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/588372
INTERVIEW SUPERPRESTIGIO OF THE AMERICAS ORGANIZER CHRIS CARR P100 California Spanish that I grew up learning. Everybody was happy. They were appreciative of being a part of it and I felt no different. I thought it was a really great experience and it's something that we hope to replicate here in Las Vegas, as well as be a part of the potential for flat track to grow on a global basis." Carr went on to explain the importance of changing the for- mat to flat track regulars versus the rest, a contrast that makes sense seeing that America's big export is flat trackers. "It allows us to present for a night the best guys on 450s from our season," he said. "That's how I look at it the first time around. Is that going to be the way the format is deter- mined in the future? Probably not. It's always going to change and evolve. It's going to need to. We're going to learn lessons from this and we're going to adapt and apply those lessons to future events." Although that sounds a bit like, "Hey, we're going to show you!" It's still more about showing what flat track racing is all about—it's about close racing and about opportunity. In summary, in flat track racing a good racer has a shot. Marquez proved that last year after beating Grand Nation- al Champion Jared Mees in the second annual Supersprestigio. "I think after Brad Baker won the first one, if Jared Mees had won last year it would be less im- portant," he said. "In Spain right now the only two guys they really know about are Brad Baker and Jared Mees. The rest of them [AMA Pro Flat Track riders] they don't really know them." Carr also acknowledged the importance of being allowed to attach the name Superprestigio to the U.S. event. "This is an opportunity for us Marquez and Bayliss' love of flat track has done a lot for the sport. because of the name Super- prestigio that they've allowed us to attach to the title of our race; it's going to allow us to show- case the depth of talent that AMA Pro Flat Track really has," he said. "That it's not just about the champions—it's also a whole field of guys." The best scenario for Carr? Some competition, to demon- strate what sets flat track racing apart from a lot of other disci- plines. "If I were to be a script writer and have everything go accord- ing to script those guys [flat trackers] would get beat at the Superprestigio of the Americas," he said. "That would prove to the world that while those guys are our recent champions on any given day, and it's still true, that in the right environment anybody can win in flat track. And we can't say that about a whole lot of other motorcycle disciplines." CN