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/128347
"The sport could be in danger of losing its momentum wh en people get tired of seeing letters theeditor should be sentto Vo ices, CycleNews, POBox5084 , CostaMeso, CA92628-5084; foxed or emoiled to editorfky<:lenews.com. Published slower speeds on a thinly veiled motocross track." letters do nol necessarily reflect714-751-6685 Cycle News, Inc. Letters should nol exceed 200 the position of 10 10 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ --.:;_ -.... words, andall are subject 10 editing . Anonymous leeers will not beconsidered for publicotion. AU letters should contoin the writer'sname, address and daytime phone number... Editor. Schnell Says Thanks I sta rted the 2004 season as a Suzuki test rider and as a privateer Yamaha racer at the first two Wo rld Supercross GPs in Seville, Spain, and Arnhem, Holland. At the last minute, I decid ed to race t he 12Scc Western Regional Supercross Championships, so I went out and bought my own Honda CRF2S0R and rode it completely stock w ith nothing but a Pro Circuit exhaust at Anaheim I and finished ninth. My best finish in the first leg of the se ries was a sixth at Phoe nix. While the Supercross Series head ed eas t, I headed so ut h to Aust ralia to race a few races o n a KTM 12S in t he Australian Supe rcross Series, w here they referred to me as the "Crazy Yankee." W hile I was there, I started bugging Chris Gosselaar 's mechan ic Frankie to get me a ride with the Factory Co nnection squad. No t too long after that, I got a call from JC Waterhouse - the team manager fo r Amsoil/Chaparral Ho nda. To make a long story short, JC en ded up offering me o ne o f t he rides vacated by the injured Billy Laninovich and Travis Preston, and at my first race on their equipment I put their po te nt C RF2S0 on the podium at Dallas. Unfortunately, I bro ke two ribs before the nex t roun d at Salt Lake City, and then I se parate d the bro ke n ribs at Vegas. I had to sit o ut Hangtown and Mt. Morris , but I got second in the second moto at Washougal o nly a few seconds behind Bubba Stewart. I get along well with the guys at the Factory Connection race team, and after I joined the team, 2004 was abso lute ly t he mos t fun I've ever had - bo th on and off the t rack. I just rea lly want to tha nk the whole team for giving me the o pportunity to represent them in 2004 . If ther e must be a "last race" w ith t he guys at Facto ry Con nection, I' m hap py th at at least I cou ld give the m a co uple of w ins and an overall victory at t he prest igious U.S. O pen of Supercross last weekend in Las Vegas. I'm proud to have be en associate d with such a classy group of guys. Thanks again. Greg Schnell Rancho Cucamonga, CA Where's the Speed? First of all, I love Supermoto and I am planning o n getting into it myse lf - if things do n't go too far to t he motocross side. I do n't have a beef w ith motocross , it's just t hat w ith the odd exceptio n (l.e. Ben Bostr o m), everyone is an (ex) mo tocrosser. Reno was great to see because of t he increased speeds and increased amount of aspha lt. It was more European. Where is all t he hype about it attracting such diverse riders? I know, I know, you' re going to point o ut Metzger, Ko pp, e tc. The tracks, for t he mos t part, are little st o p-and-go tra cks. Some eve n are kart tracks. My God, a 14-year-old kid in a 12Scc go -kart pro ba bly circu lates faster. Let's see mor e speed and highe r speed corners. Maybe t he Euros have it right when their premi ere class is t he Unlimited class and reac hes speeds of over 100 mp h. Th e spo rt could be in danger of losing its momentu m when people get tired of seeing slower speeds on a t hinly veiled mo tocros s track. Kurtis Roberts bailed o ut because of this. Le t's see more roa d racers o ut there. Lindsay Dakota Sherm an Oaks, CA You Can't Handle the Truth I read your coverage of the 24 Ho urs of Glen Hele n and feel co mpelled to commen t on your coverage. Your phot o caption (which more reader s rea d than the story itself) sta tes , "KTM was haunted by bad luck." In the article, it is t hen sta ted tha t o ne of KTM's ride rs got sick - okay, w e can say that's bad luck. However, it also states tha t KTM lost a shock bo lt, blew two shocks, lost an ignitio n and lost their brakes twice. It seems a more fitting caption may have bee n, "Bad luck and mechanical problems haunted KTM." It may seem like I'm really be ing picky, but I have no ticed t he mo torcycli ng press spinning t heir coverage or bike reviews to help or hurt ma nufacturers. Please make an effort to be fair to all brands in yo ur coverage . Jeff Botsford via the Internet Picky? Crnon, Jeff, who could occuse you think we were haunted by bad luck Ihal you choose 10 read captions more carefully than stories... Editor ofbeing picky? I just ISDE N ice piece by Scot t Rousseau in the recent issue. I think he fo rgot to me ntion that the U.S. did win the Silve r Vase in 1973. I have followed this inte rna tio nal ev ent since 1961 and co mpe te d as a me mber of t he Silver Vase team in five ISDEs du ring the '60s. As far as t he U.S. host ing t his con test , all t hey have to do is win the tro phy. Believe me , we have the ta lent . Dave Ekins via the Internet www.cyclenews.com Helping the Manufacturers? I wo uld like to congratulate t he AMA for being successful in provi ng that they care more about the ma nufacturers than the fans. Suzuki won Superbike, Yamaha won Superstock, Kawasaki wo n Supe rsport and Ho nda won Formula EX. Ho w pe rIect . Mark Blockman Ponce Inlet, FL Where Art Thou, Colin? If Colin Edwards fee ls he's t ru ly been at th e bo ttom of the pecking order with Hond a, and poss ibly instigat ing a move to Yamaha, then wha t does he think he' s going to get by be ing Valentino Rossi's teammate? In anothe r article, w here Rossi sta ted that one of the chief reaso ns for leaving Honda in the first place was t hat he "did n't want to share the same bike with six other riders," it seems unlikely Co lin will ge t the same bike perfo rmance. If I were Colin , I'd stick w ith Ho nda. Eithe r way, it's obvio usly the better of the two bikes and he may get it by ne xt year. If he goes to Yamaha, a team he's already ridden for, t hen my belief is that he'll be "B" listed t he entire way. But I'm not the re , so I cou ld be wrong. Michael Shewell via the Internet Whitney Murphy W hen I read Jay C lark's letter last week abou t W hitney Murph y, or Whit as I called him , it got me to thinking abo ut the day I met him. I reme mbe r he was a shy litt le kid and I remember the days of riding BMX out at the tra ils be hind his hou se. We would always t ry to o utdo each ot her on the jumps... man , th at w as fun. I re me mber I wou ld give him st ickers, or whatever I had, and he would always appreciate it. I am so lucky to have me t W hil and his family. I will always re membe r him as being one of the coolest, mos t polite young men I have ever met. That is what Tim , Whitney's fathe r - a great friend of mine - always taught him. Whit's fat her had love, sup port and friendship for W hit . It is something I will always remem ber when I have kids so me day. All my prayers are with Tim , Nathaniel and t he family. I know Wh ilney is in a better place and riding the be st-g roo me d tracks ever. He' s whi pping it flat ove r a t riple and pointing down at us, saying, "I love you guys!" Dono Legere Huntington Beach, CA CYCLE NEWS • OCTOBER 27, 2004 5