From a press release issued by Richie Morris:
FIRST PERSON/OPINION
Daytona/Milwaukee Buell rider Richie Morris was released from the hospital this weekend after crashing hard in Friday morning practice at Road America last week.
“This could very possibly be the most disappointing point in my entire racing career” said Morris. “There are so many issues I would like to express my point of view on. But this injury (and God knows I have had enough) was the most senseless and avoidable of all time. But on the positive side, I am fortunate to still have friends and a fan base out there. And I would like to thank everyone for all of the e-mails and phone calls I received during my surgery and stay at the hospital.
“I guess I should start with a description of the injury. The top of the right tibia is broken in half. One side separated and went out my leg. The remaining half was jammed behind my knee cap. In surgery both sections were put back into the normal position. There was a special plate with a rod and screws into the bone. This should hold the leg in place while the tibia heals. The remaining question is that if the knee will ever work again due to all of the cartilage being gone. There is a possibility of a knee replacement at a later date. As for this season, it will be waiting and see. I start rehab this week, so I should know more in a few weeks. As far as being competitive, I doubt if you will see that before Barber or Vegas. But we have so much to learn with the new bikes. I might ride just for test purposes at the upcoming rounds. That is if I can set on the bike without unbearable pain. It will not be a lot of fun running in the back just for test purposes, but right now I can’t risk trying to run up front. Clint and the crew will be going to the track anyway, so I might as well take advantage of what I can.
“Next, I would like to express my apologies to Bob Michal and his employees at Milwaukee Harley-Davidson/Buell. They had high expectations for this race, with a hospitality tent for the employees and their BRAG group. They were all coming up Sunday and I was going to do every thing within my being to win that damn race, just for them! I will make it up to them. I apologize because the reason they lost their rider for the race was senseless, my injury could have easily been prevented. I will address that later.
“This accident also makes me feel bad for Brian Nallan of Revolution Performance. They are a new sponsor who helped our engine program immensely! We were struggling with the new XB motor and had a ton of people drop the ball on us at the last minute. But we were still in a position to win. Had it not been for Brian at Revolution Performance being honest, and the guys at factory Buell, I would have lost my faith in humanity in general. The past three years, I have put up with wolves in sheep clothing. You know the kind I am talking about, they love being popular in the paddock, and you would think one of your best friends. But in reality, they are out for themselves and could care less than a shit about integrity and being truthful. I have seen a lot of that over the years, and it always comes back around. So look out, all of those the shoe fits!
“Now the part I really don’t want to talk about. But there has to be a change! Everybody remembers the riders meeting at Daytona in the mid 1990s. The one where Dave Estok got into so much trouble for speaking his concerns about making the Buells practice with the remainder of all of the CCS classes. I am sure Dave would have handled that meeting a little different if he had it to do all over again. But the fact remains HE WAS CORRECT! We have discussed this matter on countless occasions for almost 10 years now. It is time that FUSA comes up with something that prevents the now faster Thunderbike Class from practicing with the ‘remainder of the classes practice’ at the CCS events. I am friends with all of the FUSA officials and I know they only have so much time to get in so many practices. I also understand to support the so-called Pro classes we have to race on the same weekend as the CCS guys. I guess it is something we all have to deal with. I am sure the CCS guys don’t like sharing their well-paid-for weekend with the FUSA guys. It does not seem to be an issue with the bigger Superbike classes, nor the 600-based classes. The problem has always been the Thunderbike class having to practice with the rest of the slower bike classes. This is by no means a slam to those guys who are hobby racing with whatever size bike they choose. They have even spoke up at riders meetings and said they would prefer we were not in their practice as well. So let’s all put our heads together and come up with a solution before someone really gets killed. It is just too big of a corner and straight speed difference. I know I have had broken ribs at Heartland Park in 1999 or 2000, due to this same problem. And after each practice I talk to the other guys and they have a horror story about how close they came to running over a slower rider. The one thing I do not want to hear is that ‘All of you fast pro guys should be able to dice your way through the slower bikes without any problems.’ That is not practice that is playing dodgeball. Once again this is by no means a slam to the slower riders on slower bikes. You paid your entry for your classes and want to have fun, therefore should not have to practice with a much faster group of riders and bikes, with some of the riders doing nothing but racing motorcycles for a living.
“Now to complicate things, the FUSA rules allow beginners to run in the Thunderbike class. So now we have an issue that puts some of the Thunderbikes guys out there doing fairly slow times. Maybe they are beginners, maybe just doing it for fun. So I can see it would not be fair to move all of the Thunderbikes up to a middleweight based class. This would create the same problem for the fast 600 riders having to dodge the slower Thunderbikes. So I can think of only two solutions and will be talking to the FUSA officials about it. But other riders should do the same, either the CCS or the Thunderbike guys. The FUSA officials are well known for listening to the riders to make for a safer weekend. This just seems to be one of the issues that has been brought up, but never really fixed. So let’s all get it done, we all want practice to be safer for all involved, regardless if you are there to run some slower based club classes for enjoyment, or there to promote your sponsors and make a living racing. Please call FUSA and speak to Kevin Elliott, if you have a suggestion to cure the problem. I know I will be making the call.”
Morris can be reached at 920 876 3765 or e-mail
[email protected] for comments.