Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Eriftts= SX Tracks Have To Adiust To New Bikes? rhe mediq in k conrerns. I n the wake of the Anaheim I Lra(k "con I H:#il";,;"#; ,;;',;;"T".,;; teams expressed concerns about the safety and difficulty level of the track that was built for the opening round ofthe Amp'd l'4obile AMA Supercross Series at Angel Sradium, the AMA quickly responded by issuing a press release focusinS on this matter. AMA Pro Racing announced that it is reviewing the current Supercross track desitn and construction pro.ess. The review is in response to concems noted by AMA Pro Racing officrals and nders regard- in8 the current state of track design. ln makang the announcemenr, AlulA Pro Racrng Supercross/Motocross Series man- ager Steve Whrrelock ,dentrfrcd a few rea- sons Ior the review. "Ensuring that we're paying close atten- rion to ahe designs of our tracks is some- thing we always do, but with virtually the entire field now ridin8 four-stroke equip- ment, it's time we take another close look at the process." said Whitelock. "Four- stroke bikes deliver power differentl,, than tlvo-strokes. and we want to see if there's anything we need to change as a .esult of that. We also want to make sure that the tracks are desiSned to ensure rhe best possi- ble racing environment and provide lhe Sreatest opponunity for close competition. Finally, safery as always, is an ongoing consid- eration." The shape, number and location of specif- ic obstacles are specifically what Whitelock "We believe that Dirt Wurx [the compa- ny that designs allbut one ofrhe tracks in the Al4A Supercross Series] does a Sreat iob overall and is responsive to the lar8e amount of inp(,t they receive from us, riders. the promoter and fans," saad Whitelock. "Our review process will be done in harmony with their expertise and experience with track Whitelock noted that there is no single. "Riders have differing opinjons on what makes a good track," said Whitelock. "Some desire highly technical tracks with many obstacles and tough whoops sections. Others preler faster more flowing designs. The goal of everrbody, though, is to build track that are as sale as possible and deliver great racinS Ior the fans. That's our ob,ective as we proceed with this process." At round rwo of the rerles in Phoenix. Arizona, the track wat significantly tamed down compared to the Anaheim I track, and many felt it made for closer and better €c- ing than at Anaheim. Proof i5 that half the field finished on the lead lap, compared to just six the week before. A lonS section of whoops that was in the original track plan for the Phoenix race was omitted, and wa5 instead used as a simple, fast section of the racecourse, At Phoenix, Whitelock shed more litht on the track issue, basi.ally saying that the AMA is aware of the situation and plans to make changes. "Last week's racetrack, we put some of the stars on the ground," Whitelock said. "That isn't exactly \vhat I had in mind for Al [Anaheim l]. I need them May 7 at Las Vegas [for the 0nal round], so lwas a bit con- cerned. We're toihg to open up a dialogue and talk with more riders a.s we to alon8. It's our iob to give them the best and safest track, and a racetrack that they can race each other on and not race the racetmck. Because right now, I think ar Anaheim, we had a racetrack that they were racing the racetrack and not each other. They were too busy payinS atten- tion to the track. lfyou think about a lot of the racetracks we put them on, they have to aonc€ntrate 100 percent of the time that they re on the racetrack. That s awful hard to do. just thinking all that time,'where's my front wheel, where's my front wheel. where. where, where.'lt's too hard on them. I think no mind can stay that con- centrated. So giving them places to frelax] is much better than, 'Where's that front wheel, where's that front wheel?' So, we're going to try to give them raceable racetracks that they can use and race each other - that's really important-" Whitelock went on to explain iust why the AMA was quick to send out a press release about the tracks, "Well, there was startinS to be a lot o[ chatter about, 'Oh, what's the Al4A toint to do? NothinS, like they usually do?' No, we're not going to do that. I had to let everybody know that I'm concerned. 'lAlso, tood or bad. my board of drrec- tors was at Anaheim l, and lhey expressed concern that things weren't righ(, and they wanted me ro get on it. You listen to your boss, and I said, Okay."' "We're not biaming anybody," Whirelock said. "lt's somethin8 that is growing because the damn motorcycles are getting so good. They are beginninS to get really. really fasr; they re qui

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