FIRST PERSON/OPINION: Via e-mail: Would you or one of your readers please explain to me why Yamaha has once again forsaken the premier class of AMA road racing? Eric Bostrom racing Formula Extreme and Superstock, no Superbike ride? That’s nuts! Who wouldn’t love to see Jamie Hacking get a crack at the premier class, too? I also think it sucks that Eric won’t get to race Ben. While I’m complaining, it sucks that Ben won’t be in the Daytona 200. Andy Schwarm Monrovia, California FIRST PERSON/OPINION: Via e-mail: I recently read the update stating Yamaha’s racing plans for the next AMA season and was deeply disappointed. I am a long-time Yamaha sportbike rider starting with an 1987 FZR1000 and I currently own a 2004 R1, which I considered selling once hearing the news. There is absolutely no excuse for them to avoid the Superbike class this year. The R1 has proven itself capable in World Superbike this season with 10 podium finishes including two wins. I would think the competition over there is at least the same as the AMA and I suspect better. So here is a suggestion for Yamaha. Fly your team over to the Yamaha Motor Italia headquarters and bone up on how to put a Superbike together. Build a couple of year end spec WSBK R1’s and pony up to the table and race! Darryl K. Sykes Kennesaw, Georgia FIRST PERSON/OPINION: Via e-mail: Is it me? Why in God’s green earth is Eric Bostrom not racing against Mat Mladin in AMA Superbike competition? I just don’t get it. It is truly beyond me to fathom that decision. Will the new R1 not win in Superbike? Guess not. It won’t next year that’s for sure. Yamaha must think Hacking, DiSalvo, and also Bostrom would get drummed by Mladin and Suzuki (after examining their decision). Also, does Yamaha think their new 600 will not win in Supersport? Only Hacking in Supersport? Go Tommy Hayden! Go Rodger Hayden! And Go Mat Mladin. Stomp everyone into submission from day one. David Ferris Kingwood, Texas FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I’d like to comment on the fact that it’s funny that Yamaha’s Brad Bannister stated (Roadracing World, November 2005) that the intention of the R1LE was for the well-heeled “customer enthusiast,” yet they quickly turn around and proudly boast that they are returning to a support class of AMA (Superstock) with it utilizing factory riders. It should be in Superbike; although I know it’s just wheels and suspension components, but like you mentioned at the time, where will it end again? It was going just fine and the racing was close in Superstock. They won the title in ’04, of course, and with Eboz, they have a great shot in ’06 again. So why are they not racing the regular R1 in AMA Superstock? It seems they are afraid of the other teams and to return to the Superbike class, and that is a shame because I grew up on Yamahas and this certainly is not a potshot at them. I just think they are not playing fair and that they should now step up their program and compete with the rest of the big boys in Superbike, and then the LE would be a good platform to begin with. C’mon Yamaha, this is embarrassing to an old school guy like me. Thank you, John McElfresh Columbus, Ohio FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I am personally very disappointed in Yamaha’s decision not to participate in AMA Superbike for the 2006 season. Yamaha has gone to great lengths to improve road racing in the US as demonstrated by their sponsorship of the 2005 USGP, but it seems Yamaha is only interested in the short term benefits of road racing and are not interested in a long term commitment. Yamaha’s decision not participate in the premier class in AMA Pro Racing will directly effect the long term health of the sport because once again, all of the best riders and teams are not racing against each other. Yamaha has a very competitive motorcycle in the YZF-R1 as demonstrated last year by Jason DiSalvo and Nori Haga. They also have one of the best Superbike riders on the planet with Eric Bostrom. Yamaha has pointed to the AMA in years past claiming instability in the rules package as to why they do not run Superbike. The AMA has countered this claim with a three year commitment to the current Superbike rules package. What is the excuse now, Yamaha? Is it just outright fear of Mat Mladin? I believe it’s time for the AMA to step in and make the manufacturers do what’s right for the sport as a whole, if they refuse to do what’s right on their own. If a manufacturer wants to race with the AMA then they must enter two riders in the premier class and they must also support a certain amount of privateer teams, and also reserve at least one class for privateer participation. Please Yamaha, do the right thing. Chip Spalding Charleston, South Carolina FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I am longtime, loyal, fanatical Yamaha racing fan. I cannot believe Yamaha has forsaken us again by not competing in Superbike. I also cannot believe Eric would agree to only race Superstock and Extreme. If they think winning “Championships” is a great marketing tool, I don’t think they realize that winning support classes and not competing in the premier class is actually a negative marketing image to the people who follow racing. I think all Yamaha fans should show up at the track and wander up and down the paddock with our Yamaha Factory Racing T-shirts on and a paper bag over our heads to show how ashamed we are of them. One Question: What do you think is the most effective way to express our concerns to Yamaha? E-mail, phone, letter, etc.? And to whom? Thanks for letting me vent. Kevin Deardorff Ames, Iowa FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: Two words for Yamaha not racing Superbike: Wimps and Cherry Pickers! (OK, 3 words) Larry Gilbert Kokomo, Indiana FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: Your readers wrongly blame Yamaha in their decision to opt out of Superbike, but it’s the AMA’s fault for enticing them into an easy championship – there shouldn’t even be a Superstock class! Superstock is virtually redundant to Superbike, and just dilutes the talent ratio per race. Ever take a newbie to an AMA race and try to explain away the tiny differences in bikes (and lap times) between those classes? Oh, and if Mladin raced a factory-supported Superstock GSXR 1000, he’d match front row Superbike times every weekend, so why both classes? Speed? Nope. Too many AMA classes – that’s the big problem. My suggestions; 1) Dump Superstock altogether, and limit Superbike engines to Superstock specs. 2) Go to a uniform WSB two-race superbike format, even at Daytona. 3) Ditch the nobody-cares-FX-class and… 4) … allow Ducati 749s and Triumph 675s into Supersport. 5) Create a supersport (as opposed to hi-tech Thunderbike) twins-class for BMW R1200S, MZ 1000, Buell XB12, Guzzi MGS01, and Ducatis (or Bimotas) powered by 1000cc 2 valve motors. Allow the new/updated Suzuki and Kawasaki 650 twins, too. Ronnie West Encino, California FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: As a long time AMA road racing fan, I just have express my profound disappointment in Yamaha’s announcement to go “support” racing with their R6 and R1 and not participate in the Superbike class. It means that they do not embrace the concept of a premier class in our US road racing series. It suggests that they do not believe that the R1 can be a competitive bike in the series, or that they do not have the talent and willingness to make it a competitive bike. And for the US Yamaha riders, I think the perception will be that Yamaha is not really preparing them to ride at a world level – and are instead forcing them to “flip burgers” in the support classes. What a shame for a young talent like Jason Disalvo. I won’t even go into the Formula Extreme class – aww heck, yes I will. Since the factories insist on participating in classes that – in the other premier motorcycle racing series – are treated as development or “retirement” classes, I had really hoped that the factories would stay out FX. Nope. First Honda racked up a bunch of empty wins and a couple of championships. And now I guess Yamaha sees an opportunity to “win multiple championships” by kicking around the privateers (I’ll give Kevin Erion the benefit of the doubt) in FX. Way to go. Bob Close Oswego, New York FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: So, Yamaha passes on Superbike again to instead concentrate on FX and Superstock. FX with its small number of entries is all Honda and boring, while SS is a watered down Superbike class. Whatever. But, Eric Bostrom is going to bail out of the premier class!? Yamaha must have laid down some serious coin to get him to star in the “support” classes. Last year was not stellar for Eric, but he had wins and looked strong towards the end of the season. I suppose that leaves the Suzuki/Yosh team to race among themselves unless something drastic has changed in the Honda tent. Rob Graham Fairfield, California FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: As a Yamaha owner/rider since 1977, I’m pretty embarased by Yamaha’s pointless decision in contesting Superstock and FX for 2006. I can’t believe they would want the empty contest of FX any more than I could understand Honda advertising their “Championship” of this year and last. If I remember correctly regarding Daytona last year, Duhamel and Zemke lapped every rider at least once (and some twice) up till 3rd place!?! Pretty powerful stuff! Now Yamaha is going to try the same? Then Yamaha’s statements of the R1LE about it being a “premium” street ride, and now to “contest” another support class of Superstock? What a joke! I feel bad for Bostrom, Hacking and DiSalvo as well! Personally, I think the AMA should simply eliminate Factory teams in Superstock and Supersport and leave those to the Privateer level, then the actual Factory teams could compete in the “Premier” open class and 600 with the Superbike and FX. Yamaha, you blew it! Jim Paulsen Puyallup, Washington FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: For those of us that are Kawasaki fans first and Eric Bostrom fans second, it was hard news two years ago that Eric was leaving Kawasaki for Ducati. But his stated reason was completely understandable– he wanted to race Superbikes and Kawsaki had announced they were not going to run a factory bike in that class. When Kawasaki announced this year they were returning to the Superbike class I held out hope that Eric was coming back, but it was announced that Eric was going to Yamaha. I’m still an Eric fan and fully expect him to do better on the 4-cylinder Yamaha than he did on the V-twin Ducati. Yet when Yamaha announced they were not going up to Superbikes, I was dumbfounded. Here they have the best (in my opinion) Superbike rider in America (at least, until he and Mat are on comparable bikes), and they stick him in a support class. I’m glad, at least, that Ben gets to take his place at Ducati. Come on, Yamaha, I’ll bet Eric would be competive in Superbike on a Superstock-spec R1 with the minimum required Superbike mods, but give him a real Superbike. Steve Frankiewich Stockton, California FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I, too, like many of your readers, are disappointed (and a little surprised) that with the rider addition of Eric Bostrom, that they are not going to field even one bike in the Superbike class! LAME! LAME! LAME! Garry Gallagher Woodinville, Washington FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I’ve seen a lot of chatter so far with regards to Yamaha not racing in the Premier class in 06. Let’s review for a second shall we? Yamaha sponsored the US GP at Laguna Seca this year and did a good job and they paid out some serious coin as another reader earlier put it to do all of that. They brought back the bumble paint scheme, made new uniforms for the team and painted everything they could like old school to show how involved they are in the sport! BS. They probably paid out 500k or maybe even double that for Eric’s services to race a street bike in 2006 and all they’ll do is cherry pick the class and use it for marketing because that’s what racing is, marketing! What they spent on Laguna this year could have paid for an entire AMA Superbike season! Not only did they sponsor the event but they made all this chatter how they want to show their support for their diehard Yamaha race fans. Well, we not only crave Moto GP but we want Yamaha in the other premier class, AMA Superbike. Yamaha competes in all the other SBK series in all the other countries like Japan, Germany, Canada, France and so on and so on but why not hear? We are the sportbike capital of the world yet we’re always left out in the cold? The AMA has committed to 1,000cc Superbike displacement now for sometime so now what is Yamaha’s excuse? Look for me at the races in 2006. I’ll be wearing my painted in Yamaha bumble bee colors paper bag on my head to all the AMA road races that I can attend and Yamaha will be X’ed out all over it and shame, shame shame will be on it as well. I encourage all other Yamaha owners to do the same and make sure you huddle around the Yamaha pits to really let them know just how you feel! C’mon Yamaha stop being pussies and show your metal, if you have any? If anyone is interested in buying a ’05 R1 cheap please let me know because I’m switching over to Suzuki because they really do support the sport! Armen Manougian Rancho Cucamonga, California FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: Does this mean there won’t be SuperBike races at Laguna this year? Craig “Huey” Stewart Kennesaw, Georgia FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: There is ONE good point of E-boz riding FX: Barring mechanical failure or getting taken out by a Supersport bike, Eric can be fairly assured he will win the Daytona 200, the dubious distinction that winning the Daytona 200 has become not withstanding. America’s “premier” motorcycle racing is becoming more of a laughing stock every year…it is a sad, sad state of affairs. George B. Leavell Gilroy, California FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: We can argue for hours about the relative merits of different AMA classes, but Yamaha only need to know one thing: In a market where all 4 Japanese manufacturers make awesome 600 and 1000cc sportbikes and the performance differences are negligible, it’s things like this that really matter to customers. I will now refuse to buy Yamaha in 2006. Funny how easy it is to forget their $2 million investment in Laguna Seca. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot… Neil Smith San Francisco, California