Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

This just in, via e-mail, from Jerry Wood:


I have been reading with interest about the Boxer Cup at Daytona and Erik Buell’s response to the elimination of the Pro Thunder class. I would like to add the following:

I was in the AMA offices years ago when they were discussing eliminating the old Sportster class. They brought up the fact that they were down to six or seven entries at some events and interest was at an all-time low.

I asked that they consider running a series that ran all of the air-cooled Twins together along with Singles and some of the Triples, much like the BEARS class. They might be able to keep Harley-Davidsons support and let them compete with their real sportbike – Buell against other machines with similar performance and price. I pointed out that it would have more publicity value for Harley-Davidson to compete with other motorcycles in the same market.

The other key players like Ducati with their air-cooled two-valve Supersport line along with Moto Guzzi, BMW and others are often bought for daily riding by hard-core enthusiasts that are likely to attend the AMA road racing series and become AMA members. The class could also could be a good place for a new racer to get noticed.

They said that it sounded good and asked me to put it on paper. When I wrote the paper, the points that I stressed were that to keep any one machine from dominating they DO NOT ALLOW the new Triumph 955 Water-cooled Triple and the Ducati 748.

Well, somehow some Triumph folks lobbied hard and got the machine in. The Triumph won six of the top 10 spots in the Championship the first season.

The next time I spoke with the AMA Pro Racing guys I politely asked what they were going to even up the chances for other brands and they told me that they were going to include the 748. I stated in the strongest terms that the 748 would TAKE OVER the class and the only other bikes near the front would be a few factory supported Buells. they said that they had it all figured out and that would not happen.

We all know what did happen and now the class is to be eliminated.

Even today they could make a set of rules that would allow for a number of different brands to compete. Air-cooled Twins up to 1000cc and water-cooled Twins up to 650cc would work reasonably well. Many of us enjoy the sound of the twin-cylinder machines on the track.

I think that it a shame that the AMA and AMA Pro Racing have become two entities. If they could go back to having the same goals of attracting members rather and being inclusive rather than exclusive I think that we will all be better off for it.

The elimination of the 250GP class is another mistake that is certain to alienate AMA members and enthusiasts as well.

As a long-time AMA supporter I hope that something can be worked out.

Jerry Wood