of the Glen (Voices, Issue # 38). I am sure that his letter was directed at me personally. My fam ily and I are extremely sorry for offend ing you and your son - however I must defend our pos ition . For at least 12 years, maybe more, we have planned and looked forward to th is event each year. My husband faithfully wakes up at 3 a.rn . o n the morning of the Nationals. He waits in line until the gates open and then rushes in to scope out his favorite spot. He does t hen "caution" tape o rr his piece of "real estate," usually consisting of a IO-by- IO-foot space. We have seven children and two frien ds that join us each year. That is $3 lO w e spend for our "real estate." We I I people come and go fro m this spot all day. This gives all of us an opportunity to walk through the pits, see the vendors, and to be able to view the races from different areas 01 the track. Th is "real estate" provides a meeting place and helps keep our children and personal items safe from all of the riff-raff and fighting drunks. We personally did not have a canopy th is year which allowed o the r viewers to stand behind our caution tape and view the race. We also allowed many ot he rs (w ho asked) onto our "real estate" to take pho togra phs and movie footage . We actually had two different incide nces where spectators, such as yo urself, cut through o ur cauti on tape, pushed the ir way to t he fence line of o ur IO-by- I0 spot, called us names, an d threw t he ir beverage containers at us whe n we asked them to lea ve . O ne guy eve n to ld me "It was a free cou ntry" and he wa s right . He is as fre e as w e are to wa ke up at 3 a.rn, and wa it at the gate to get his ow n pr ime piece of "real estate." Anothe r suggesti on , if you 're going to stroll in to the races at whate ver time you like, w ould be to pick a spot up on the side of Mount St. Helen or Yamaha Hill. T here are no pedestrian cho ke points and a great view of the wh o le track in those tw o spots. In closi ng, I would like to say t hat I am not aware of any type of spectator event that allows you to arrive late, ge t the best sea t and not have to deal w ith othe r fans. Maybe next year you coul d rent a helicopter. Elysia Ritchey Apple Volley, CA I'm writing to express my admiration and respect for Yamaha Motor Corp. USA for fund ing the upgrades to Laguna Seca. As a huge fan of MotoGP and motorcycle rac ing, and one w ith t ickets already (I bought them the day the race was an nounced), it's extraordinary to w itness corporate financial support with safety and motorcycle promotion in mind . Sure, there are corporate sponsors, but this seems d ifferent. They seem to be having a very convincing year. Maybe it's because Valentino Rossi makes them look really, really good. Perhaps it's the RI and the other well designed machines. Or is it the fact t hat they're t he underdog? I can't put my finger on it, but the news about paying t he improvement bill in Monterey is another w inner. Maybe they can build a new, motorcycle-specific MotoGP (and maybe F I if they're nice) world-class race lacility in the USA Not to knock Laguna, but even with the changes it's not the same sca le as so me of the newer tracks such as Sepang, Qatar, Shanghai, Catalunya and even t he oldest Assen . II all the manufacturers pitched in, and maybe Michael Jordan and Jay Leno , $150 million isn't that much these days . Anyhow, a big thanks to Yamaha - the proud manufacturers of my next bike . Joson Lasser Aspen, CO www.cyclenews.com For more on the Laguna Seco track situation , see In The Wind... Editor Save Kenworthy I can' t believe that t he AMA would ca nce l the Kenw orthy National Mo tocross after this year 's race . What are t hey th inking? I know they had pro blems due to Mot her Natu re last year (the floo d), but fro m w hat I was to ld they were going to canc e l the Natio nal after t his year anyway! T hey always have a big crowd and t he trac k is always in good sha pe. Do n Kenworthy has always do ne a first -class job and the riders like it too! It appears to me t here are a lot of gap s in between the Nat ionals now. I can see th em addi ng Nationals, but taking away Nat io nals... this makes no sense wh atsoever. Sometimes I think the AMA is brain dead . The AMA needs to think about the O hio (its home state) motocross fans. The closest Natio nal now is Red Bud which is five ho urs away. M ike Mc Kinne y Dayton,OH CYCLE N EWS • OCTOBER 13,2004 5