FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I agree with your article. Well said! Dennis Hurst Deken Power Racing Santa Ana, California FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I was beginning to think you had lost your fire! THANKS for the editorial on the Thursday practice and the cost of running a AMA Pro Racing Privateer Team! Bruce Blake Michigan Engineering, Inc. Caledonia, Michigan FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: Just a quick note of agreement. From a turnworker’s perspective over the past 12 years, it is very clear on the first practice morning of an AMA event whether or not a promoter/private practice has been available to the non-factory riders the day before. Jim Douglas, AFM Worker Fiddletown, California FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: Your editorial was right on the money! (~https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=28184~) The poor privateers in the AMA are treated worse than the proverbial red-headed stepchild! Gone are the days of any sort of “entry level” AMA classes. It’s all about having enough classes so that each manufacturer can pick out one or two classes, get a “#1” plate (in ANY class) and then splatter it across their marketing brochures. I certainly wouldn’t categorize all the factory riders as spoiled primadonas, but I think even those guys can remember the days of coming up through the ranks and the fact that a privateer needs a little more time to try to get up to speed – privateers simply don’t have all the resources of the factory riders (tractor trailer full of spares, crew, dedicated mechanics, etc.) For those factory riders that have resorted to flipping off, kicking and shoving privateers… wow, you really have to wonder if they’re suffering from delusions of grandeur and failing to realize what a-holes they’ve become! Nobody is twisting the arms of factory racers to practice on Thursday but most of the privateers sure appreciate the opportunity to ride, especially since most don’t have the travel budget to test during the off-season… not to mention they’re not even ALLOWED to participate in the “factory only” test sessions (this topic warrants a totally different discussion regarding the AMA’s inability to control off-season testing). At the end of the day, it’s simply laughable to shed a tear over potentially increased expenses for factory teams rolling a couple of million dollars rigs vs. the benefits Thursday practice affords the cash-strapped privateer who is often struggling to pay for the exorbitant AMA license and entry fees (again, a topic that should be explored separately). I used to encourage a lot of my friends and customers to go do at least one AMA race but I have a hard time doing that now, when being a privateer equates to AMA whipping boy. That’s really a shame because I know many riders who learned a lot doing AMA races and even if they came in at the back of the pack, they treasured the experience forever. It’s just hard to tell somebody with a straight face to go spend thousands of dollars racing an AMA event and get treated like a 2nd class citizen. I sure hope good people like my friends Morgan Broadhead and Kevin Crowther will make a positive impact in their new AMA roles – privateers are already getting a raw deal at AMA events, so doing away with Thursday practice would be yet another blow to this group of racers. Keep up the great work! Alex Florea AFM #49 AFMotorsports San Jose, California