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/894643
CN III VOICES W H A T Y O U A R E S A Y I N G "Yeah, but can Kailub bench-press his bike?" Showdown At Valencia It was just a couple years back when a situation like the one we have arose in MotoGP. Valen- tino Rossi had a chance to win the Championship but the Joker Marquez (imagine him as the old Batman's Joker Caesar Romero and you'll see the resemblance) stuck his nose in to the middle of Rossi's chance to win. This time it is Dovi's chance to win. Will Lorenzo help Marquez as tribute for his help, or Dovi and his Ducati team? Will Iannone and Rossi help Dovi and race Mar- quez hard and bump Marquez like he did to Rossi at Phillip Island? This last race at Valencia will be full of surprises you can bet: Spain against Italy, all the riders who have been wronged against Marquez, what is going to hap- pen? Stay tuned for the fireworks— they're sure to come! Go Dovi, a nice guy that deserves the win for all his hard work through the years. John Holman Supercross Format Sounds good to me. Most races have been snooze fests and totally decided by the end of the first or second lap. Now the rac- ing should be better. Peter Burnett I was really hoping they would al- low riders to drop their worst one or two events of the season. With 17 events the odds of having a bad race or mechanical break- down are high. By dropping 1-2 events you can keep the series close when someone is clearly better but just has a couple of bad events. Scott Stevenson Some thoughts: I always thought the semi races were a waste of time and cause an extra amount of track wear. I do wish the heat races and LCQs were a bit longer. I would like to see the main events become 20 minutes plus two laps for the 250s and 25 minutes plus two laps for the 450s. The points system is fine. The East/West Showdowns, to me, seem to be a segway into what I would like to see in 2019—A 250 series just like the 450s. Drop the five-year-old bike rule and allow larger displacement two-strokes to compete with the four-strokes. The three main events per class races will be interesting. I would like to see the main events equal length—three 15-minute- plus-two-laps in both classes. Jim Bunch Break the long season down into two halves and then a final showdown. Score the best six of eight races for each half season and then cut the points total 50% at the end of each half to keep the points chase closer, and then double the points for the last race of the season. Run a heat and LCQ race for each group (A and B). The top five from heats and LCQ qualify. Heat riders and LCQ winner start from front row, rest of the field start on second row of grid. Main event points: 20 for win- ner down to one point for 20th- place rider. One point for heat race win. One point for qualifying for main. Two points for main win and two bonus points to be added before the finals race. Main event: 20 minutes plus one lap. Heat races: 10 minutes plus one lap: LCQ: Five minutes plus one lap. The track breaks down too badly to race any longer in the main. These are ideas for the 450 class; the 250s don't really need change except eventually getting rid of east/west. Ken Bateman Suzuki Pulls Out Of MXGP Here is what happens when bike maintenance for regular privateer racers is unaffordable. They all buy side-by-sides and quit buying race bikes. Time to get back to two-strokes. Make MX fun again. New amateur rule changes have opened the door to make it hap- pen. Bobby Gravely Kailub Russell All-Time GNCC Winner Yeah, but can Kailub bench-press his bike? I remember seeing pictures of Scott Summers lifting his XR600! Wayne Argabright 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 P6