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/128637
"The experience further enforces y support of all things Roberts." Why Gobert? hy in th e world is Anthon y Gobert ming back to America? I th ink h is uote from the end of last y ear was, feel like I just got ou t of ja il." I think this s n i ve l i n g a i r h e a d ould go back t o A ustralia. We ha ve o re than en ough tal ented riders to II the factory seats . Let' s g iv e m o re o u ng Am erican ta lent a cha nce to rove th emsel ves. :J osiah Layffeld Via the Internet obe r i h as s ig ned to r ac e fa ctory a ma has in t h e 2 00 I AMA /Ch euy ru cks U.S. Superbike Series and th e OOcc Supersport Seri es... Editor Land Use r espon se to Chr is All e y ' s l ette r bo ut land use , please k eep in mind at if AI Gore is elected you c an kiss our off-road rid ing good -b y e. You 've een what Billy h a s d on e . W ell , AI ore w ill do a lot m ore w ith ju st a troke of a pen . Edward Berge Cockeysville, MD Incompete nt ft er 50 y ea rs as a p a r ti c i p a n t or pectator at dirt tra ck ra c es , I know r sure that th e co ntesta nts and fan s eserve a safe ra c e tr ack w it h event s un on ti me and to th e advertised for at and distanc e. T he on ly acceptab le excu se is bad eath er - not lou sy tr ack prep aration . I had hoped that th e Wr enchead .com eries would be go od for th e spo rt. But, aving foll owed th eir m isad ventures in ycle New s a n d h a ving r ec entl y et u rne d from th e W est C oa st mil e i n a Is , I h onestly b e li ev e th at th e renchead.com people are not capable f runn in g a professi ona l m otorcy cl e ace. EdO'Brlen Belleville, IL Tra ck Prep ou ld somebody ex plai n to me wh y a ig event promoter like PA CE wou ld ot t ak e adva ntage of a ver y experi need t rac k -pre p person in pr eparing h e Sa cram en t o an d D e l Ma r Mil e ace trac ks fo r t he Wre n c he ad .c om eries races? Especi all y in lieu of the ac t t h at the Sac t o Mile trac k p rep as such a fia sc o , which k ept the ac es from ge tting un derwa y un til lat e In t he eve ning . Th e D el Ma r track ooked more li k e a TT o r m otocross r ack in p laces th an a high -speed fl at rack . Fo r so me reason , PACE decided to se it s o w n trac k -prep t ec h n i ci an , w ho I' ve be en t old ha s o nly ex pe rien c e in b uilding i nd o o r m o t o cross tr acks. In mak ing th is dec isio n , th ey t h r ew away the exp e rti se of T erry Rom e r o (G en e 's broth er ) wh o h as been around t he di rt m ov ing bu sin ess h is wh o le lif e . He ha s been aro u nd m ot orcycle racing h is ent ire life and he k no ws what makes a good racetra ck . I know a little bi t a b o u t wh at a go od racet rack sho u l d l ook li ke . Harold Mu rell and Harv ey T ot y did m o st of the tracks from the past that w ere alway s well g ro omed - and it w as these tw o gentlemen wh o passed th eir ski lls on to T erry Romero . If yo u were pro m ot ing a race for the b est dirt trac kers in the co untry, wo uldn 't yo u wa n t th e best person g ro om in g th e t rack ? BobMJller San Luis Oblsbo, CA The Original M y w ife and I atte n de d t he seaso n final e at W ill o w Sprin gs Ra c ewa y recen t ly. The prom ot ers did a go o d j o b , a n d th e o nly th ing t hat co u ld have bee n better wa s if I had br ou ght alon g a tr ee t o sit under. Whi le i n the H o n d a area of the paddock , we started ta lking to a nice m a n w ho i nt r o du c e d himse lf as Bu st er Roberts . Th is in it sel f w as a thri ll fo r m e, as I have been a fan of all th ings Roberts sin c e c li m bing th e fe nce at the San J o se Mile to wat ch K enny Rob e rts - a nd n ow o n to Kenn y J r. and K urt is. We ha d man y g rea t co n ve rs atio ns with Buster th rough out th e week end , and he al so in t ro duc ed us to Kenny Sr. and Ku r ti s, wh o we re ve ry nice des p ite th e fact t ha t fan int rod uct ions must be ge tting o ld . The hi ghlight of th e weekend was wh en Bust er invited u s t o th e Rob erts r an ch , whi ch i s close to ou r home . I was very excited , as I' d read abo ut th e place for m an y yea rs and nev er t ho ugh t I' d ha ve the chance to ac tually see it w ithout ha v ing to climb a fen ce. I to ok Buster up o n his in vit e, and I will never fo rg et the visit or Bu st er for hi s ki ndness. T he expe rience fu r t h er enforces m y support of all things Roberts . :Joe Fenech Ballico, CA Trailblazers On be ha lf of t he Trailblazers M otorcy ยท c1 e O rgan izat ion , I wou ld li k e to per so nall y than k all t he " Leg end s" w ho c am e o ut fo r t he D el M ar Mi le we ek en d . T h e f ans and c r o w d s enjoyed se e i ng y ou th rough out t h e days at both the show and on th e track du r o ing th e " La p of Legends ." I also want t o apo log ize fo r th e p l a nn ed inter - v iew s bein g del et ed . Unfo rtuna tely , I don 't k no w wh y this occ urred . The Compet iti on Mot orc ycle Exh i bition we put o n eve ry yea r was th e hit of th e show as ev ide nced by t he man y tr oph ies th at were taken home, incl ud ing " B est of the Show ." T h e exhibitio n took much effo rt by m an y pe opl e , a nd m y d ee pest t h an k s go out to those bik e owne rs who let the " Leg end s" rid e th e ir mot orcyc les on Sunda y and also helped at the booth . This ye a r there w er e o b v io u s c h a n ge s at Del Ma r, and my only hope is t ha t PACE will realize the D el M ar eve nt is no t only a Grand Nation al race , but also a t ri bute to th e past legends of Gr an d N at ion al raci ng . To ignore t h is is a sh ame. Hop e full y , next ye ar wi ll be different. Andrea Phillips HunNngfon Beach, CA Phill ips is th e archiuis t for th e Trailblazers... Editor Alon, Alon, More Alan Plea se k eep (a nd inc rease , if poss ible ) Alan Ca t hca rt's repo rt s o f European co m pa nies and m achines co ming . Lanny Greenberg :Jackson, MJ Don't Agre e I'm writ ing t o co m m e n t on t he Mi cha el Sco tt co l u m n c on cerning Noriyuk i Hag a . I'm d um bfo unde d to read that any one co u ld po in t t he fing er at a te am o r a t eam man ag er fo r th e tra ining and co ns um p tion hab it s of any p ro fe ss iona l rider th ey hi re . How o ld is Hag a, anywa y? I a m a motorcyc le r id er o f 20 ye ar s and hav e raced professiona ll y f o r the last e ig h t o f t ho se y ears fo r facto ry tea ms over t he wo rl d . N ev er once hav e I th ought th at it was an y o ne's res po nsi bi lity bu t my ow n o n ho w to t rain, wh at to ea t, and w hat to co nsume in the event of a co ld or fl u . The t eam has eno ug h resp on sibili ty to get its machine to the sta rt line w ith o ut w o rrying about th e rider 's hab it s or illnesses. Sc ott wrote: " Rid er s ar e h ired for th eir ability to w in rac es rath er t ha n t hei r m ed ic al k nowl edg e. " Whi le a rid er 's medica l knowledge w oul d ob vi ous l y be lim i te d , what do yo u th ink is going through a rider 's mind right be fo re th ey pop pi lls? Haga 's co nv ict io n is Ha ga's doing' as has been kn own all al ong . Damon Buckmaster Chino Hills, California Bu ckmaster recently finish ed second in th e AMA 750cc Supersport Cha m- c u e I e Give Davis a Chance The AMA's deci sion to cancel the Du Quoin M il e and n ot g iv e William Davis a cha n ce at the title was not good at al l. They sho uld ha ve wait ed for the t ra ck co nd iti o ns to improve , o r mov ed th e race t o another ve nu e ev en if it t oo k t he A M A 's last d ime and w ith out a so ul s i tti ng i n the sta nds wa tchi ng . Will D avis has been literall y killing hi mself ch as ing th is titl e for as lon g as I ca n r ememb e r. An ything ca n h appen in r acing , an d he d eserved th e ch an c e! The fact th at I used t o fall o n my sw ord ad v o ca ti ng that m y lo c al area go with AMA san ct io ning ( whic h no o ne wanted ) baffl es me. Wh y don't you gu ys just quit sanct ionin g m ot or c y c l e ra c e s a n d l e t someon e w ho ca n pla n for co nti ngenc ies and ma ke thing s happen do it ?! You g uys are don e. Daniel K Pafferson Roy, ut And On the Other Hand... I just fou nd out that J oe Ko pp is t he AMA Gr and National Champ ion. Con gratula ti on s, Joe ! I ca n 't t hi n k of a more d eser v in g c ha mpi on . Wha t a class act and talented rider. Those of us in Stockton , Kansas , wi ll not soo n forg et th e eff o rt you m ad e to d ri v e ov e rn i g h t fr o m Pe or i a to r a ce at Stockton this summ er. You put o n a grea t sho w an d no w o w n th e trac k rec ord . I h op e Sto ckton can b oa st next year t h at we h av e the numb er- one r ider i n th e n a t i on a t o u r eve n t. M aybe m o re riders will t ry to m ake it as well. We have a great ha lf -mi le with a lot of dirt tra ck histo ry. Co n gra tul ations , aga in , on an in credible ye ar. Kelly C stewart Stockfon, KS nevvs NOVEMBER 1, 2000 5