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/1456050
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 9 MARCH 1, 2022 P99 the end of Estenson Racing full stock was not. "If that had hap- pened, Estenson Racing would have continued in a different discipline of motorcycle racing. It's important to mention that we didn't lose our enthusiasm for motorcycle racing; it just didn't make sense to compete in a Su- perTwins class with a rules pack- age that wasn't competitive for production-based motorcycles." That answer directly speaks to another complexity of the already multifaceted problem facing Progressive AFT. While Estenson Racing, like Hayden himself, has a winning Superbike résumé it could build upon, Indian Motorcycle and Harley-Davidson (and their extend- ed dealer networks) can now also show their wares and battle head- to-head in MotoAmerica's nascent "King of the Baggers." The Grand National Cham- pionship is no longer the only game in town, even for manu- facturers primarily interested in selling big-bore twins. >THE DECISION To say AFT's future hangs in the balance of this politically deli- cate situation would be putting it longest running motorcycle racing championship. That's a future that looks bleak by any standard, as historically, lone manufacturers in a one-make championship have little incentive to continue investing in that series. With that racing dystopia on the horizon, AMA Pro Racing decided to walk the political tightrope and restrict the FTR750 rather than ban it in an attempt to keep all of the players at the table. Along with this decision comes the commitment to do whatever it may take to create a leveled playing field in which the FTR750 and production-based machinery have an equal opportunity to suc- ceed, no matter how difficult. As covered in Part 1, immedi- ately following the Sacramento Mile, AMA Pro Racing Chief Operating Officer Gene Crouch invited recently retired Grand National Champion Bryan Smith and master engineer Ricky Howerton to Daytona Beach for a three-day deep dive in order to identify the next steps in ad- dressing its precarious problem. The thinking is, if they get it right, Yamaha will not only stay in the game, it'll come to view Pro- gressive AFT as a suitable market- ing platform for their MT-07 street platform deserving of substantially increased investment. Get it right and KTM and Royal Enfield will have a platform to showcase their equipment on the sport's biggest stage and deepen their involvement by way of factory Mission SuperTwins squads as early as '23. "They've done a lot for the sport, and they've been a good partner for the sport. I have nothing negative to say against Indian. They did a magnificent job and built a fabulous bike. But at this point, it's affecting the sport negatively and we need to react immediately to get things back on track." -Tommy Hayden mildly. AMA Pro Racing has no interest in provoking a reenact- ment of the mid-'80s when the sanction body's attempt to rein in Honda's purpose-built RS750 ultimately led American Honda to kill its factory GNC effort. Yet sitting back and doing noth- ing would most likely leave Indian as the sole manufacturer repre- sented on the grid of America's