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/128623
"No one, however, forc e s those w h o race t h e TT to suit up in their le ath ers and compete there." Dunlop a nd the 1 0M I had ju st put my letter of condo lences to the fami ly of J oe y Du nlop in the mail when th e Ju ly 12 iss ue of Cy cle News a rrive d . I read for the fifth time in as m any day s of his unt im e ly death a t th e Estonia ra ce cir cuit, then I read a bout th e deaths of Gary a nd Tu yet Horton in Italy and Ge ra ld Lla m a s in Los Angel e s , a nd my friend Gre g McQu ide at the Honda Hoot in North Carolina . Then I read the lette r fro m Paul Russo in which he c alls for the e nd to th e Isle of Man TT Rac es , ci ting that "Yo u could fill a pag e in Cycle New s with a list of lives lost in th e hi story of this race. " Mr. Russo also asserts that, "t h e prominence and t h e popu larity of th e TT have b een fading for the past sev e ral years." Well , Mr. Russo, as fa r as the popularity o f th e TT, I ha ve personally witnessed larger and la rger c ro wd s a nd an in creased exci t e m en t each successive ye a r I la nd on th e Isla nd . I ha d to make ferry and hote l reservatio ns 18 months in a d va nce! If you want to fill more th a n a page of peo ple who ha ve departed thi s world pre m ature ly , get a rea lly th ic k boo k of blank pag es a nd be g in filling it with na mes of those who have died fro m lung cancer or 001 crashes o r heart attacks . Then fill up an entire library of books with soldi ers and vic tim s of World War I, Wor ld War II , th e Kor ean Wa r , th e Vietnam Confli c t , Bo sni a , e tc. . Gu e ss what ? Life has ris k s! Sh ould we s top al l co m m e rci al a irline fligh ts th e nex t tim e a jet plunges into the Pacific Ocean? Should we pa rk o u r a uto mo b iles pe rma ne ntly th e ne xt tim e we see a fa tal car c rash on t he even ing n ew s? Le t ' s jus t all s lit our wr ists no w and save ourselves fro m the agony of life. Some p eople wh o d ie "b e fo re their time" don ' t have a choice, such as those who are wip e d ou t by drunk drivers or in time of war. God b le s s Joey Dunlop and all m ot o rc y clists who have d ie d racing or riding motorc ycle s - not because so meone told them to, bu t because they wanted to , s imp ly out of their passion for motorc y cling. Since 19 88, I have been to th e Isle of Man 10 times to witnes s th e inc redib le spec ta cl e of th e TT a nd was fortunate eno ugh to co ngratula te Joey pers onall y on o n e of hi s t h ree w in s las t month . He would be th e first pers on in heaven or here on earth to say that Mr. Russo is missing the po int of life it s e lf. Over my 31 years of riding , many non-motorcyclists have told me that I am risking death by riding motorcycles . Well, guess what folks? I'd rather be dead if I couldn 't ride. Assumi ng Mr. Rus so is any kind of motorcyclist at all, I thin k he wou ld change his mind about the TT if he e ve r has the o pportunity to witness it for him self. I s uggest he m a ke the trip next Jun e , wh en the biggest c rowd ever will hon or "Yer Maun " a nd keep the tradition of re a l roa d ra cing going fo r th e 94th year. It's certainly better th a n th e tradi t ion of wa r, g ang vio len c e , cancer, and d run k dr ivers. Paul Golde Mission Viejo, CA Dunlop and the 10M II I felt com pelled to res pond to Pa u l Russo's letter about the Isle of Ma n in Cycle News . Mr. Rus so expressed an o pinion tha t, "the m otorcycle ind ustry, as a who le , sho ul d c all fo r a re s pec tfu l e nd to th e TT. " I would venture to guess that Mr. Russ o has nev e r be en to the TT , yet he has re a d eno ugh about it in the p a g e s of t h is magazine to have a complete grasp of its importance and historical s ign ificance. As a resident o f Cal ifornia , Mr. Ru s s o pr obably fe els co mforta ble a bo ut th e government co ntrolling th e freedoms of individ ua ls a nd g ladly accepts wh at ev er mandate is han de d down to prote ct him fro m hims e lf. No on e , howev er , forc es those who race th e TT to su it up in the ir leathers and com pete there . Each of the rae- ers who attempt a la p a rou nd the circuit knows that the po tential for injury or death is a ris k they m u st take. Protecting these racers who voluntarily take such risks, fro m th e ir own freedom to do so, is ridiculo us a nd re pressive. If one feels th at th e TT is not accepta ble, th en o ne m ay choose not to attend or rea d abou t it, but ca lling fo r a n e n d t o s u c h a spectacular eve n t is, in m y op in ion, u n a c c e p t a ble . Th e e ve nt is no longer a Wor ld Cha m p ionship race, nor is it a pa rt of a ny s eries wh ere refus a l to ride co uld je o pard ize any championship pu rsuit. Riders like Barry Sheene s poke out openly and often about the d a nger of th e TT and c hose no t to ride there, but hundreds still do to th is d a y. I los t a very good frie nd to a fata l crash a t th e Isle of Man last year, and I know that he wo uld have never wa nte d rac in g to stop the re beca use of h is death , and neither do I. I heart ily rec ommen d that Mr. Russo plan a trip to this fant astic e ve nt . Ma ybe then he might understand th e reasons wh y the TT should continue as lon g as ra c ers and fans desire to make it happen. RIck Matheny Ulb um. E7A Mla din - Herol My boys and I just spent one of the b e st we ekends together at AMA/World Superb ike c ombination weekend at Laguna Seca . If the sport is to gro w th e way we all want it to, I re c omm end that mor e dad s . broth ers , un c le s, c o u s in s, e tc . put away th eir e gos. leave the tric k machinery at home, and take th e kids to the races. Okay , now to my point about Mat Mladin . We wandered down through the infield after the AMA Superb ike race and stumbl ed into Suzuki 's te nt at the tail e nd of an a utograph sess io n. My b o y s (aged 7 a n d 11) were excited to see these guys up close a nd were just a bout the last o nes in line. I'm sure th ere were p la ces Mat wo u ld rath e r ha ve been just th en , but, if t h e re was , m y b oys neve r knew it. He t o o k t he ti me to s trike u p a co n versatio n with them fo r a few m inutes a nd was friendly , gen u ine, a n d po lite. Th a t was t he m ark of a gentleman - that was cool! I'v e al ways respected Mat's rid ing abili ty , b ut h av e b e en fo o le d in to cue I e question ing his attitude and love for th e sport by many of the opinions I've read on th ese p a ge s . Not any m o re . Mat's got himself th re e more fa ns. BlI1 600dI Lake Forest, CA Classic American Racer Jamie Bo wman e pitomized the spirit of American road ra cing . He baled ha y a nd worked on th e family farm to ea m money to go ra cing. Natural a bility a nd youthful desir e blended well to see J a mi e find th e podi um a t ma ny races. Many times he was the first privateer a nd one step from the podium . J amie never lost s ig ht of his goal of winning. Pe rs eve ra nce bles s ed Jamie le ss tha n a month ago when he won his first AMA National. Fate left Jamie le aving road ra cin g as a winn er. I m anag ed J ami e ' s ca ree r for a nu m be r of yea rs a n d b e c am e very close to him. He stayed a t m y home a n d I h a ve s t aye d a t h is o n m any occa s io ns. We be ca m e good friends. W ithout questi on , a ll who kn ew J am ie lik ed him and realize d his p o t entia l. Hav in g sp ent d a ys upon d ays talk ing about ra c ing a nd life, I e njoye d watching Jam ie g ro w from th e la n k y South Florida k id with a cow tattooed on his leg, into a confident, well -liked yo ung m an. Jamie had many racers whom he idolized, and he cons idered Scott Russell to be one of his heroes . His goal to be World Champion was cut short in Ca lifo rn ia , bu t his dream to go out a winner will live forever. Vic Karshner Via the Internet Thanks, PACE Well, once aga in, PACE Mot or Sports has c hosen to ignore the Northeast with their just re le a s ed 20 01 Supercross s chedu le. Tha nks for nothing. Please don 't ins ult us thi s yea r by c a lling it the 125 East Seri es. John J . Walaszek Brid(, N:J n e vv s J U LY 26, 2000 5