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Team Green?
As motocross and supercross move toward the sporting mainstream, so it seems, do the sport’s problems. In the same season that erstwhile Honda rider Mickael Pichon physically assaulted a race official comes more recent trouble with Jeff Emig, a former AMA supercross and motocross champion.
You’ll notice that wasn’t “Kawasaki’s” Jeff Emig. Why not?
Following an arrest in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, for public consumption of alcohol, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia (a pipe fashioned from an aluminum can), Team Kawasaki dropped the off-form KX250 rider like a burning roach. Emig had been with the team since 1996, winning the Motocross Championship that year.
In 1997, he won both the AMA Supercross and Motocross Championships.
Kawasaki issued a terse yet somewhat vague press release, to the effect: We fired him because of an unfortunate incident. Three days later, Emig issued “An open apology from Jeff Emig,” the title of which speaks for itself.
Emig quickly addressed his legal issues, returning to the Lake Havasu Consolidated Court well before his scheduled appearance date (“You can be early, just don’t be late,” a court clerk said). A plea bargain led to the marijuana-possession and public-drinking charges being dropped, leaving Emig with a drug-paraphernaliapossession conviction. While you won’t
see him in an orange vest picking up trash alongside an Arizona freeway, his wallet is $1000 lighter and he’ll spend a year on summary probation. That is, unsupervised probation, which, according to a representative of the court, doesn’t exactly have teeth. To wit: Unless Emig were arrested in the court’s jurisdiction, they likely would never know about it.
When it was suggested to Emig that a party lifestyle isn’t that uncommon in the motocross community, he replied, “1 would agree with that,” adding, “I’m not all whacked out on drugs. I was doing the wrong thing in the wrong place at the wrong time. It
was a mistake and I have to take the blame. But I’m taking the (brunt) for the whole industry.”
Emig said he’s learned a lot from the incident and that racing is his life. He also suggested that he feels a new responsibility for the position he holds in the racing world, even if he is currently unemployed. “I’m in the limelight, winning races and need to set a good example, not just for fans but for others, upcoming racers in the 125cc class, people like that,” Emig said. “If you’re going to make a couple million dollars a year, there are certain rules you need to abide by.”
So the case is closed, and the 29-yearold is looking to move on after not quite completing the first year of his current two-year contract with Kawasaki.
First order of business: Address the fans. Emig made a public appearance and verbal apology at the final round of the MX series in Delmont, Pennsylvania, this past August.
“I faced up to the industry and my fans,” Emig said. “I wanted to show them I was still the Jeff Emig they used to be cheering for.”
While Emig’s future is uncertain, there is no doubt he wants to continue
racing. Is there another factory contract in the offing? “I haven’t called anyone,” Emig said. “I’m looking for a bike I can prove myself on, to show them: ‘This is what I can do.’ I’m not going to go to somebody and say, ‘I’m Jeff Emig, you should hire me.’”
The bike he chose to prove himself on in select overseas Supercross events is a Yamaha YZ250, with support from FMF (engines) and Enzo Racing (suspension). “I’ll ride the Yamaha in Europe, but I’m riding all the production bikes to help me make a decision about what I’ll ride now and for next season.”
In the meantime, Kawasaki hired John Dowd and Larry Ward to ride alongside Ricky Carmichael in the 250 class for the 2000 season.
“I had a hard time winning on the Kawasaki this year,” said Emig, who was fifth in motocross points prior to the incident. “Hopefully, the new riders will be able to perform better than I did. Everyone at Kawasaki works really hard. They deserve better than what I gave them. Now I just have to suck it up and work harder yet-prove how I became supercross champ by doing it again.”
-Mark Hoyer
As the Enduro World Turns
Enduros, these days, are a bit more complicated than such a simple name might suggest. Take, for example, the AMA National Enduro Series. Once based solely on traditional timekeeping events, the series this year also incorporated the once-separate ISDE-style Reliability Qualifiers that decide the U.S. ISDE team.
More complicated, yes, but only in an effort to simplify things.
“A number of people, including the OEMs, thought having two enduro championships was confusing,” said the AMA’s Roger Ansel. “Now it’s one >
series, one champion. It could also have the residual effect of making our riders better at the ISDE format.”
The ISDE-style events favor speed; the timekeepers, usually run over tighter, woods-based terrain, favor technique and good skills with the clock.
The new format enticed at least one rider to finish the whole series when he hadn’t intended to: new champion Ty Davis. “I wasn’t planning on competing in the entire series, but I had some good rides in the beginning and I just kept on going,” said Davis, who wrapped up the title with two rounds remaining. “I couldn’t leave a lead like that.”
The World Enduro Championship, meanwhile, has nothing to do with timekeeping. The two-day events are run over a course with known checkpoints, at which riders can arrive early without penalty. Scores are tabulated primarily on times from the special tests, which may be grass track (motocross) or terrain tests (enduro, cross country).
Unlike in America, where the overall win is king, the world rounds place the emphasis on winning your class. Typically, the over-250cc twostroke category has been the premier class, and thus the hotbed of competition. But with so many capable fourstrokes produced in recent years, the emphasis has switched to the booming Thumpers, particularly the 400s.
Still, it isn’t surprising that the overall individual world championship was won by an over-250cc-class two-stroke. But would you believe the winner, Finn Petteri Silivan, piloted a Gas-Gas? Smaller European brands still dominate the European enduro scene. In fact, there were only two Yamahas in the top 20, among the many TMs, KTMs, Hus>
abergs, Huskys and Vertematis.
Italian Giovanni Sala took the ultracompetitive 400cc four-stroke class after a tiebreaker with KTM teammate and fellow countryman Mario Rinaldi. This was Sala’s fifth world enduro championship and the first time he has raced a four-stroke in anything but rallies.
Strangely enough, there is even a 250cc four-stroke class that is extremely competitive, only it’s run at speeds that rival the flow of Heinz ketchup. Finnish rider Vesa Kytonen took a Kawasaki KLX250 to victory over a fleet of Hondas and a few works Husabergs, specially built for the class.
Many of the riders in the miniThumper class used to compete in the 80cc two-stroke class until it disappeared a few years ago. Some guys just like slow bikes! -Jimmy Lewis
Southern Hospitality
Carolina Motorsports Park is a new circuit designed for car and motorcycle roadracing. About an hour south of Charlotte, North Carolina, the 2.235mile, 14-turn circuit was designed by Alan Wilson of Wilson Motorsport.
New racetracks catering to motorcycles are always good news, and at least two WERA motorcycle races have been held there since the track opened
last April. CMP is special cause for rejoicing. This track was designed from the outset for both cars and bikes, and its run-off areas, flagging stations and energy-absorption systems need no changes to switch between twoand four-wheel racing. In other words, it is not a car-racing track disguised for motorcycle use with a layer of grudgingly supplied haybales.
A lot has been learned about track safety, and summed up briefly, the central concept is controlled deceleration. When a car or bike leaves the racetrack, it must encounter a system that slows it down at a deceleration rate that guarantees two things: 1) that the vehicle does not reach spectators or the safety crew; and 2) that the vehicle is brought to a stop without injury to its operator.
In the past, barriers have been concrete walls or Armco guardrails, slightly softened during motorcycle events by haybales, tire walls or other not-so-soft protection. When a vehicle moving at 60 mph hits a 4-foot-thick “soft” barrier
head-on, it must stop in that short distance. Even if the resulting deceleration were constant, it would be more than 30 g, which is marginal for survival. In other words, you will certainly be injured. That’s not good enough.
Modem tracks like CMP have a fourlayered system to control vehicles that leave the pavement: 1) a run-off area of grass, 10-20 feet in width, in which a vehicle operator has some chance to regain control; 2) a sandtrap-a wide area of soft sand beyond the run-off that slows vehicles and riders rapidly; 3) a no-bounce tire wall-as with the sand trap, the idea is to dissipate the kinetic energy of the moving vehicle as fric-
tion, in this case by obliging the vehicle to drag bolted-together tires across the earth; and 4) a rigid backing wall.
In the past, track owners have had to find their own way in track design and safety systems. Today, because motor racing has become big business, there are established sources for track design. Even a casual reading of the published material on Carolina Motorsports Park shows that useful standards are emerging from a body of assembled track-safety experience. Consulting firms such as Wilson Motorsport are able to provide that experience and keep it up to date. Good news on all fronts.
-Kevin Cameron
SurferCrossover
Just when you thought it was safe to go on vacation, another event pops up. This time it was the first-ever SurferCross, and from the get-go it was more of a day at the beach than a competition. Well, for the first day, anyway. Whether you were a motojournalist invited because you knew somebody, or six-time Supercross champ Jeremy McGrath, almost everybody who’s anybody in the surfing or motocross worlds was there, set to go head to head in the water and on the dirt. From the MX side came Jeff Emig (pre-legal difficulties), Phil Lawrence, Nathan Ramsey, David Pingree and Rich Taylor, making up a portion of the 16 invitees from each discipline. Surfers included Sunny Garcia, Broc Little, Brad Gerlach, Bryan Hewitson and Matt Coleman.
The two-day event began with a day of surfing at San Onofre Beach on SoCal’s golden coast, then moved inland to Perris Raceway for a full dose of motoing. Riders and surfers were randomly
teamed in pairs and only competed amongst themselves-motocrossers vs. motocrossers and surfers vs. surfersboth in the water and on the track.
Ankle-slapping surf provided all the challenge that the novice surfershereafter referred to as motocrossersneeded. With my well-practiced surfing ability (hey, the plush Cycle World of fices are less than a mile from the beach!) I won my heat and semi and transferred into the main to face MXer Paul Burton, Taylor and quick-learning surfer McGrath. With diminishing surf conditions, Burton, who is not a regular on the MX circuit but sure can surf (read: ringer), annihilated the rest of us. Taylor, on the other hand, found the
biggest board he could scrounge and edged me for second. It should be noted, though, that I humbled crowd-favorite McGrath and stole third place.
On the surfer side, it came down to Garcia, Hewitson, Coleman and Gerlach in the main, with Garcia taking the win. Here these guys were, attacking and shredding waves that the MXers were having problems just getting up on.
The next day, it was a flip-flop of talent and noviceness. Have you ever seen a rider try to put his helmet on after his goggles?! After a few crash-andbum practice sessions, the surfer moto was a showdown between Garcia and Garth Tarlow, with my partner, Ronnie Giesing, running a strong third. After Tarlow and Garcia tangled while lapping some of the field-there was a lot of lapping-Garcia got away quicker and took the first-moto win. In the second heat, Tarlow took revenge and roosted off, never looking back. Garcia finished second, and with a combined score of first in surf and second in moto, won the individual surfer crown.
The motocrosser’s moto was just like an outdoor national. Wait, that can’t be-McGrath was racing! Anyway, I was taken to school as Super Mac took the first-moto win over Emig, with 125cc West Supercross Champ Ramsey third. After a second place the day before, Taylor took fourth to keep his hopes alive for individual MXer winner. The second moto was a near repeat of the first, except Lawrence moved Taylor back to fifth and secured the MXer individual overall for doublemoto-winner McGrath, making him the king of SurferCross, too. Some guys win everything! I was happy just to be on the same starting gate with these guys, and managed a ninth-place finish. And that surfer guy, Burton, who spoiled the previous day? Second to last: Justice prevailed.
Ramsey and Hewitson won the team overall, besting McGrath and Donavan Frankenreiter while Giesing and I held onto third after doing our best at what we don’t do very often.
Overall, the event was a huge hit, attracting the biggest names without the grandiose appearance fees to which these athletes are accustomed. They showed up purely to dish out respect for the others’ sport and have some fun doing it. If you’re interested in more information, check out www.SurferCross.com for the whole enchilada.
—,Jimmy Lewis
