Cycle News

VOL. 55 ISSUE 13 APRIL 3, 2018 P115 we will end up with fewer top rides available. Every factory- supported, dedicated 250cc team has at least four racers contracted to the team, and some of them have five. This goes for TLD/Red Bull KTM, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Ka- wasaki, Geico Honda, and Mon- ster Energy/ Yamalube/ Star Racing Yamaha. But their 450cc factory counterparts normally only have two racers contracted, with a maximum of three for some teams; Team Honda, Mon- ster Energy Yamaha, Red Bull KTM, Rockstar Energy Husqvar- na, Monster Energy Kawasaki and JGR Suzuki. If we combine the two regions into one national series, the number of 250cc rides available will be cut by half. This will hurt the prospects of racers to make money, because of market forces of supply and demand: A shorter supply of jobs will mean those jobs will be in more demand, and pay for those jobs will go down along with the number of people being paid to race in the first place. As a result of this lower num- ber of racers receiving top-flight rides, it will approximately cut in half the talent pool to draw from to move people up to the 450cc class, which will eventually harm the competitiveness of the 450cc class. And then there's this final point: The 250cc Regional Series are designed to help racers hone their skills as they work their way into the rough- and-tumble world of supercross. As it sits, the majority of 450cc factory racers can't finish a 17-round series without missing any events due to injury. There are currently only seven top 450cc racers who have raced every round in 2018, and only five of them are factory racers. If so few 450cc guys can go 17 rounds, what are the odds that fresh, young talent will be able to do it in the 250cc class? To take this all a step further, there has also been a lot of talk over the years about "fixing" the way that racers "point out" of the 250cc class and are forced into the 450cc class. This rule keeps getting modified as the promoter and sanctioning body search for the proper balance, but if I had a vote in this process, I'd elimi- nate "pointing out" altogether. People like to point at certain racers—such as Martin Davalos— as a reason racers should be bumped up to the 450cc class sooner, but to me, Davalos is actually the reason that shouldn't happen. There aren't any rac- ers without top rides who are faster than Davalos, so the idea that he's holding onto a ride that "should" go to someone else doesn't really hold water. But that's not even the main point here. The main point is that if we want to be grooming racers for the eventual transition to the "big show" in the 450cc class, what good does it do if they're only racing against people with the same amount of experience as them? Racing against veteran talent is the best way to prepare young racers for the step up to the 450cc class. I'd still leave in place some system of bump- ing actual champions up from the 250cc class, because if you win a couple titles on 250s, you should be good to go in the 450cc ranks. But I wouldn't just have an accumulation of points cause a racer to move up, espe- cially when there's a drought of 450cc rides available. After all, Davalos actually put himself on the box in the 450cc nationals a few times in 2017 in hopes of moving up to the 450cc class full-time in 2018, but despite his performances, all those spots were filled without him. So, while the idea in the be- ginning was to divide the 125cc (now 250cc) series into two coasts in order to make it easier for travel for racers on a budget, as the series has evolved, so has the need to keep the 250cc class a regional, rather than na- tional, affair, because in the end, having more top talent to draw from, who are more likely to fin- ish a series, is better for every- body. Especially if they have to defeat some veteran talent while they're at it. CN

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