"The industry advertising and
PR guys were very supportive
right from the start," Cox recalls.
"It was as if they had been wait-
ing for us to come along. And I'd
met lots of them during the previ-
ous winter with Cycle World. So,
it all came together amazingly
quickly, in fact.
"One reason we got noticed
quickly, I think was that we kicked
off by giving away thousands of
pre-launch sample newspapers
at Daytona—and there on track
was Rod Gould—running right up
front on a pair of Yamahas with,
"Team Motorcycle Weekly" on
the fairing. The whole industry
was there and those who didn't
know about us by the start of
Bike Week certainly did by the
end of it."
Either wittingly or unwittingly
the new paper made the do-
mestic American championships
seem all that more important by
association with international
coverage.
"I think with Motor Cycle
Weekly, Gavin and Bruce knew
a lot of the international racers
and sort of brought that closer to
home," said Don Emde, who had
sponsorship from the paper on
his Daytona 200-winning Yama-
ha in 1972. "Instead of focusing
on domestic racing they really
mixed in coverage of the interna-
tional events and made American
riders feel like they were a part
of a larger global racing scene, if
you will.
"And, of course, the behind-
the-scenes things they did to
truly make American riders part
of the whole international racing
community, with their involve-
ment with the Match Races, the
Hang 10 Motocross Grand Prix
and the Wide World of Sports
Superbikers. They were really
right from the start," Cox recalls.
ing for us to come along. And I'd
met lots of them during the previ-
. So,
quickly, I think was that we kicked
was Rod Gould—running right up
mestic American championships
sponsorship from the paper on
"And, of course, the behind-
VOLUME 58 ISSUE 44 NOVEMBER 2, 2021 P107
Motor Cycle
Cycle News
