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/686229
VOL. 53 ISSUE 21 JUNE 1, 2016 P113 roes and his former best friend, mechanic and sponsor, Bill DaPrato, brought out Danny's pristine Maico for the ceremony. After the races our friends at Dirt Diggers North hooked our group up with credentials for the Sacramento Mile AMA Dirt Track race and flew us there in the DDNMC Lear jet. Let me tell you that few things compare to standing in the infield at a mile dirt track race and feeling the ground shake as the pack goes by, drafting each other, passing and repassing at 130 mph! There were a dozen veteran motocross guys there and every one of them had the same "WTF?!" look on their face each time bikes went by. We were all in awe and babbling like goons, but the image of Mike Beier and Gary Denton weeping and clutching each other in fear is probably seared in my brain forever. I love class-C racing. Lots of us do and it's no secret that it's been struggling to stay relevant for years. The fans at speedway or flat track races are the exact same fans as 25 years ago, only 25 years older. To attract new fans it needs a new look and two things immediately stood out to me: The first was the defective video big screen they tortured the crowd with for half the night before finally ditching it. When something isn't working you don't leave it on display for two hours, it looks unprofessional. The other thing that I think has to go is the start/finish flagman acrobatics. I know it's a tradi- tion and I remember "Bouncing Bob" from back in the day. Call me crazy, call me a buzzkill, but having a flagman standing on the racetrack a few feet away from 500 pound flesh and steel torpedoes that are racing each other seems mighty silly to me. I don't know if there has ever been a mishap, but it doesn't take much imagination to come up with a dozen ways it could happen. Never in a million years would you see a human on the track at a NASCAR, Indycar, F-1 or MotoGP event, and the only way he would be doing gyrating midair splits while waving a flag is if he was hit by one of the rac- ing machines. Seriously, it looks unprofes- sional and adds nothing to the show. Come on, AMA, evolve! Watching Roczen dominate the first two rounds makes it easy to begin to imagine him winning the championship in a rout, until déjà vu kicks in with images of Tomac's crash in Colorado last year, which he does not seem to have fully come back from. Here's hoping that all of the riders stay healthy; right now the field is deep with talent and there are 10 rounds and 20 30-minute-plus-two-lap motos left. How awesome would it be to have a healed James Stewart, a dialed-in Tomac, a healthy Baggett and a calmer Trey Canard mixing it up with Roczen, Dungey and Anderson? A perfect storm, for sure. Speaking of badass riders, my vote for the fastest man on the planet, right now, goes to Tim Gajser. Holy smokes, that kid is hauling ass over in the GPs. Last year's phenom, Romain Febvre, is having some bad luck, but I would not count him out just yet. If Dylan Ferrandis comes out of MX2 as talented as Febvre and Gajser, Pro Circuit could have another imported champion, and Hooters servers across the nation will be on high alert. Sorry Mitch, I couldn't resist. Watched the Erzberg Hard Enduro live the other night and was amazed at how much suf- fering those guys are willing to endure. Graham Jarvis was definitely on his A game and has to be the gnarliest 41 year-old alive. Congrats to American hero Cody Webb on his second-place finish, along with huge respect and admiration on his impending engineering degree. In closing, a big high-five to Alex Martin on his season thus far. Alex rode out of our Wonder Warthog rig a few years ago and it is not very often that a rider has the resolve and work ethic over a period of years to reach the next level. Keep up the good work, Alex! CN