Even while many said it wasn’t possible French Racer Antoine Meo both qualified and raced the FIM World Championship Grand Prix of Citta di Faenza in Italy on his Husqvarna 125 two stroke.
Not only did Antoine qualify he also raced and earned GP points. Finishing 20th in the first moto and having some problems in the second moto finishing 27th.
There is an amazing amount of interest in the proposed rule change to allow 250cc motocross bikes of either 2 or 4 stroke to race in this summers AMA Nationals. Fortunately a great deal of it is positive on the side of the two stroke.
In the newest issue of Racer X there is news about two strokes all over the magazine. Many times the magazine mentioned the flood of positive e-mails that they received. Maybe they were shocked?
The mail section talks about the proposed change followed by some great letters for two stroke fans that are behind the change, including the lead off letter by Tim Brezo a Two Stroke Militia member.
Then in the Racerhead section is an article entitled “Two Stroke Hope?” they discuss the experiment in restructuring the classes at Loretta Lynns which allowed 250s of any stroke to compete.
“We believe a 250 is a 250, period. There should be no penalty. There are still manufacturers making the model and people who enjoy riding that motorcycle, and the cost is much lower to maintain one, so why no give them a fair place to compete?”
Tim Cotter MX Sports
To compete the bikes must be homologated by the AMA and meet the weight requirements (212 pounds) for 2009.
According to Racer X the feedback from the manufacturers has been as expected, Yamaha and KTM are behind it and Honda is cool to the idea. One team manager (that did not wish to be quoted) expressed concern that a rider like Tommy Searle would choose a 250 two stroke and out-gun the 250 four strokes.
MXA posted the following on their web site yesterday.
Dear MXA,
I read somewhere that 250cc two-strokes were going to be allowed to race the AMA 250 Nationals this year (against the 250 four-strokes). Is this true? I also heard that Tommy Searle was going to race a KTM 250SX two-stroke in the 250 class. What about that?
This is a compllcated subject, because it is in flux. It should be noted that the National organizers, the track promoters and most fans would like to see 250cc two-strokes in the 250 class. It has been discussed and could happen.
But, and this is the big but, for some reason the final decision has been left in the hands of the team managers from the Big Four (KTM is in favor of it). Why would self-serving, guardians of the status quo be given absolute power on something like this? No one knows, but if 250 two-strokes are not allowed in the 250 class, you will know exactly who shot them down (Kehoe, McCarty, Fisher and DeCoster).
As for Team KTM’s Tommy Searle riding a 250 two-stroke in the Nationals, KTM racing manager Kurt Nicoll told the sanctioning body, in person, that he would sign a guarantee that Searle would not race a 250cc two-stroke in the 2009 AMA 250 National Championships.
The Searle question had Team Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki concerned. They were afraid that he would show up on a 250 two-stroke and leave their four-strokes in his dust. To facilitate the legalization of 250 two-strokes in the 250 class, KTM was willing to agree not to have their top-flight riders race the 250 two-strokes.
After dancing around the subject, we expect a final decision to be handed down some time after Anaheim 3.
All of this sounds very promising to us two stroke supporters.
Awesome job to everyone that wrote to Racer X and MXA positively about the proposed rule change. Thank you.
