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/128613
"The man Is a pleasure to watch; he's a class act all the way and w e a re lucky to be able to see him make history." Missing the Point? This is an open letter to Jeremy Hugh es: You're m iss ing the point. The fact that your brother has raced for years in the U.S . and now rides in Euro pe makes him an obvious reference point between th e Nat ionals and the GPs . For the reco rd, I hav e th e utmost respect for Ryan , as well as for Mike Brown , Tram pas Pa rke r, Jeff Dement, S c ott S heak (a New Yorkerl) a nd all Am ericans who have left behi nd the comforts of home to do batt le on the ra cetracks of the wor ld. I don 't think anyone do ubts the e ffo rt Ryn o p uts into his racin g , and I pe rso nally fee l he got a bum deal from the Amer ican factory team s. I wis h him the best and pu ll for him at eac h a nd every GP he runs . But I thi nk the q ues t ion to all , one that should p ut th is whole thing to rest , is th is : Do any of these riders ha ve a bett e r c ha nce of winn ing a n AMA Na ti o n a l C hamp ionship or a World Championship? Be honest. I will add that with th e path e t ic monetar y rewards offered to motocrossers in th is c o untry, it will continue to be difficult to lure Ameri ca 's best athletes away from the ludicrous pay~hecks offered by th e sti ck and ball sports. Thank goodness for yo ung talents like Carm ichael, Wind ham and Pa s t ra na . But there better be mo re where they ca me from if we are to remain a t the top of the sport. On e last th in g : J er emy , I ca n assure you that yo u're not furt he ring your brother 's cause by badmouthing othe r ride rs , rider s who , in fac t, have don e quite a bit (a ll a re s u pe rc ross winn ers ) . Let ' s s ti c k toge ther and s up port the riders wh o represent th is gr eat co untry of ours. steve Farenell Saratoga Springs, NY Me and Gobert Firs tly , as a long tim e fan, I'd like to co n g ra t u la te J erem y McG rath fo r win n in g hi s se ve nt h Sup er cro ss Ch ampion s h ip. The ma n is a ple asure to watch; he 's a class a ct all the wa y and we are luck y to be a ble to s ee hi m ma ke h isto ry . S econdly, I hope the FIM will pay attention to th e videotape of Anth o ny Go bert's c rash at Sugo a nd beat the idiot who whipped his helmet of f. I was sickened by the s ight of Gobert's head flopp ing around and the th ought that the people who man the tra ck could be so igno ra nt of bas ic first a id pr ot oc ols a s to tho ughtles s ly remov e a ride r's helmet befor e a s certaining the ext ent o f h is in ju r ies . Gob ert cou ld hav e been paral yz ed by that idiotic mo ve , a nd th e ne xt ride r treat e d in so c a re le ss a man ner may not be so luc ky . Wa ke up FIM! Any hospital or med ica l fac ility in the civilized world ca n inform you of the c orrect pro ce dure s involved in rendering first aid to a falle n ride r. It's too im po rta nt to neglect! Lou KeIsh1r, Jr. Uttferock,CA l oving Dirt Tra ck Thank you for yo ur coverage of local a nd National d irt tra c k ra ci ng . It is very e ncoura qi nq to s ee that a s port that was once so do mi nant in the lives of m any of us is agai n ga ining popu la rity and inter est fro m su c h a diver se c rowd of ent husiasts and su pporters. We c a n look forwar d to great suc cess fro m t h e c ha m pi o ns h ip s e ries that ha ve attracted s uc h major corporat e s po nsors as Prog res sive Motorcy- Irs Not M e Hey , tha nks for list ing m e as a class winner at the EI Tria l de Espana , but I didn 't win . Debbie Evans wo n. I wa s riding for no points, no troph y and I' m onl y De b b ie ' s m ind er/ t ra in e r. Debb ie has been top Ameri can wom an at the la s t t wo Women 's Wo rld Champ ionships and is our best ho pe a t th is ye a r' s Wom en ' s World Cup in Seva , Spain. Not bad fo r a 42 -year-o ld m other of three. Thanks for all th e gr eat tr ia ls c ove ra ge you ha ve been doi ng. Lane Leavitt Via ftJe Inff1met It is a lso great that ABC has sh own a c ou ple of ra c es ea ch yea r. How ev er, I th ink it is rea lly great that PACE has made ye t anoth er lea p in support o f the gr e atest spo rt o n e art h by mak ing live, pa y -p er -view coverag e a vail a b le . I beli ev e t h is is a not h e r stepping -stone for Sup ercross and someday we may see th e ev ents live on regular television . Until then , I will pur chase every live pa y -per -view event that is tel e vis ed . Ha t s off to PACE Motor Sports for giv ing us real fa ns mor e of what we want - Supercross. Brad Lackey Tayforsvlffe, NC c1e Insu ran ce, PACE/Wrenchead. com a nd e- moo la. com to this unique form of motor racing. There a re few things in life more exc iting tha n witnessing fiv e to six lea d changes in on e la p around a dirt oval a t 140 mph . I wou ld pe rsona lly like to t h a n k Gene Rom e ro a nd PAC E for bringing National -level flat track racing back to the state of Arizona. With so much gr owth and an influx of motorcyclists m oving to the Valley o f th e Sun , I know that la rg e crowds will be a co m mo n s ight at these e ve nts . Cycle News, than ks for th e ex celle nt c ove ra ge an d fo r k e e p in g d irt tr a ck raci n g a live for me and s o many of m y peers. Bryan Suff1 r Glendale, AZ New Tracks As th e s tart of the AMA Nationa l Motocross s e ason approa ches, I won der are there no other o utdoor tracks c a p a b le of hosting a Na t ion a l e ve nt ot her than th e s a m e ones yea r aft e r year? The s eason sure could us e a new stop somewher e . If mem ory se rve s m e c o rrec t ly, th er e us ed to be Nati onals he ld in Virgin ia , F lo rid a , Color a d o and even Louis iana yea rs ago . John Dfffon Via ftJe Inff1met 4-Stroke Nationals Pay-Per-Vlew Where does one begin to respond to the article written by Ste ve Cox (Issue #16 , April 26) reg a rding Supercross Pay -Per- View . Is it jus t me or did Mr. Co x say anything in his a rticle about th e upcom ing pay - per-view at La s Vegas that made any sense at all? He sa ys he is a fan, but he doesn't support th e movement of Supercross c om ing into ou r homes via pa y-p er -view. I' m a dieha rd Supercros s a nd m oto cros s fan and hav e b een for m any years . For what it' s worth , I'm a lso a b ig fa n of WWF, bu t to com pare th e two in a ny wa y is craz y. IF that is th e light bulb that went off in h is he ad when he heard that S upercross was go ing to d ive into th e world of pay -per v iew along with other ma inline sports (WWF included), th en he needs to change his light bulb. If a per s on wants to view a ny sport (baseball, basketball , foot ball , e tc .), th e y would have to subscribe to pa y pe r-view to see complete coverage of a ll th e games. I log on every Saturday night and listen to t he Su p erc ro s s e ve nts via the Inte rnet a nd while the ra c e s a re s ho wn o n T V with great cove ra ge by es pn2 , what fun is it to watch a ra ce that took place over a we ek e a rlie r . and yo u a lready know who won? eye I EO Ju st when you thought that thi ngs co uld not get much worse for the AMA, along' comes Don Schneide r calling his series the AMA 4 -Strok e Nationals. Let's start out by having a race at a tra ck not checked out beforehand , and running only by word of mouth. Gran ted it was a new track, but th e promoter was a little over his head in saying yes. Nex t it wa s h e ld on th e s a m e we e kend a s th e World Mini - a race be ing h e ld not m or e t han one hour south of Mesquite in Las Vegas. Then there was the re s t a rt when only three riders went down - bu t one of them happened to be th e defend in g c h amp io n whos e sponso r is a s eries sponsor. How luc ky can that be? And last, bu t not le a st, how a bo ut a rider whose bike breaks in the first moto and the n he rides the s e c o nd moto on a different br and bike with a different number and takes out t he second place rider from the first mot o , e nd ing that gu y's day and any m on et a ry g ain . It see ms lik e seve ra l AMA rules wer e bro ke n, but is it the money that does the ta lking o r do es the AMA have th e g u t s to levy s ome fin e s to Mr. Schneider and riders o r is this so me thing we will see in races to come. > M ark M oore Perris, CA n e _ s MAY 1 7 , 2 0 0 0 5