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/128355
Which is not to say that Ward doesn 't want to see supe rmoto go the route of supercross, but if supe rmo to is to follow that route, he says there is much work to be done. As champ ion, he has the spotlight fi rmly on him when it com es to co mm unicating ideas that cou ld improve the AMA Super moto Championship Series. And of course , he has plenty of them . "We need to kee p finding good venues," Ward says. "I know that Troy [Lee] wants to do one in Los Angeles, and Reno was good . Then there are some that we prob ably shou ldn't do again. The tra ck set ups have got to be good , and they have to start ste pping up with the addition of som e Jumbotrons [television screens]. The X Games was big this year, and I think that next year it will be even bigger. We're still learning what wor ks and w here it works, but there's a lot of political stuff and legwork to get things done like they did in Reno . I'd say for the fi rst year, the series w as like a C or a C minus, and after this year it was som ewhe re in the B area, B minus. To get to an A level, a lot more things nee d to improve. We still nee d to figure out t he dirt . A lot of the co rners are o ne line, and you'll have 20 feet of dirt outside that one line. We nee d to make the dirt wor k, maybe if it's part of the straightaways with doub les and singles or something like that. Mark Peters [who built the Las Vegas dirt section for the Red Bull Super moto A-Go-Go] knows how to do the dirt . He knows where to put the bumps. But at most of th e tracks we go to , Idon't know who builds them ." Regardless of th e de tails tha t need to be iron ed o ut , Ward says that th e rider en thu siasm for sup ermot o is t here. "Idon't think there's any problem with that," he says. "Y have road race rs and motocrossers enthused to be ou doing it. I know that the Haydens are really fast on super moto bikes, and I've rea d that [Ricky] Carmichael has said he would like to do it, but last year he co uldn't because of this or that, his knee. But now he said he can see himself trying it. That 's what is great about supermoto: All disciplines in the industry can ride it. We all grew up on motocross bikes." Well, grow up is a fairly am biguous ter m when you're talking about Ward. Ce rt ainly he is a mature individual, yet his moto cross career, Indycar racing career and now supermoto career accom plishments - much of wh ich was earned w hen he was past that theoret ical "prime" age in each discipline - te ll a much diff erent story. They suggest that wh ile Ward may be getting older, he re fuses to grow up, leading you to wonder w hat he w ill do when he fi nally does sto p re inventing himself in racing. "I really don't know," Ward respo nds. "I'll st ill help my kids out . I want to stay involved in motoc ross. I want to stay in the moto rcycle industry. Maybe I'll write a book about my lif I know that Jere my has done that. I e. think that I'd have a pretty good sto ry to tell." eN Actually Jeff Ward has t hree of them. , (Far left) At the 2004 Red Bull Supermoto A-GoGo, Ward (3x) rressured leader Ju rgen Kunzel (52) fo r most 0 the race before passing the German for the win . "Jurgen cou ldn't deal with the pressure we put on him all year, but I don't see that happening again next year. He's strong, very focused . He'll work through thot and be even stronger. " (Left) After winning the 2004 AMA Supermoto Championship, Ward po:rped the champagne with longtime friend an team owner Troy Lee (left). Is a World Sur.e rm oto title in the ca rd s for Ward? Time will tel .