The following is the personal view point of Jens Zastrow and is not in any way representative of the views of WERA Vintage or any other person associated with the organization. In fact at the time of this writing he has his AHRMA membership card in hand. ---------------------------------------------------- As some of you may know there was talk of WERA Vintage and AHRMA running a combined pre-Daytona event at NFMP in February. I know a lot of racers from both organizations who were excited by the prospects of such an event. Unfortunately the idea was vetoed by some AHRMA trustees. It appears that not all AHRMA officials were against holding the event but some people still hold ill will towards our organization... not surprisingly Jeff Smith being one of them. Imagine that... Smitty holding a personal/petty grudge. Damn, I shouldn't have mentioned that. Now he'll probably try to use the AHRMA member's money to sue me for defemation of character and print a blurb in Vintage Views of how I'm personally costing AHRMA thousands of dollars in litigation fees. What really bothers me about this whole situation is the "us" and "them" mentality when in actuality both organizations are made up of the same kinds of people... individuals [members] who love to race motorcycles. That's it. Plain and simple. Sure we razz one another about who we were first affiliated with or race with the most but we all know it's just BS. Hopefully some time down the road we will have a huge pre-Daytona event where friends won't get split up by having to decide which organization to race with. Both AHRMA and WERA Vintage are organizations that fill a specific niche... AHRMA can't offer what we can and vice versa. There's room for both of us and by working together instead of against each other, we can bring vintage motorcycle racing into the mainstream instead of lagging behind in popularity to something like lawnmower racing .
AHRMA/WERA In reply to Jens statements about a joint deal before Daytona, I can only say that AHRMA has NOT vetoed any such event as yet because the board meeting isn't until mid-September. It is no secret that Mark Mitchell has presented a proposal to AHRMA about running a dual event at North Florida. I certainly hope that this happens. Stuart Carter WERA #176, AHRMA #76
Re: AHRMA/WERA Stuart, I truly hope you are correct and that I am wrong. In fact I dare everyone on the board to prove me wrong and make me a liar. They should approve Mark Mitchell's proposal to show everyone that I am just a hotheaded-naysaying-carmudgeon with his head up his ass. (who'd have thought a head AND a foot could fit up there?) I am still hopeful that the joint event will happen.
My thought: Yes, I believe it would be beneficial to run a combined race as the pre-daytona event. Both organizations have Web sites with contact names of the decisions makers, therefore I would recommend each person in favor of the combined event write a tactful "let's work as a team to make this happen" e-mail and see what happens. Maybe not in 2003, but in the near future. In my limited experience with Ahrma regarding rule/proceed changes, it takes about two years to adapt new ideas like this one. I know the new Superbike class was submitted about two years before it was implemented in 2002. Take Care
Re: AHRMA/WERA In light of what Stu has said, I would encourage AHRMA racers who favor a joint pre-Daytona meet to contact their trustees prior to the board meeting. I would hope to see some mention of this in the AHRMA newsletter. If major issues are being voted upon without the general membership knowing the issue has even been raised, that is a big problem. On a side note, I would surely prefer to see the joint event held at Roebling rather than NFMP, unless NFMP can pour a lot more concrete pit pads in the meantime. A good WERA vintage turnout would more than fill the paved pit area, never mind the big crowd from AHRMA. Pitting at NFMP where it's not paved this past weekend was the equivalent of playing in a wet sandbox.
I got my copy of AHRMA's magazine "Vintage Views" yesterday, and they did print Mark Mitchell's letter. I hope this will stir enough interest from the members of AHRMA to keep the idea from being shot down.
this could really be a cool event. if you add up the wera sav event with the ahrma deland weekend....could be a really big turnout.
I agree with Carl that the event should be held at RRR. North Florida just doesn't have the facilities yet to handle such an event. Let's (WERA Vintage) keep the dates for Roebling and if AHRMA wants to go to NFMP let them. The riders that go there will complain loud and long and maybe we can get together in 2004. Lyn Garland
I just want to add that Pozzie (sp?) and all of the NFMP staff do a really good job. But I think a crowd the size of a joint season-opener would be just too much for the facility as it sits right now.
How bout this? Wednesday: Practice Day Thursday: WERA Vintage Classes and rules; open to all Friday: AHRMA Vintage Classes and rules; open to all You double the amount of racing available. Or maybe a Thursday/Friday/Saturday schedule, which will still allow Daytona entrants to get teched on Sunday.
Although RRR has established pits I like the NFMP track layout and surface a lot more and isn't the track the main focus of a race facility? The more we support NFMP, the more they have in their budget to make improvements. Sure, running the pre-Daytona event at Roebling this year will probably be easier and more comfortable for us but that track isn't getting any better. The track surface doesn't appear to be improving and will only get worse. Has there been any talk about repaving it? Let's also not forget the problem with residents complaining about the noise issue. Just what is the future of RRR? I think that in the long run we will be better served by supporting NFMP. We can't sit back and wait for other people's/organization's money to keep it up and running, we need to play an active part in it's success.
AHRMA will be racing at the Florida track in late October and the officials will have an opportunity to look at the facilities at that time. I doubt that any decision will be made before that time and I really think that it would be 2004 before a joint event could happen. I don't have any say in this decision but the people who do are aware of this discussion.
well,Roebing was just paved and is all patched up now,but it is a nice fast track.NF is new and after one summer has patches and no long straights.Don't get me wrong,I love them both.AHRMA could join forces with us at roebling if need be.I just want to see some large grids and good old racin!!!!the whole point is to promote vintage motorcycle racing, not one group or another. I just love racin old scooters.IT would be nice to promote this as the biggest and best race "week" in the world.The first year I raced I started 40 something on the grid at daytona now I can run a few races and start in the top 5 or 6on the grid,only because a max of 20 people in most classes.My point ,we need to work together. AHRMA-wera #309 TIM
i agree tim. ahrma and wera grids have been pretty dismal. some tracks better than others. like carl said we need to continue to talk to the board members. i dont want to continue to race my bultaco against one or two others. in wera V5 cotinues to do well on sat, but the gp classes are really hurting. scott wera33,ahrma339
