Cycle News

CN III VOICES LETTERS TO THE EDITOR P18 "…with technology today, it's just as easy to follow an overseas championship as a domestic one." An Opportunity? The loss of the MotoGP at Laguna Seca is an opportunity. Screw Dorna. Screw Daytona Motorsports Group (DMG). We need a true West Coast Bike Week. Get the AFM, AHRMA and AMA (not DMG) involved. I pretty much hate every one of them. Make it a long weekend with lots of races. Lots of classic races. And e-bikes. Lots of two-strokes. Laguna is a tradition. One motorcycle race, once a year a year. For the fans. I would ban Dorna for life, but allow GP bikes to be slotted in "as possible." Then toss in a classic (500cc) GP class or two (and, of course, 250s and 125s). Add in a Superbike race. And all the classics. And… two Harley XR1200 classes – one for the boring V&H pretty much stock class and one for the Harley people who know so many ways to twist a Sporty! Bring the fun back into racing. Make it about racing and those involved. Not marketing and selling bikes. Look, the Long Beach GP learned very early the F1 was an expensive waste of effort. They went to Indy cars. And, yes, I remember that the scene went from super models on skates in Lycra to drunken guys on RVs with "show us yer… " signs, but it kept the event going. At a profit. We want races. MotoGP is a tiny bit of entertainment for a lot of money. Last year was my 40th year going to Laguna for the races (I missed two years, including when Freddie Spencer qualified the NR). Just remember it is our sport. "They" can market it all and make instantaneous changes but, by doing so, they have lost the essence of what it is all about. The joy of motorcycling. The thrill of racing. And the brotherhood of motorcycling. That has so little to do with profits, units moved, etc. David Bell Via the Internet Missed Opportunities? I am not qualified to state this, but I see the state of road racing in America as one of poor management and missed opportunity. The economy cannot continue to be blamed. The U.S. is the largest motorcycle market in the world, more than all of Europe combined. It's 30 percent of Japanese motorcycle exports and huge for BMW and Ducati's higher-end stuff that only Americans can seem to afford at the moment. And it is the largest sportbike market too. The MotoGP series sees major sponsorship and support from more U.S.-owned companies than any other single country. Monster Energy, Hertz, Dunlop, Oakley, Stanley, Dewalt, Federal Express, etc. What this means is that the viewer/customer can and has just taken our eyes elsewhere, and the sponsorship has followed. Proving that with technology today, it's just as easy to follow an overseas championship as a domestic one, and even easier than one that's hardly on TV. Stephen Hagberg Houston, TX AMA Pro Racing? Very good article (Carruthers Says, Issue 44, November 5). Being an AMA Pro Racing fan since 1998, I've seen the series decline through the years. The series has so much potential if the right sponsors are in place. The series can be as big as NASCAR (or almost) if promoters, sponsors and public relations were top notch and willing to build the series. The AMA Superbike Series is the premier motorcycle racing in the U.S. and should be highly promoted. Look at NASCAR and its TV coverage, sponsors and fans. Why can't the AMA get sponsors like Tide, Target, and Sprint? I guess we need to get some of the AMA Pro Racers interviews on some of the talk show circuits to bring more attention to motorcycle racing in the U.S. Thomas Reddick Via Facebook Letters to the editor can be sent to voices@cyclenews.com. Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News. Letters should not exceed 150 words and are subject to editing. Anonymous letters won't be considered for publication and each letter should contain the writer's name, address and daytime phone number… Editor

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