Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

JULY 19, 2006 • C Y C L E N E W S 90 BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS CHICANERY T he two series that will con- verge at the Red Bull U.S. GP the third weekend in July could not be more different. MotoGP is a thriving interna- tional series playing to mostly huge crowds on the safest racetracks in the world. The AMA Superbike Series plays to much smaller crowds - official numbers are rarely released - on racetracks, with few exceptions, that have been historical- ly reluctant to embrace change. MotoGP has a set schedule that's changed only rarely and then with much advance notice. The template for an AMA race weekend has yet to be written. MotoGP limits their fields to the best of the best with strict qualifying standards. The AMA series also has qualifying standards; in Superbike it's close to MotoGP, in the support classes it's much more inclusive. MotoGP has three very distinct classes that provide a clear career path for riders. The AMA series has two classes for 600s - Buells and others welcome - and two for 1000s, which is nothing if not confus- ing for the casual fan. The differences could fill up the rest of this space. But the biggest difference is leadership. In the recent round-table discussion we held with the managers of the five fac- tory Superbike teams, leadership and communication were the two biggest concerns. What they said was that there is no leadership and there was little com- munication. First, a bit of history. AMA Pro Racing CEO Scott Hollingsworth was ousted at the end of January. No reason was given and Hollingsworth has issued no public state- ments. Less than a week later, interim AMA CEO Patty DiPietro announced that a new three-member management team would run Pro Racing on an interim basis. That's a lot of interims. But the real changes came following the AMA board of directors meeting at the Indy Trade Show. The Pro Racing Board was unilaterally dissolved. Such was the outcry from the dissolution of the 12-year-old board that the AMA got into a very public squabble with American Honda, which highlighted the schism between the AMA and those it's meant to serve. New rules-making committees were to be formed for the various disciplines. Nearly five months later, these commit- tees still don't exist. So who's running racing now? More importantly, who's running the AMA? Those questions are inextricably inter- linked. At the moment, DiPietro is both the chief executive of the AMA and the head of Pro Racing. Her background is not in racing - she comes from the financial side - and this is very much on-the-job train- ing. And it's clear that one person cannot, and should not, run both. The AMA is actively recruiting a new CEO. DiPietro is currently being advised on racing issues by what's become a fluid board that currently consists of six mem- bers. The board lost a valuable resource when Don Emde quit, but there are signs of hope from the two most recent addi- tions - legendary dirt-track tuner Bill Werner and longtime motocross fixture Bevo Forti of Scott Goggles. So what we have is very much an inter- im government with three key positions - AMA CEO, AMA pro racing CEO, and AMA pro racing director of competition - in need of permanent solutions. The power vacuum is enormous and it shows. Whatever they're doing simply doesn't work. With no rules-making committees in place five months on, the chance of any substantive work getting done for the 2007 season is rapidly fading. The unoffi- cial start of the 2007 road race season is the annual early December Daytona tire tests, now less than six months away. Nothing major will change, but some pet peeves may be resolved. Maybe a dress code for umbrella girls? All of the team managers expressed interest in taking part in the rules-making committees, which raises the question about why they haven't been formed. One reason is that they're having a hard time finding people outside of the pad- dock and the reason for that is communi- cation. To the best of my knowledge, they announced the committees on the AMA's own web site for about 45 days. Other than that, it was a secret. Which is appropriate because their communication skills are limited, at best. Paranoia and secrecy drives too much of their decision making. One example: At the end of May the decision had been made not to enforce traction control in the Superbike class for the 2006 season. All that was left to work out was the wording of the press release, which was discussed during a conference call. The next day it had all changed - enforcement would continue - but why? Either they'd read the posting and realized the firestorm it would create, which is in itself a lame reason, or they didn't like being scooped, an even lamer reason. Leadership and communication are two very large problems. A close third is that the AMA tries to do too much with too few people. They are the sanctioning body, they set the rules, they promote the races. In MotoGP, the FIM is the sanction- ing body, the MSMA (the GP manufactur- ers association) sets the rules, and Dorna, which has 150 full-time employees and another 200 during race peaks, promotes the series, along with a host of other tasks, all of which they do well and openly. Carmelo Ezpeleta is the very engaging CEO of Dorna. The Spaniard has been in charge since Dorna became the commer- cial rights holders in 1992 and remains as enthusiastic and engaging as he was in his first day on the job. Unlike his AMA coun- terpart, Ezpeleta is open and communica- tive, so much so that he sometimes sur- prises his own staff with his frankness when speaking to the media. More than once they've been surprised to read something in print or online that they knew nothing about. Ezpeleta has made a U.S. GP a priority for some years and he once showed me blueprints, complete with needed improvements, of Homestead Miami Speedway, one of many U.S. tracks where he'd sent five-time World Champion Mick Doohan on fact-finding missions. Never have I been turned down a request to speak with Ezpeleta, which I can't say is the case with the AMA. And he has always exceeded the amount of time his very busy schedule allows. Ezpeleta speaks fluent English, though with the heavy accent of his native Spain. At times his enthusiasm is so great that his mind gets ahead of his tongue, but he always makes his point and usually with a smile. And he believes the most impor- tant part of his job is communication, keeping in touch with all the various par- ties and making sure they're all happy when a decision affects more than one of them. He sees himself as a catalyst, whether it's the FIM, the MSMA, the tire companies, the riders, or the teams. It's only when all are happy that they can have one voice. Ezpeleta speaks to the principals on a regular basis, whether it's FIM safety boss Claude Danis, who recently gave Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca its homolo- gation, or any other members of the Grand Prix Commission, which includes IRTA (the teams association), MSMA, or other members of the FIM. He meets with the GP Rider Safety Commission - currently Valentino Rossi, Kenny Roberts Jr., and Loris Capirossi - on the Saturday evening of every Grand Prix. And all that is apart from what he gathers while con- stantly strolling through the paddock, always willing to engage anyone with a question or need. When asked if he saw himself as a benevolent dictator, a term often used for what's needed in the AMA, he laughed. He certainly doesn't see himself as a dic- tator, benevolent or not. Dorna has the MotoGP contract, and he sees himself as an intermediary, someone who needs to make agreements with everyone in the best interests of the sport. Nor is he closed-minded. He has his ideas and opinions, but he's open to sug- gestions. And the door to his office is always open. "The sport needs someone who can make decisions, but most importantly they need someone who understands the sport," Ezpeleta said. Ezpeleta maintains his enthusiasm for his job because "the sport is so enjoyable. It's still enjoyable and I still enjoy it, but also because the sport keeps improving and I can have a positive influence and can still work on it and improve it further." Anyone who's been to a Grand Prix, especially in Italy or Spain or Holland, can't deny that he's on to something. MotoGP is in its boom years, thanks to his stewardship and a number of person- alities, led by Rossi and including Nicky Hayden. Hayden won last year's Red Bull U.S. GP, an event that Ezpeleta singled out in his end of season statement. "The return to Laguna Seca was huge- ly successful, with a sell-out crowd for race day and enormous interest in the event from all over the world," he said in his statement. "From a personal point of view this was probably the highlight of the season because it was something we had worked on for a long time and to see the dream finally become a reality was very satisfying." Ezpeleta didn't deny that there were problems last year, but he was encour- aged because the track was full every day and the "atmosphere was fantastic." He understands that there's work to be done to please the fans, but he saw the 2005 race as "a really welcome start back to life in the U.S. and good base to move on from." Ezpeleta will be a fixture in the Laguna Seca paddock. He'll see the improve- ments and he'll ask what else needs to be done. He'll talk to anyone and everyone and consider their counsel. That's what a leader does. Wonder if Carmelo wants to move to Pickerington? CN The opinions and views expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial staff or Cycle News Inc. The Way It Should Be

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