Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

"Ben has the talent to ride with the be st" In Defense of Ben am writing in response to a letter hat was p ublished in Voices ( Issue 18, May 10) b y a Mr. Robert Moffitt. n this letter, Mr. Moffitt voiced h is pinions on Ben Bostrom and Ben 's otential in the World Superbike ham pion sh ip . W hile M r. M offitt is entitled to h is wn pers ona l opi nions regarding th e o te ntia l of wo r ld-cl ass m otorcy c le thl et es, t ho s e voi c ed i n his l etter learly reflect his ig nora nce of World up erb ik e rac ing . After Ben ha d, at he t im e, ridd en in o nly two races on o re ig n so i l, Mr. Moffitt had alread y o ncl uded th at Ben " is not t he right ider for th e task at hand (competi ng n th e Worl d C ha m p ionships) ." H e h en r ef e rr ed t o t he a c c omplish ed rand Prix rid ers A o ki and Bo rja as new ri ders" an d " g u ar an t eed " th at roy Bayliss woul d be co mpetitive at ug o , J ap a n - t wo ve ry o b vious ly rra nt sta te m ents . Mr. M offi t t a lso d ubbe d C o lin dwa r d s as " t he exact op posite of ostro m . Co lin i s hu ng ry , ambitious nd con sisten t : I don't k now wh eth er is wi th more surprise or amusement hat I reread th is statement. I suppo se hen that Mr. Moffitt wou ld have been ust as wi lli ng to th row Carl Fog art y out ith the d ishwater wh en he fin i sh ed 4th i n h i s fi r st W orld Sup e r bi k e hamp ions h i p rou nd o utsi de of h is orn e country , citing his hunger, am bi io n and consistenc y as inadequate. Be n Bostrom is th e bri ghtest , m ost r o mi sin g ro ad r a ci n g p ro spec t to o rne out of Americ a in y ears and h is earn ing curve has been ex ce pt io na l. en fir st co m peted aboard a Su pe rike in 19 97 , rid in g onl y th ree ra c es , nd c ap t ure d th e U .S. Na tiona l title he followi ng yea r in only h is first full eas on of Superbike raci ng . After sufering a t erri fy i ng h igh -sp eed c ras h ri o r t o t h e ' 9 9 seaso n , B en c om osed h i m s el f and f ell o nly a fe w o ints short o f a seco nd Na tio n al itl e . Ben Bos tro m has performed at r abov e exceptional levels du rin g his ntire ra ci ng career and wh il e choos ng t o bash him in a publi c fo ru m is r. M offitt's ri ght, I a lso feel t hat it as unfa ir and un just . I wo ul d also like to t ha nk Cycle ews for th e informed resp onse th ey ave to Mr. Moffitt' s letter. Your inforati v e re ply w as ap p r e c i a t ed by ho se in th e rac ing community who ook fo rwa rd to th e brigh t future and xciting W orld Sup erbi k e rac in g ye t o come from World Superbike con e n de r a n d form er A M A Sup er b ike ham p ion Be n Bost rom . Fred Bramblett Petersburg, KY ramblelt runs OMS Ltd., th e compay tha t manages Ben Bostrom ... Editor runn ing 600 s and 7 5 0s togethe r s e ems to b e a great i dea and t h ere we re no long w aiting p er i od s between rac es. Wha t co nce rn ed me were th e lack of corner attend ees and e m e r gen cy vehicles (o nly on e ambu lance wa s visible at the track) . Anyone who was at th e Sedalia Half Mile in '99 and witnessed th e hid eous crash in th e 600c c c lass wh ich req u ired th r ee am bu la nc es to remove th e inj ured to the hosp ita l, or th e unprecede nted 7 50cc ma in Ben Bostro m had his best World Superbike fin ish to event whe re every last bi k e date in the British round of the series. The Californ ian on th e t rack crashe d going fini shed eighth in the second leg after a scrap with into t u rn one , k n ow s first Aaron Slight. han d t h at t r ac kside atten dants and em erg ency ve hi cles are no pl ace to sk imp. I t hi nk PACE is a great promot er, but I feel th at t he AMA is th e supe rior Mr. Moffitt, please don' t be so fas t to sanctioning body . I would lik e to see cri ticize Ben Bost ro m . Yes, Bostrom's th e two sett le th eir d ifferences because World Superb ik e debut has been a lit together th ey co ul d put dirt track o n tle r o u gh . Ph i llip Island and Sugo to p wi thout divid ing th e fans or th e rid were not g rea t races for h im , but ers . I am obvio usly not the o nly o ne don't q u est i o n h is tal en t , dr i ve an d who f eel s th i s w ay a s I saw T e r r y am bition just ye t. Poovey in the stands at his hometown Be n has the talent to ride with the track (what's wrong with that picture). best. A v ic t ory and a seco nd -place A nd whe re was Rich K ing? finish in hi s first Wo rld Superbik e outJefr Covert i ng ( l a s t ye a r a t L a gu n a S eca ) Benton,AR show ed that. Ben 's drive earned him th e AMA S up e r b ik e t i t l e in 1998. And h e beat g u y s lik e D o ug Chan W e a r e sadden e d f o r Jeff. He h a s dle r, Miguel DuH am el and Mat Mladin wor k ed ve ry ha rd and h as been so to w in th at titl e. d ed ic ated t o u s , and h is f ans . We D ucati has g ive n Ben a hu ge chalhav e felt ve ry fo rtunat e to be in vol v ed lenge - n ew tra cks t o l earn, a n ew w ith him and h is partners t his y ear. It Du c at i Superb ik e t o c o m e to g rips is our inte ntio n to stick beh ind him in w ith , Mi ch elin t ires ins te ad o f Dun hi s reco ver y and be yond. lo p s, and a fo u r- t im e Wo rld Super Jetr Givens bik e Cha mpion as a tea m mate. Sti ll , VIa the Internet Ben doesn 't co m pla in or ba ck do wn . H e ri d e s h ard a n d do esn' t mak e Givens is th e chief executive of[i cer for exc us es wh en th ings go wrong . Th eEdgeSports.com ... Ed it or As for a m b i tio n, B e n we n t t o E u r o p e t o w in a W o r ld Sup e rbik e t itl e , and he will work v er y ha rd t o ac hieve t hat goal. Ben Bost rom , you I am very happy t o see th e excelle nt have m an y fa ns an d beli ev ers her e in cove r a g e o f the Nat i ona l Tria ls Amer ic a - w e all w ish yo u the best. Ch ampionship and the Wo rld ro unds Go for #1 ! in Cycle News th is y ear. T he photos In Defense of Ben II Jeff Emlg The Trials Revolution Paul Bergquist Bk Rlver, MN PACE and the Roundy Rounds I g uess t hat I a m i n t he m in o r it y acc ord in g to your recent onli ne poll , but after 22 years of attend ing AMA sanct io ne d d irt trac k events, I have become so loy al to the series th at as I sat at t he T exas M ot or Speed way last week Sa tu rday ni ght, I fel t as if I wer e someho w chea t i ng . Th e inaugural PA CE /Wren ch ead .c om race was well ru n , as far as the way the bik es were matched in their respec tive classes - an d art icles ha ve been great and th is has been a m ost welc omed im prove ment. Shan Moore and Mario Candel lone are doing an excellent job w it h their coverage , espec ia lly Sha n 's story o n the E I T r i al des E sp an a . T hank s and k eep up the good work . Dan Brown AUbum,AL The Be st The fans , the track , the inc red ib le sun set, no n -stop racing action with li ttl e or no breaks , Sup er boy , Su per Mac, the ultimate Su pe rcro ss rider's relentless pursuit of victory aft er locking up eye I "" the titl e with noth ing on the li ne. Wha t g re at acti o n . The Las Veg as Super cross wa s th e best eve nt I eve r attend ed - in m y ow n living roo m . I am very proud to be a m ot o enthusi ast. Ha ts off to PACE an d whoever else was responsibl e for th at ph enomenal night of Ma y 6 . NASCAR who? Chris Sonch lrlco foothill Ra nc:f1,. CA Shocked I was sho cked and dismayed to read th e edi to ri al b y St eve C o x as k ing peopl e to skip t he La s Vega s Super c ross p a y- p e r - v i e w b e cau s e t he m ed ium is also ho st to Pro Wrest ling . A s a W all St reet m ed ia analyst a nd l i f et im e m o t o c r o s s r a ce r , I w ould im p lore you to take th ese co m m ents se ri o us ly b ec au se I k n o w wh at I'm talk in g abo ut . I wa s ver y ex c it ed to hear abo ut a live rac e be c au se th er e' s never been on e and it' s a huge boo st t o th e sport. Ca ble and satellite prov id er s set asid e ch an nel c a p ac ity to ca rry th e rac e . A sk y o ur editoria l assista nt this: Are m ed i a co m panies in bu si n e s s to m ak e m oney? Poin t bein g , chan nels are l ik e shelves i n a r e ta il store . T hese gu y s are taking pro d uct off the shelf to m ake room for us and th is is how you tha nk th em . I ca lled lot s of m y fri end s i n the i n d u st ry t o s a y than ks f o r giv i ng m oto cross a chance, and I hope it's a big success so ma yb e one day who le seaso ns will be broadcast li ve. If it' s a flop , an d shareholders lose m on ey, yo u can bet m y dre am wo n't co me true. Cy cle News shoul d have su pport ed it s readers - pe ople like me w ho wa nt t o experienc e m o r e o f th e spor t we l o v e . I f n ot , yo u sho u ld ha v e re mai ne d silent . What y ou d id was a sla p in th e face. MlkeFrench NewYofk, NY Steve Cox never asked or told anyone n ot to purch as e th e SX p ay -p erview...Editor n e _ s • MAY 24, 2000 5

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