Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

--.-uzuki's A A rep es igns, AMA/ anufacturer ituation defined By Tom Mueller O n Sept. 23, the AMA filed an anti-tru st suit again st Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha, seeking $15 mill ion in puni tive damages. Tha t sui t also asked for an inj u n ction wh ich would keep the con tracted MX riders from those companies from competing in the CMC Trans-Ca l Series, which ru ns on the same da tes as the AMA T ra nsUSA Series. Pro blem s arose be tween the AMA and the three major motorcycle manufactu rers over two issu es. One is the imp lem enta tion of th e '83 AMA Grand Na tional Championship MX forma t. T h e other is the withdrawal of the factory riders in q uestion from this year's Trans-USA, and their su bseq uent entries in the T ra nsCal. The anti-trust suit charges H on da , Suzuki and Ya ma h a with conspiracy in four p arts. They are I) consp iracy in restrai nt o f trade, 2) consp iracy unlawfu lly to monopolize, 3) conspiracy , to breach fiduciary duty and 4) conspiracy to interfere with contractual and advan tageous business relationsh ips. The defendan ts in this case (H onda, Suz u ki and Yamaha ) must answer to the ch a rges a n d / o r counter-claim (coun ter-sue) 20 days after th e lawsuit was filed: T h e usual p rocedure for the defendant(s) is to decl are in nocence. If a co u nter-su it is filed, the pun itive damages asked for are us ually higher tha n in the original suit. Over the past few months, we ha ve reporte d on the AMAImanufacturer situa tion, and of the progress, or lack of it, being made. At this point negotiation s are over and the due process of law has begu n . The last ties to be broken between the AMA and the factories concerned the resigna tion of Yamaha's and Suzuki's class B reps , th ose persons who represent th eir res pecti ve comp a n ies on th e AM A's Board of Trus tees. Prior to th e fil ing of the lawsuit, AMA executive director Ed Youngblood received a letter dated Sept. 17 from Yamaha class B rep Ron Edmondso n . In th a t letter, Ed mondson su bmitted his resi gnatio n from the board, stating th a t a chan ge of jobs at Yamaha was the cause. H e asked that Ed Burke, another Yama h a employee, be considered for election to a fu ll term. The nex t meeting of the Board of Trustees is Nov. 5, the first opportunity for Bu rke to be voted in. Youngblood also received a telegram from Dick O rt h , Suzuki' s class B re p, the day the lawsuit was filed , in dica tin g h is resignation. No wo rd was gi ven as to w hether Suzu ki p lans to ha ve a rep in the future. At p resstime, Honda still had a class B mem ber on th e board - Gary Smith. We con tac ted Suzuki for a statement on thier position concerning the AMA, and to ask whether a class B rep wo u ld be named in the fu ture. " No com m ent," said Suzuki' s head of public relations Chip Hennen. We ask ed H ennen if there wa s anyone else at Suzu ki who would ma ke a sta tement. "They'd all refer you over to me l" rt;P.li~ H~n~e.q. . I . . " . The AMA's initial request for a restraining order against the factory riders was refu sed on Sept. 23. U.S. District Court J udge Malcolm Lucas heard the request, b u t would not issue the injunction due to the late hour and the fact tha t if the injunction was issued and the riders were restrained from ridi ng the Trans-Cal, they would not have su fficient time to make the Trans-USA opener in Minnesota on Sept. 26. Another hearing was set for Oct. I, but was later " taken off calendar. " According to David Elson, one of the attorneys representing the AMA, the same situation would have been created as was created the week before - not enough time to get the riders from the West Coast to the East Coast, this time Michigan, iri time for the Trans-USA - if the injunction was granted. Sin ce only one round of the T ra ns-USA remains after the Michi gan round, legal counsel for the AMA decid ed to go to court a n d get an order a llowing them to move o n to the first phase of the proceedings, p re-trial dis covery. During this period of interrogatories (written requests for answers) and depositions (where witnesses or parties in the lawsuit give statements under cross exam ination with court reporter present) are compi led. T h is period can take from as little as a week to a number o f years, depending on the complexity of the case. After th e p lai ntiff and defendant gather interrogatories and depositions, which are submitted to the courts through the di scovery period, the pre-trial is held. It can take from a few hours to a n u m ber of days. Charges are di scussed , as is the possible length of the trial. After both parties are clear on the charges bein g brought, the judge finds an open spot on his calendar and sets the date of trial. U p until that da te, either party can amend the co m p laint - that is, answer charges brough t against th em or file a counter-claim. The actual length o f the tri al can not be projected. O n e of the most famous antitrust cases, Uni ted States v. IBM, took over 10 years to settle. " T h e apparent p u rpose of the unlawful cons pira cy has become clear in the las t few da ys: To return control of professional m ot orcycle competition to th e major manufacturers whose factory teams domin a te motocross co mpetition," reads a n excerpt fro m the preliminary sta tement in the application for temporary restraining order. The followi ng is based on the declarations of Youngblood, AMA director of p ro fessional competition Mike DePrete and AMA Board of Trustees treasurer John H asty, also a practicing attorney. It is their description of the events which led to the filing of the suit as found in the application for temporary restra in ing order. February 3: DiPrete held a promoters' meeting at AMA h eadq uar ters in Westerville, O H. The '82 Trans-USA • ' .. .. c r J. ~ .. Co .. _ .. .. _ •• I .. .... _ •• J and overall interest in outdoor MX were discussed. Th e consensus of all , including the reps of th e three facto ri es in question, wh o were present, was tha t th e cu rrent outdoo r program was inadequa te for fan s and th e press. H onda 's Roger DeCoster said th a t the-program n eeded one cha m pion to p u b li ci ze. DiPrete as ked th e fac tories a bout the upcoming T rans-USA a nd H onda a nd Suzuki co m m itted to the series. Yama ha said maybe, but had to check wi th others at th e factory . They later commited to th e seri es. February 11: AMA h eld a Board of Trustees meeti ng in Cincinnati, and Feb. 3 notes were d iscussed. The '83 Grand Na tional Champion concept and factory co m m ittm en ts to th e Trans- USA were made known . April 14: A completed proposal and format concerning th e '83 GNGMX program was given to th e race managers of all the factories , including Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha. No comments were made. May 12: T~ e GNC format proposal was given to all AMA T rustees , including the fac tory class B reps . May 24 : The GNC co n cep t 'wa s brought up for approva l a t a Board of Trustees meetin g . Afte r a brief discussion, it was unanimousl y adopted. June 4: A lett er dated J une 4 was sent from Honda to Board of Trustees president Chuck Larsen, with copies sent to a ll board members. The letter said H onda was displeased wi th th e new GNC for ma t a n d that failure of comm unica tions and co n fus ion were evid ent. Hon da asked for a special 'board meeting to recons ider the GNC program. June 23: A joint letter from Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha dated June 23 was sent to Youngblood. It outlined problems with the GNC program and asked that instead a n eight to ten race series be run, wi th all three National classes at each event. The letter asked for a special meeting to discuss those possibilities and was sig ned by Honda director of motorcycle sal es K. Fukatsu, Yamaha vice presid ent of sales M. Shibuya, and Suzuki executive vice president Y. Masuda. July 11-17: Three separa te meetings were held between Yo ungbloo d and Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha to discuss th e letter dated July 23. July 30: Another joint letter from the three companies dated July 30 was sent to Youngblood. In it, the factories agreed to the GNC program, but wanted the Grand National Champion decided by a rider's best finishes in the Supercrosses and 250 or 500cc Nationals, not Supercross, 250 and 500cc Nationals. They also wanted the total season shortened to 25 events so it would end in late summer, wanted all th ree classes to run on the same day, and didn 't want any two da y Supercrosses. In the 125cc Support class, th e factories wanted the claiming rule raised from $4,500 to $7,000. Au gust 10: A Board of Trustees meet- . ing was held in Westerville. P resent were Honda 's Mr. Kezuka, H onda 's racing manager Udo Geitl, Stadium Motorsport's Mike Goodwin and P ace Management's C.E. Altman. Gary Smith, Honda 's class B rep on the board, said that Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha h ad gotten together and prepared a joint proposal for consideration in place of the GNC program. Ron Edmondson, Yamaha 's rep on the board, p resented the proposal. The cha nges as ked for were similar in con tent to th e joint letter from th e com pa n ies da ted July 30. Before a vo te was taken, Hasty read a m emorand um to th e T rustees, outlining th e duties, liab ilities and ethics of Trus tees. H a sty asked if th e representa tives,~., • . ':'1 if H"" t da, Suzuki .!1,. J from on t" , I and t:I ... . . " .. Yamaha might not disqualify themselves from the vote. " Mr. Smith from Honda rose from his seat, noticeably angry at my suggestion ... Mr. Ed mondson of Yamaha responded that the Trustees were well aware of their duties and said h e resented being told by me what were h is duties," sa id H as ty in his declaration. The proposal to change the GNC program failed to pass. The Trans-USA was not discussed at th a t meet ing. A Pro racing planning committee cons isting of Chuck Larson, H asty, Young... blood and Triumph 's class B rep, ~ Wa yne Moulton, was formed. August 23: AMA 's motocross and hillclimb professional com p etition manager Carroll Chandler received three separate letters dated Aug. 20 from Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha, cancelling their respecti ve riders from the Trans-USA. August 23: The Pro racing committee met in Atlanta through Aug. 24, and started discussion of wha t action should be taken co n cern in g the Trans-USA withdrawal s. Septem ber 7: Youngblood received a letter from Honda 's Mr. Fuka tsu , dated Sept. 2. It ask ed tha t th e AMA once more consider the proposal suggested at the Aug. 10 meeting, or "we will have to announce officially that we will n eed , to look for other possibilities, aside from AMA , for next yea r." Hasty and Moulton were appointed by the Boa rd of T rustees to talk to Honda. September 20: Hasty, You ngblood and Moulton met with Honda in Los Angeles. Present from Honda were Mr. Kezuka, Smith, for me r class B rep Ron Brya n , MX manager Da ve Arnold, and a court reporter Honda asked to have present. Hasty brought up discussion of the Trans-USA , but Kezuka said there was no need to discuss it as his company had already contracted with another series. Has ty p resented the AMA's latest proposal: the GNC program wo u ld include Supercrosses and the best seven of the 250 and 500cc outdoor rounds, and that the entire series wo u ld be 14 rounds and end in late August. The AMA fall series would be West Coast only. Honda's response wa s to present a document which stated " th ere shall be no Grand National Champion for motocross . .. all classes (125cc, 250cc and O pen class) shall participate in each motocross event there shall be no claiming rule AMA shall give at least one year lead time before implement~ ..ion of any major rule change .. . The second part of the document called for reo rganization of the AMA P ro racin g department , regularly scheduled, frequent meetings to dis cuss and solve problems, a committee - or outside agency - to hold promoter workshops to assist outdoor promoters, lower sanction fees and bigger p urses, safet y and security ru les, a nd finally that th e AMA would not take any "retaliatory or discriminatory action" against anyone involved in the G NC controversy. Honda said their positio n was non-negotia ble, a n d that the AMA must agree to their terms by September 25 or Honda would seek sa nction elsewhere. (Some parts of Honda 's document are very similar to Mike Goodwin's suggested changes for '83 motocross and supercross, wh ich was dated September 13. In Goodw in's proposal, he also suggested a new arm of the AMA, restructured profession al racin g department, assistance for outdoor promoters, lower sanction fees, bigger purses and track safety regulations and guidelines. Goodwin also w as in favor of 125cc, 250cc and Open classes runn ing on the sam e day, as was described in the fi rst par t of Honda 's docum ent . . .Editor) 3 "" .}. . ,. -" I- )~ . h .. v . .t " I. ll '~ .. . " r Ji . ' (Continued to page 5) , .

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