Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

First Person/Opinion:

By John Ulrich

There are a lot of people upset with the proposed 2003 AMA road racing rules.

I don’t blame people for being upset: The new Superbike rules are radically different, and the stated justification for eliminating Pro Thunder (in 2003) and 250cc Grand Prix (in 2004) looks like bullshit meant to cover up the shortcomings of current AMA Pro Racing management to get a handle on operations, and I don’t think their problem is too much to do.

Having said that, I still think that paddock dwellers should be rejoicing that we’re having this argument now, instead of in December, and that the new rules package is a proposal and wasn’t just dropped in everybody’s lap as being how it would be, period. Simply declaring new rules, period, has been AMA Pro Racing standard operating procedure for years; we need only look back a year or two to find examples of finalized rules being issued at the last minute, with no chance to comment at all.

This deal where proposed rules are announced in June, with input invited for 30 days, is a major shift in how AMA Pro Racing operates, and it was a hard-fought change.

Much of the anger in the paddock stems from long-standing mistrust of AMA Pro Racing, a mistrust built up over decades; people have learned the hard way not to believe what AMA Pro Racing officials say, and many think that offering any input will be an exercise in futility.

Some of the anger comes from how the proposed rule changes were announced, via e-mailed press release during the Brainerd National weekend, with no senior representative of AMA Pro Racing on hand to field questions and take input.

And, of course, it is possible that meaningful input will be ignored, and that the rules will be enacted as currently written.

But I don’t think that will happen.

Participants in AMA road races should make their input, participate in the process, and see what happens.

I’m not ready to write off this deal quite yet, and I remain optimistic that it will turn out well.

Having any process at all is already an improvement…