FIRST PERSON/OPINION: Via e-mail: The whole Red Bull thing is something that plays on the hearts of every parent of a young racer. My son, Peter Lenz, is just now transitioning from pocketbike racing to racing a NSR50 in MiniGP races. We were lucky enough to have the opportunity through his pocketbike team (BMS Factory Racing) to take a trip to France and Spain this past March. It was our first trip to Europe, we learned a few things, the hard way. The most financially insightful was those bits of information related to airline baggage. Most US carriers allow each passenger two pieces of checked luggage. Each one of these pieces can weigh up to 50 lbs., for a total passenger allowance of 100 lbs (45 kg). Most Europeans carriers don’t come close to this limit. As an example RyanAir only has a total passenger allowance of 15 kg (33 lbs). That is only a third of the allowance of a typical US carrier like United Airlines. Ready for the real kicker? RyanAir charges eight Euros for each kg over the weight limit. Eight Euros multiplied by the 30 kg difference in checked luggage allowance equals”¦ a heck of a lot of money to be surprised with at check in… 240 Euros to be exact. Multiply that by four passengers and you have a 960 Euro ($1,165) bill handed to you at check in. Keep in mind RyanAir is a jumper airline. This bill we were handed was for a 2 hour flight from France to the UK. We were lucky enough that we were able to hand off some of our baggage to a local contact that agreed to ship it for us. Unfortunately even after handing some of the baggage off we were still stuck with a 400 Euro ($485) overweight luggage bill. It was a costly education on airline baggage policies, now we know. As with every adventure there are lessons to take from it all. No matter what don’t exceed 15 kg of checked baggage if you are going to use a secondary carrier. Be aware that most airline’s liability limit is a joke and won’t even pay for a good riding suit. Consider spreading the gear across passengers to minimize value of a single passenger’s bags. Though we paid our own way to get there, we were guests of the BMS factory in France and over the two weeks, we racked up a $4100 bill. As Fernando Peris mentioned, we didn’t know where the boys stacked up in comparision, and the only way we found out was to make a trip. It would have been nice for someone to put together a ‘thing you should know before heading to Spain’…it would have saved us at least $485. We have four years until he is old enough to even do the Red Bull event. At least next time we will pack properly and not walk in blind. The last thing we learned was most important, those European pocketbikers are fast but not untouchable. Michael Lenz Father of Peter Lenz (~http://peterlenz.com~) 2006 CMA Canadian National Pocketbike Champion Vancouver, Washington FIRST PERSON/OPINION: Via e-mail: Opinion: Red Bull Rookies Cup A Bad Deal For American Kids While some of these kids have racing experience, many of them have little or none. How can they expect to go to Spain and compete against riders who have been riding 125s extensively? If a young racer has potential he will be noticed here in the United States. Several of our racers have been fortunate to move up into the Pro Ranks such as John Hopkins, Josh Herrin, Jason Perez, Michael Beck, Chris Ulrich and the list goes on and on. The initial $5000+ cost is only the beginning. What happens if and I say if you’re chosen? Who is going to pay for going to school while racing in Europe, who is going to chaperone you while you’re there, who is going to pay for all the other expenses associated with this program? Since I don’t believe any American riders will be selected over the Europeans, my suggestion is stay home, use that $5000 to hone your racing skills and gradually move up. If you’re good you will get noticed. Al Lyons, President CMRRA (~http://www.racecmrra.com~) Lake Elsinore, California FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I know how you feel about the U.S. kids going to Spain. Thanks for looking out for us. Hopefully someone at Red Bull U.S. can help. I contacted them last week. They said someone would be in touch, but I haven’t heard back yet. I understand what you’re saying and it all makes sense. It is a bit disturbing that we were invited not knowing what the kids were being accepted for, under what criteria, etc. We’re also going over there not knowing what they’ll be looking for. The kids are going to see a whole new level of riding, that’s for sure. Is this a push in the pants that’s needed to get some companies motivated to put together a U.S. series for kids? It would be nice to see and I think it’s needed so we can stop saying that the Europeans are ahead of us. For years there hasn’t been anything like this here and now that we’re invited to go over there to participate, people want to talk reality and say we’re not prepared. That’s not good for any kids confidence if they’re reading these claims (true or not). What would it take to have someone put a U.S. Jr. series together”¦not just a series to run and compete every few weeks, but a series that’s about kids and helping with their development, etc. We can’t keep saying that we’re going to get our asses handed to us by the Spanish kids and do nothing about it. I can’t keep quiet about this anymore”¦”¦I have to question Red Bull USA’s involvement in this as well. Are they going to be looking out for every U.S. rider’s benefit, or is it already determined what is going happen? I know of a very talented 13-year-old who missed the cut off by one month, so he wasn’t even able to apply. The Red Bull website wouldn’t even let him continue filling out the application because of his birth month, but I know for sure someone who’s younger got accepted and is going”¦so did they lie or are they connected and just going? Who’s going to be paying attention and verifying everyone’s credentials? It’s not fair if someone got accepted because of who they are affiliated with. I know this happens all of the time, but this is just another example of how this needs to be better laid out. This same team also was saying that no other U.S. kid should even apply because their kid was already chosen for the U.S. spot. I wonder what we’re walking into”¦..Your opinion on what should be done would be greatly appreciated. But, it’s too late”¦I’ve already paid for the tickets”¦ Jeremy Pupillo Liverpool, New York USGPRU (~http://www.usgpru.net~) already has a very competitive racing series for 125cc Grand Prix racebikes, and Roadracingworld.com is one of the series sponsors. What USGPRU needs now is to solve the last-minute insurance problem that prevents kids under age 16 from competing in USGPRU races held in conjunction with CCS races; younger kids can compete in USGPRU races held in conjunction with other events, including the AMA Sports Grand Nationals scheduled for next month at Mid-Ohio and the USGPRU finals at Miller Motorsports Park. And any future Rookie Cup program should involve existing racing organizations in the U.S., including USGPRU. In the meantime, the best advice for a young racer is, compete on as many different tracks as possible, as often as possible, whether it is with USGPRU, CMRRA, WERA, OMRRA or another organization in your area…John Ulrich, Roadracing World. FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I travelled with Young Gun – Garrett Carter in spring of 2005 to Spain to watch him compete in the Spanish National Series for 125 GP. His father had broken the bank to make sure his son had a fighting chance in the series getting the best team he could with his budget. The race I was at – his spanish “pro” teammate qualified in second of a group of almost 70 riders. At the time Garrett was the national – or on his way to – national USGPRU 250 and 125 Champion. In Spain, Garrett could only manage to qualify in the last 10 positions of that group and never made the A race – having to race the B race throughout most of the year. His other young teammates from England – all accomplished winners – also had an equally difficult time even making the A race. While the young spanish rider – with some MotoGP wildcard rides in 125GP was top five – and riding on the same team. This gives you an indication of the incredible depth of talent that exists in europe – especially the 125 class that regularly draws more media and sponsors than our AMA Superbike classes. Garrett has gone on to start posting incredibly good finishes and qualifying in AMA Supersport and FX this year. A testament to the obvious talent and ability we all saw in him early. With some interest from major teams he looks set to make the step to pro rider. It is hard to say whether his spanish experience added to his racing future. I will say that after running at the front of the best 125 GP and 250 GP series in the US only to languish in the last few positions of the spanish series was incredibly tough – tough for even the strongest of competitors. Especially for someone so young. Enough to end a career – easily. Getting lapped teaches you nothing – racing for position is invaluable. In Garrett’s defense he never gave up and had nowhere to go with the USGPRU in North America. He was a bit too young to be thrown on a Supersport so it did seem like the best decision at the time. The Red Bull program looks to be a good one and Red Bull seems to be on the up and up. However; I would suggest that money would be better spent getting your kid on a bike – the more the better. If Garrett had spent a full year on a Supersport bike – and spent some of that money on building up a bike and getting a few more sets of tires per weekend – he might possibly be in a better chance to get even further ahead of the factory team riders he is regularly passing now. Hindsight is worth… My advice is to spend the money at home and get your kids on a bike – the more the better and the more diverse the better – super motard, moto, dirt track and even trials. Get them riding all the time and the talent will shine through. The fragile and intangible aspects of a young psyche are best protected at this age and when they are ready they will be ready. Dean de St. Croix Toronto, Canada FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: We’ve recently read your opinion article about the Red Bull Rookies Cup project on roadracingworld.com and would like to take the opportunity to thank you for your positive criticism. Since the Red Bull Rookies Cup still is a young project, all constructive comments are truly welcome. Thus, please be sure that we will take your arguments to heart and attempt to improve things for the future. With best regards from Austria, Heidi Ramsauer Red Bull GmbH Motorsports Fuschl am See, Austria