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Grand Prix circus ready to roll
The 1999 FIM World Roadracing Championship is set to kick off this month in Sepang, Malaysia. Defending 500cc Grand Prix champ Mick Doohan will be back aboard his Repsol Honda NSR500 in search of a sixth consecutive title.
Little has changed in the champ's corner, but the competition is another story. Series runner-up Max Biaggi, for example, has kept the rumor mill running full-steam. Though nothing is official, it appears Biaggi will leave Erv Kanemoto's Honda effort for a factory Yamaha ride. Nothing is ever certain with the unpredictable Italian, though. Reportedly, negotiations with Yamaha broke down over a piano, of all things. Nevertheless, when the grid forms at the new Sepang circuit, look for Biaggi to roll up on the quickly improving YZR500 in Marlboro livery.
Biaggi is also scheduled to test Michael Schumacher's Ferrari For mula One car. In deference to the future, the four-time 250cc GP ti tlist is taking the test very seriously. He certainly has the proper attitude for the F-i circus.
As for the present, Biaggi will like ly team with another Honda-cum Yamaha rider, Carlos Checa. The Spaniard vacated Sito Pons' team, taking all-important sponsorship with him. As a result, former teammate John Kocinski is also looking for a new ride.
Kocinski's fate hinges partly on the plans of ex-motocrosser Jean Michel Bayle. The Frenchman, who returned to racing late in `98 after suffering a head injury in preseason
testing, was riding strong and looking for work apart from the post-Wayne Rainey Yamaha team. Initially, it looked as if Bayle would be aboard the ex-Biaggi Honda. But Bayle has since signed with Kenny Roberts' Modenas squad. Effectively, that puts Kocinski in line for the Kanemoto fettled Honda.
American Mike Hale may also make it to the GP wars. After a cou ple of disappointing seasons in World Superbike, and last year's rather tu multuous AMA tour on the Fast By Ferracci Ducati, Hale is a prime can didate for the second Modenas spot.
As for the machinery, most manu facturers are still seeking to recoup power losses incurred from last year's switch to unleaded fuel. April ia has been developing a 5 00cc V Four for several years. After a year away, it will return to the premier class with an updated V-Twin. The bike will be ridden by 250cc star Tetsiiva Harada. There's also news of~ the yet-untested BSL 500 Triple from New Zealand.
Seasonal seat-swapping and updat ed hardware are pretty standard stuff, but this year, four new GP venues have been added. In addition to the series opener in Malaysia, round two is scheduled for Japan's Twin Ring Motegi complex. Spain is hosting round 13 at Valencia, while two races later, the teams will journey to the southern hemisphere and South Africa's new Welkom circuit. Paul Seredynski
Edmondson wins suit
Students of U.S. roadracing manage ment know that at the end of the 1993 season, a great schism occurred, split ting the American Motorcyclist Asso ciation from the man who had for years operated its roadrace program, Roger Edmondson.
In a broad sense, they had come to gether for the best of reasons; each had what the other lacked. In the early 1980s, the AMA had suffered shrink ing grids, and needed a grass-roots or ganization from which to promote new Pro riders. Edmondson's Champi onship Cup Series (CCS) was a club based organization with no national series as a focus. The marriage seemed ideal. Edmondson and his working group were experienced and highly ef ficient at race operations, while the
AMA was a large organization, with a large organization's leverage. The Edmondson/AMA marriage exploded, though. At first, it seemed Edmondson would soldier on with his own series, with many promoters electing to stay with him. Then the balance shifted, with manufacturers and then promoters swinging back to the AMA. Edmondson in 1997 sued the AMA, charging that racing class es he had developed in joint venture had been adopted by the AMA with out recompense. On December 18, 1998, an eight-person jury in North Carolina decided unanimously in favor of Edmondson, awarding not only the $930,000 in damages sought in the suit, but legal costs plus puni tive damages as well-all totaling more than $3 million. Ed Youngblood, president of the AMA, says only, "We do not believe that the facts, the evidence and key points of law support the decision of the jury in this case." The AMA has announced it will appeal. Split-ups are confusing. We have all seen friends divorce. We respect both parties and consider them reasonable persons. So the harsh things said on both sides, and the often extreme terms imposed in the settlement, come as a complete surprise. Each side has its story to tell, but once they become adversaries, the only truth that matters in the end is the relative, formal truth of a final jury verdict. Which attorney can best educate the jury to understand the complex evi dence his way? As in the O.J. Simpson trial, who does the jury blame for keeping it in the courtroom so long?
As in presidential elections, who has the best hair and the best manner?
What caused the explosion? The obvious candidate was the threatening example of what had happened to the FIM-the sanctioning body of international motorcycle sport. After 40 years of gentlemanly amateurism, the FIM found itself with a huge television/entertainment success on its hands: Grand Prix motorcycle racing. Not unnaturally, this attracted predatory attention from ambitious entrepreneurs, who saw big money to be made from the control of television rights. Unschooled in business, and certainly not organized for rapid maneuver, the FIM shortly lost just about everything but its blue blazers. What if something similar struck AMA racing? Who would own the show?
Getting a sport on TV is like seeking venture capital for your promising small business: You need the capital to expand, but you don’t want to lose control to get it. To maneuver more quickly than the FIM had done, the AMA would need something less ponderous than its own administrative machinery. Edmondson had proven himself a capable businessman. If there were to be maneuvering, which would prevail-size or agility? Who would outmaneuver whom? The AMA was preparing itself to operate racing as a business by creating a separate, for-profit corporation called Paradama. When Edmondson offered to sell the AMA his stake in their association, the AMA board of trustees replied that Edmondson had been only a contractor, and so owned nothing. Months of negotiation did nothing to simplify or decide the issues. Ultimately, Edmondson took the matter to law.
Since 1994, Edmondson has operated his own North American Superbike series (NASB). What comes next? To have its appeal heard, the AMA must show that the original judge in the case made procedural or other errors. If possible, they will surely seek to have the matter heard outside North Carolina. Although the case has been a hard grind for both parties, and has cost money neither side can cheerfully spend, the grinding isn’t over yet.
Kevin Cameron
Return of the Red Tide
Honda hasn't enjoyed much success in AMA Supercross since Jeremy McGrath left at the end of 1996. After four consecutive championships with McGrath, Honda didn't win a
single race in `97, and managed only four victories last season. If this year's series opener in Ana heim, California, was any indication, though, the tide may have turned. Honda riders swept the top four spots. Key to Honda's comeback is Ezra Lusk. The Georgian won four races last year, and finished second in the series. His job isn't any easier this year, but a first-round win may pro vide the momentum needed to carry him to the championship. Lusk's teammate, Sebastien Tortel ii, the 1998 World 250cc Motocross Champion, is hot to take on the U.S. talent. The Frenchman is certainly capable of running up front. After all, he won last year's opening round aboard a Kawasaki. The third mem ber of the team, Mickael Pichon, a two-time AMA 125cc Eastern Re-
gion Supercross titlist, finished sixth in the `98.250cc SX series on a Suzuki. At Anaheim, Pichon proved that he can run up front, too, finish ing second to Lusk. Honda is also fielding former Yamaha rider Kevin Windham, with veteran Mike LaRoc co receiving factory support. The In diana native placed third in Anaheim, with Windham fourth. Tortelli came home 17th, the victim of a crash. What about McGrath? Back with the Chaparral Yamaha squad, the five-time champ now has additional backing from Mazda (officially, it's Team Mazda/Yamaha/Chaparral), and says he is happy with the new YZ250. Smart money is on the defending champ. -Paul Seredynski
