FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: As an AMA member (and an amateur road racer), I was disappointed to read online that AMA racers testing at Road Atlanta were still having a problem with turns 4 and 12 on August 5. The conditions in turn 4 and the bump in turn 12 were obvious issues at the practice day for the WERA regional races June 27-29. The new turn 4 was such a crash-fest during practice, that WERA chose to use the “old” chicane at turns 3-4 for the remainder of practice Friday afternoon and the races on Saturday and Sunday. There was plenty of web-chatter about the conditions from track day riders the Monday before and racers after the June round. Apparently, the track was responsive to the complaints about the bump (a trough, actually) in turn 12, but didn’t execute the fix properly. I don’t know if there were any actions taken after the WERA weekend in the new turn 4 – the geometry of the new turn is so off-rhythm that the lack of grip was a minor issue (at my speeds), but the evidence of the conditions there were the number of crashes experienced in practice. With the Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School resident at Road A, and several track-day organizers utilizing the track, I’m sure there was ample opportunity to get the changes in Turns 4 (if any) and 12 tested before the AMA championship series riders were forced to boycott the testing to get attention to the issue. The the design of the re-engineering of the turn is questionable anyway, because a rider that loses control due to rider error, tire problems, or mechanical issues coming down the hill entering turn 12 still has a short uphill paved route leading directly into – another concrete wall – a different trajectory than the original turn 12, but a wall none-the-less. With new tracks opening with increasing frequency in the middle-Atlanta and mid-west areas, I am concerned that Road A’s approach to track engineering, maintenance, and repair could force the national championship round to seek a venue that is more in tune with the concerns of the professional riders, and rob the fans in the Georgia-Carolina area of a great show that is very pleasant short ride away. Thanks for the continuing and extensive coverage of amateur racing, too. I’m hoping to get fast enough to show up in your results section some day! Bob Hinds WERA Novice #82 Aiken, South Carolina FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I live an hour or so from Brainerd, and I was wondering, with the track rebuild, will Edmondson’s group (I wanted to type cabal instead of group, but I’ll be polite) bring the show back to BIR (assuming that the change to WSB spec keeps the manufacturers in the series)? Thanks again for standing up for what’s right, you must be feeling a little like Don Quixote after all these years…or maybe like you’re playing that Whack A Mole game. Jon DeMent St. Cloud, Minnesota FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: Regarding Rob McCurdy’s column, he couldn’t have been more accurate. AMA professional road racing is broken, and in desperate need of repair. McCurdy did a better job of illuminating the problems than most insiders. Tom McComas Venice, California FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: For those of you that do not know me my name is Scotty VanHawk. I have been an AMA privateer for many years. I have multiple Daytona 200s and AMA Superbike races in my results, finishing them all. So the Saturday Superbike race at Mid-Ohio was not quite my first race as stated in a story published in another publication. Currently we are in 13th position in our class AMA Superstock. I am not a factory rider but I do demand the same respect that all competitors are entitled to. I have earned my Superbike license, qualified under the 108%, and earned my position in the AMA National round at Mid-Ohio. We chose to run the Superbike class for the extra exposure for our sponsors. During the first restart of the first Superbike race at Mid Ohio Miguel Duhamel once again decided that he was more important than the rest of the grid. After he had already crashed for the first time (his first of two crashes in the same race), he restarted the race, laps down I presume, at the back of the grid and one row behind me. I got a great launch and latched onto Hawk Mazzotta and Ryan Elleby. So the freight train rolls into Turn One down the chute to Turn Two, then we set up for Turn Three only to have #17 blast in and push me wide–and then he proceeds to flip me off! I can’t imagine why he would think that this is behavior that is becoming of a competitor in the premier series in America. We didn’t even make a lap and had another red flag. As we were coming into pit lane I rode beside him and held my hand palm up in the universal “What The Heck?” signal. He then decides to flip me off again and points to his butt. Well, I am not fluent in sign language, but I know what the middle finger means and pointing at your butt afterwards? Miguel, you are looking for love in all the wrong places. As my hot pit was coming up I started to change my trajectory for the approach and Miguel, in his rage, accused me of trying to take him out at 20 mph. He then proceeds to the start/finish tower and demands that AMA officials eject me from the race. When the AMA officials rejected his request after due investigation (including getting another AMA official’s eyewitness report), Duhamel became even more belligerent. In my very first Pro race in Daytona in 1997, I was tucked in and had the throttle pinned coming out of the horseshoe and Duhamel came by and flipped me off. Later during the riders’ meeting Miguel chose to get up in front of everyone and show his true self. In one of his usual rants he tells everyone that there are some of them there to do a job, not there to wave at our family and friends on TV–like he is more important than us lowly privateers. Now, 11 years later, he is the same person. The same person who had everyone on pit lane at Mid-Ohio saying, “Don’t worry about it, he is just a (choose your derogatory expletive)”. The same person who talks great in front of the camera but has no respect in the paddock because of his actions. The same person who the AMA paddock will be better without. Miguel, do the world a favor and go back to Quebec and spend the rest of your life sulking about privateers that you had a hard time passing. Get a clue, Miguel, it is not just the AMA that thinks so little of you as you stated in the published article, it seems to be most of your peers as well. You are not the sun and the earth does not revolve around you, no matter how many times you tell yourself that it does. I would like to thank everyone for their kind words and support at Mid-Ohio and since then. We appreciate all of our fans and our peers and look forward to many more years in the sport that we all love. Scotty VanHawk Warsaw, Indiana This just in– FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I read with interest the e-mail you posted on Roadracingworld.com that was authored by AMA racer Scotty VanHawk. Though Mr. VanHawk’s characterization of Miguel Duhamel’s behavior at this summer’s AMA Mid-Ohio event — and historically — may or may not have its factual merits, his characterization of his own behavior does not coincide with reality. During the restart of Saturday’s AMA Superbike race I was observing from the corner-workers’ hut next to pit in. Because the race immediately had a second red flag, the riders pitted. Knowing that Duhamel had crashed earlier and so restarted the race from the back of the grid, I purposely watched for him in particular to see if he was within the initial pack of riders, to get a hint if his bike was running properly, it being his first moments on track with a newly repaired machine. For the sake of argument, I agree with VanHawk’s description of Duhamel’s pit-in actions: certain fingers pointing in various directions, none pleasant. But what I saw next significantly differs with how VanHawk describes his own subsequent actions. After Duhamel lifted himself from his seat and pointed at his Canadian bacon, he and VanHawk approached the final left-hand curve on to pit-lane proper. Until then, VanHawk had been half a bike or so behind Duhamel’s front wheel, but on entering that curve VanHawk sped up to be evenly beside Duhamel, on the outside, and then he obviously and purposely leaned over into Duhamel. At that instant Duhamel was forced to slow and tighten his line to avoid the two riders from coming into contact. If, as VanHawk states, he was merely changing his “trajectory” to head for his pit box, then he should probably pay more attention to riders who are already occupying the course of a chosen “trajectory.” Oh wait, VanHawk said he was paying close attention to Duhamel already?! Hmmm, I guess underneath it all VanHawk unintentionally gives light to the facts. Or it is a very strange coincidence that VanHawk describes, of riding behind Duhamel and being shown digits followed an instant later by the absolutely unrelated incident of cutting across the front of Duhamel’s bike. Considering what I personally witnessed and what VanHawk says between his own lines, it seems that in these side games of tit-for-tat VanHawk wants to assure us that his tits are better than Duhamel’s tats. He is unconvincing. Showing anger through profane gestures is certainly annoying and rude, but purposely endangering other riders is something much more serious. Since VanHawk himself has reopened this book, maybe the AMA should take another read of it. Meanwhile, I, like many racing fans, am left to wonder where the ethics of sportsmanship have gone to. Peter Jone Hendersonville, North Carolina FIRST PERSON/OPINION Vie e-mail: Welcome to the world of being an AMA backmarker, Scotty. I was an AMA Stupidbike backmarker for 20 years…got the finger from the best, got praised for tracksmarts by the best. I just started given ’em the finger right back cause most have no clue as to circumstances other then they are faster than you…the great Scott Russell made quite a production of flippin’ me off in a 200 one year while he was lapping me for the 1st time while I was lapping someone else [I was running 13-15th at the time]. Miggy made a comment to a Canadian reporter after a 200 he was sorry he had sent me into the weeds and that some people shouldn’t be allowed to leather up for such a prestigious race [me I presume]…he never hit me, I hardly even saw him and I finished 20th, course the reporter printed the interview verbatim without speaking to me. Most of these self-righteous clowns won’t be happy till they are in 10-bike Stupidbike races. Only problem with that is, spectators won’t pay to watch such crap and their salaries will vanish. My advice–ride smart, have fun and ignore ’em. Mike Walsh Toronto, Ontario, Canada