MXA’S WEEKEND NEWS ROUND-UP: WE ALL BOYCOTTED THE MEXICAN GRAND PRIX, RIDE FOR FREE & GET ANGRY ABOUT LICENSE FEES

TWEET OF THE WEEKEND..TOMMY SEARLE IN MEXICO

More information about Searle’s report: According to news reports Guadalajara police found the dismembered, decapitated bodies of 15 people in two abandoned vehicles in western Mexico Wednesday in an apparent revenge killing between powerful drug gangs. Police initially counted 12 bodies dumped in the car on a road between Mexico’s second city of Guadalajara and the lakeside city of Chapala, known for its North American expatriate community. An anonymous call alerted police to the abandoned vehicles, and the bodies were taken to forensic services in Guadalajara, a police official said.

Jalisco state attorney general Tomas Coronado Olmos called an urgent meeting with the state governor and said the killings appeared to have been in revenge for 23 killings last Friday in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas. An arrested woman said that the killings were “the repercussion for what happened in Tamaulipas,” Coronado Olmos said. The woman said she belonged to a local gang called Milenio, linked to the brutal Zetas drug gang. Police found 23 bodies last Friday in the city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, on the US border, including nine hanging from a bridge and 14 others that had been decapitated.

GP RIDERS BOYCOTT MEXICO QUALIFYING! LUONGO’S CIRCUS COMES TO A GRINDING HALT (FOR ONE DAY ANYWAY)

Saturday’s new from Mexico was not good and now we can hardly wait to go to Thailand next year…where they don’t have electricity at the track. Thank you Giuseppe for all you have done for the sport.

In what is not a first time occurrence, the Grand Prix circus got a major black eye in Guadalajara, Mexico, when the GP riders refused to line up for the Mexican Grand Prix Saturday qualifiers ? claiming that the track was ill-prepared, dusty and the jump faces were poorly designed.

Michael Leib and Max Anstie were the only two GP regulars to race the qualifiers ? because Leib is a fill-in rider and his team manager, Steve Dixon, felt that the boycott wasn’t the right thing to do, saying that the riders should have come up with a list of changes and demands and then allowed the promoter to try to meet them.

Max Anstie had engine troubles in practice and wanted to make sure that his Gariboldi Honda was running right.

Sebastien Tortelli who is helping the Mexican race organizer said: “This is not the end of the Mexican GP. We have a five year contract and we are gonna do what we can (to make the GP tomorrow a success). We worked until past midnight last night and were here at 5 a.m. to get the track ready and we will be here all night tonight to water and modify the track. I think it was an irrational decision – I raced on tracks much worse than this – and we had live TV on Mega Canal, one of the leading nationwide chanels, to initiate the Mexican public to motocross. It is particularly disappointing because on Friday the riders were congratulating us on the track layout; now they say it sucks! That hurts! We will disc the track and flood it with water, so it will be a quagmire in the morning, but we have no option and that should give us good racing in the afternoon.”

BUT THE SHOW GOES ON…ON SUNDAY

MEXICAN GP 450 CLASS RESULTS:
1. Cairoli, Antonio…1-3
2. Desalle, Clement…2-2
3. Philippaerts, David…10-1
4. de Dycker, Ken…4-5
5. Leok, Tanel…6-6
6. Boog, Xavier…8-6
7. Strijbos, Kevin…5-10
8. Barragan, Jonathan…7-9
9. Goncalves, Rui…9-8
10. Pourcel, Christophe…16-4
Other notables: 11. Dean Ferris; 13. Gautier Paulin; 14. Sebastien Pourcel; 16. Davide Guarneri; 28. Shaun Simpson.

450 POINTS STANDINGS
(After 4 of 16 races)
1. Tony Cairoli…178
2. Clement Desalle…149
3. Gautier Paulin…134
4. Ken De Dycker…131
5. Christophe Pourcel…129
Other notables: 6. David Philippaerts…105; 9. Tanel Leok…92; 11. Evgeny Bobryshev…69; 16. Steven Frossard…40

MEXICAN GP 250 CLASS RESULTS:
1. Herlings, Jeffrey…1-1
2. Searle, Tommy…2-2
3. van Horebeek, Jeremy…3-3
4. Roelants, Joel…6-4
5. Charlier, Christophe…7-5
6. Tixier, Jordi…5-8
7. Nicholls, Jake…10-6
8. Anstie, Max…8-9
9. Coldenhoff, Glenn…15-7
10. Lupino, Alessandro…11-11
Other notables: 12. Nikolaj Larsen; 13. Petar Petrov; 15. Jose Butron; 26, Valletin Teillet 27. Michael Leib.

250 POINTS STANDINGS
(After 4 of 16 races)
1. Jeffrey Herlings…194
2. Jeremy van Horebeek…154
3. Tommy Searle…1534
4. Joel Roelants…118
5. Jordi Trixier…107    
Other notables: 6. Max Anstie…105; 10. Harri Kullas…76; 11. Michael Leib…61; 13. Petar Petrov…57

ISN’T THIS THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT WE SHOULD BE DOING? THE AMA ENTRY FEES ARE GETTING OUT OF HAND

The economy may be bad, the privateers may be suffering, but that hasn’t stop the powers-that-be from charging the riders more to race. And it is the riders that the fans come to see. This approach, especially the idea of making money from the riders, is like concert promoter selling tickets to a Coldplay concert and then charging Coldplay to sing.

It is disheartening for privateers to hear all of the promoters and sanctioning bodies crowing about their record-setting attendance, while the privateers are losing money on a weekly basis?no wonder the Supercross series barely had enough riders to hold heat races over the last few weeks of the season

WHAT ARE THE COSTS

LICENSES: A rider who wants to race the AMA Nationals has to buy a $275 license for the Nationals and Nationals only, this license is not recognized by the Supercross promoters).

The AMA (the one in Ohio, not the one in Florida) charges a rider $300 for an AMA Pro Racing Supercross license. Amazingly, there is actually a $900 FIM Supercross license fee that is also required for the 450 Supercross class, but Feld waives this license fee to any rider who rides three or more events in a season (or one event only). If however, paradoxically, a rider does two events, he is liable for the $900. 250 East/West riders do not need an FIM license.

The entry fee for a Supercross race is $200.

AMA NATIONALS: The entry fee for the AMA Nationals has traditionally been $200 also, but because the riders have to get the IMpact concussion test before they can get their license, the delays have made many AMA National riders miss the license deadline. For late entries, MX Sports is charging Hangtown entries a $50 late fee on top of the $200 entry fee. With the riders having to pay for the $275 license, then the concussion test (around $30), then the $200 entry fee and then the $50 late fee, the start-up cost for Hangtown is around $550. To rub salt in the wounds, MX Sports tacks on a $7.25 convenience fee (making it $562.25). For the convenience of who? Perhaps MX Sports could have waived the late fee, given that this is the first series that the concussion test has been mandated.

When the 80 riders in each class pay their entries the total take to MX Sports is $32,000 a week (not counting the $1160 in convenience fees). Perhaps, as many local promoters do, MX Sports should put all of the Pro rider’s entry fee money into the purse (on top of the posted purse) for that day’s race…they can keep the convenience fee.

Additionally, when a rider gets his AMA National license and entry forms he agrees to “grant to MX Sports and its related or affiliated entities and their respective employees, agents, licensees, successors and assigns (collectively, “Grantees”), permission to photograph, film, videotape or otherwise record my voice, image, or likeness in connection with any Event (collectively, “Appearance”), and to use the Appearance in advertising, publicity, promotional, merchandising and/or other commercial activities of Grantees, and agree that Grantees shall be the exclusive owner of all copyright and other rights in and to all works incorporating any or all of the Appearance, and all allied, ancillary and subsidiary rights relating thereto, and will be able to perpetually use and license to third parties such works in all media currently existing or hereafter created, including, but not limited to, printed materials, television and all electronic media, for any use to which the same or any material therein may hereafter be put, applied or adapted.”

Isn’t this the kind of image licensing that Jeremy McGrath quit Team Honda over?

THE WAY OF THE WORLD

The AMA (Ohio) and AMA Pro Racing (Florida) are free to charge whatever they think the market will bear. But, given that 20th place in the 250 East/West Supercross pays $320 dollars?an aspiring Supercross hero could pocket as much as $120 in purse money every week (assuming he makes the night program) after deducting the entry fee. Over the eight rounds that $120 a week adds up to $960 in income.

In the AMA Nationals, under the last released purse structure, a rider who finishes 30th or worse in a National moto would almost break even (minus the $7.25 convenience fee) after paying the basic entry fee.

AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP MOTOCROSS RESULTS FROM WANNEROO

450 class:
1. Josh Coppins…72
2. Lawson Bopping…57
3. Todd Waters…56
4. Brad Anderson…50
5. Cody Cooper…46
6. Tye Simmonds…45
7. Daniel McCoy…42
8. Jay Marmont…38
9. Mike Phillips…33
10. Gordon Crockard…32
Other notables: 11. Dean Porter; 12. Calle Aspegren; 15. Luke Davis; 18. Daniel Reardon; 19. Jake Moss; 26. Luke Wilson.

250 class
1. Luke Styke…68
2. Cheyne Boyd…62
3. Adam Monea…55
4. Kade Mosig…54
5. Josh Cachia…46
6. Lewis Woods…44
7. Ford Dale…42
8. Scott Columb…38
9. Luke Arbon…38
10. Kirk Gibbs…37
Other notables: 11. Justin McDonald; 12. Brock Winston;18. Geran Stapleton; 21. Scott Kramer; 25. Luca Nastrini.

RYAN HUGHES: “THAT’S RACING MAN AND I WOULDN’T EXPECT ANYTHING DIFFERENT…AND IF YOU DON’T HAVE THAT, YOU SHOULDN’T BE RACING”

A WORK IN PROGRESS FROM ARTIST MARK BORZAK OF THE ORIGINAL “BEAST FROM THE EAST”

The pistol from Bristol.

Dear MXA,
     Attached is my latest drawing of Tony Distefano for you to enjoy. I plan to add his portrait to this but wanted to send what I have for you to see.  I am going to draw more vintage bikes from the 1970’s ? as that is the time I enjoyed the most. Just something about that time, the riders, the bikes, “On Any Sunday”.  
    Mark Borzak

GLEN HELEN NATIONAL WARM-UP PRACTICE SESSION: THE NATIONAL ISN’T HERE ANYMORE, BUT THE RIDERS ARE

LUCAS OIL NATIONALS TO GIVE FREE TICKETS TO MILITARY PERSONNEL…SIGN UP NOW!

According to a press release from MX Sports, “Thanks to an initiative with the Veteran Tickets Foundation (VTF), active and retired military veterans will have the chance to see the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, at no cost during the 2012 season.” VTF is a national nonprofit organization that provides free tickets to veterans and active-duty members of the military and their families. VTF seeks events and organozation to donate tockets, which they then distrubute via their website at www.VetTix.org.

For example the Veteran Tickets Foundation (VTF) gave away 50 donated tickets to the Georgia Rennaissance Festival, one ticket to Adventure Park USA, ten tickets to San Diego’s Gaslight Expedition, 75 tickets to the North Texas Beer Festival, 100 tickets to a Dodgers vs the Rockies game and 216 tickets to the Professional Bull Riders Boise event. There was no mention in the MX Sports press release about their ticket commitment to the VTF program?but this is a great program and kudos to the AMA Nationall for signing up. If you would like to know more about the program for active or retired military veterans go to www.vettix.org.

On a side note: The Veteran Tickets Foundation 501c(3) that relies solely on the generosity of the public or donations. Every motocross race track, event or company should consider making a donation of tickets, gift certificates or awards to the VTF program.

SOME PEOPLE CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THIS VIDEO, RACE, SOUND & CONCEPT…ENJOY TWO-STROKES AGAIN


MATRIX CONCEPTS RELEASES NEW TOOL BOXES AND ORGANIZERS   

Matrix Concepts would like to introduce the all new highly portable and lightweight tool boxes and organizers for the garage or track. The new Matrix tool boxes and Organizers feature a custom look, and are available in many vibrant colors and sizes to simplify any task. Visit the Matrix Concepts website for more information and if you buy a Worx or Trax Box this weekend we will throw in a free Matrix T-shirt. Just enter your T-shirt size in the coupon code box when checking out at www.MatrixRacingProducts.com to receive the free T-shirt.

STEWIE OVERLOAD! BETWEEN THE RAMPANT MONSTER CUP PRESS RELEASES AND THE STEWART STORIES, WE ARE BURNED OUT

The greatest news of the last week was that James Stewart will race the 2012 AMA Nationals. Yamaha! Suzuki! Joe Gibbs! Yoshimura! All good, but the fact that he’ll be on the line after several long years off is the real story. That is the good news for the fans, the racing and the drama. But, we’re tired of all the “no news” Stewie news. Everybody knew he was going to Suzuki. Everybody knows that he looks fast in videos. Everybody knows that the “we’re all buddies” talk about the JGR/Stewart breakup is hokum. So, let’s just wait until Hangtown…and quit acting like Justin Bieber fans every time Stewart burps. Glad he’s back! We wish Chad Reed was racing also, along with Ryan, Trey and all the others injured contenders.

WHAT A 450 NATIONAL LOOKS LIKE…IF YOU WERE BRITISH

HELPING  HAND: A MESSAGE FROM JEREMY McGRATH

Hi Friends:

I am sending this message to let everybody know what is going on with my wife Kim and my family.  As you may or may not know, about 2 years ago Kim was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. She had a number of different surgery’s, underwent chemotherapy for many months, and handled the processes like a true champion. Kim was feeling great. Kim was 15 months removed from her last treatment, about a month ago she noticed a couple of small blotches on her skin. Due to her great instincts she went and got them biopsied. That biopsy came back as “Leukemia Cutis”, which is Leukemia of the skin. Naturally we were blown to pieces by this news.

As I said, Kim was feeling great and due to her good instincts  we caught this in the Pre-Leukemic stage. The bad part is the doctors have to treat “Leukemia Cutis” the same way as if you came in the hospital at the later stages of leukemia. This means more chemo, she is currently in the hospital and has completed her 7 days of chemo and they are saying a bone marrow transplant is next?.
 
This is where all of you guys come in? We really need your help with going and getting on the Bone Marrow registry, the idea is to find a Marrow match. It’s as easy as finding a Bone Marrow Drive and getting your mouth swabbed, or having the kit sent directly to you at your house, and you can send it back. I ask all of you to do this ASAP, this is something that is time sensitive. In order to help Kim, we have to be willing to help anybody, which is the right thing to do.

Go to www.marrow.org/Join/Join_Now/Join_Now.aspx?promo_code=mcgrath

This is the biggest challenge of my and my family’s life? You guys have never let me down, so please help us with this one? Thank you

Sincerely,
Jeremy McGrath

ENDUROCROSS WAS OVERSHADOWED BY THE VEGAS SUPERCROSS, BUT WE TAKE YOU THERE (ACTUALLY “DIRT BIKE” DOES THE HEAVY WORK)

TWEET CITY: KEEPING UP WITH REED & HUGHES…VIA THE MODERN VERSION OF JUNGLE DRUMS

GLEN HELEN & YAMAHA: HOW TO GET LOCAL DEALERS INVOLVED IN YOUR LOCAL RACES
The Yamaha Dealer Series is a grassroots approach to local racing, but can anyone beat John Burr?

THIS WEEK’S BIRTHDAY BOYS…AND ONE GIRL

May 11…John van den Berk
May 13…Billy Whitley
May 14…Kyle Regal
May 15…Joe Oehlhof
May 15…Jackson Esselman
May 15…Kyle Loza

May 16…Laurette Cushman
May 16…Dustin Miller

May 16…Broc Glover 

JGR SIGNS KYLE IN THE MORNING & FLY SIGNS HIM IN THE AFTERNOON

Kyle Regal.

Press release: Fly Racing is pleased to announce Kyle Regal has signed an agreement that will see him to wear Fly Racing racewear and helmets for the remainder of the 2012 season. Regal will race in the 450 class in this year’s AMA Outdoor MX Series wearing Fly Racing’s Evolution and Kinetic racewear lines, as well as Fly Racing’s Formula and F2 Carbon Helmets.
 
“I’m very happy to be a part of the FLY Racing team and I’m really looking forward to the upcoming outdoor season with everyone involved,” said Regal about his renewed contract with Fly Racing.
 
Craig Shoemaker, Owner of Fly Racing, is also thrilled about the continued agreement with Kyle Regal:  “We’re excited to continue supporting Kyle. He’s shown that he has the speed and toughness to run at the front of the 450 pack. We wish him the best of luck in the 2012 outdoor season.”
 
For more information about Fly go to www.flyracing.com.

ALPINESTARS PARKING LOT SALE ON SATURDAY, MAY 19

TEAM HONDA’S RUI & BOBBY TALK ABOUT THIS WEEKEND’S MEXICAN GRAND PRIX…ESPECIALLY THE TEQUILA

AUSTRALIA FINDS NEW PROMOTER TO HOLD THE 2012 AUSSIE SUPERCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP

The International Entertainment Group (IEG) has signed a deal to run the Australian Supercross series for the next three years (starting this year) three years, commencing in 2012. The 2012 Australian Supercross Championship will be run over four rounds starting in September and running through October and November.

KTM WELCOMES TOM BUTTLEMAN AS DEALER DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Tom Buttleman.

Press release: KTM North America, Inc. is proud to welcome Tom Buttleman as the newly appointed Dealer Development Manager. Buttleman joins KTM after working over 14 years within the motorcycle industry. His vast experience includes spearheading sales, finance and dealer networking initiatives in his past employment.

“I am extremely pleased to become a member of the KTM team of professionals. The KTM brand speaks to my own passions within the motorcycle industry,” remarked Buttleman. “A company with a focus on being the best – in all aspects of business and products – with unlimited potential.” For more information about becoming a KTM dealer, please visit the KTM website at www.ktmusa.com or call (440) 985-3553.

THINGS I SAW AT A GRAND PRIX THAT WILL PUZZLE MOST AMERICAN MOTOCROSS FANS

To see more of Michael “The Rock” Rigdon’s photos from the Grand Prix circuit, click on this link.
www.motonews.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=4&func=view&id=211822&catid=4

OHLINS OPEN HOUSE THIS WEEKEND…IF YOU ARE ANYWHERE NEAR HENDERSON

The Ohlins USA’s Open House is Saturday, May 12, 2012 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. rain, shine or meteor shower, at 703C S. Grove St, Hendersonville, North Carolina. Entertainment includes The Big Nasty, a New Orleans Style Jazz Band from Asheville, North Carolina. Between sessions there will be short motorcycle seminars similar to the ones presented on Ducati Island at the USA MotoGP events.

Stickers? You want sticker? We have stickers ? free stickers ? in black and white or in the classic Ohlins blue and gold. Also, the latest in Ohlins apparel, koozies, reservoir covers, and more will be available for purchase, as well as goods from our attending dealers and displayers. For more info go to www.ohlinsusa.com