MotoGP Editorial: Where Have The Americans Gone?
Paul Carruthers | July 2, 2013
Do you know what Mike Baldwin, Randy Mamola, Wayne Rainey, Eddie Lawson, John Kocinski and Doug Chandler have in common besides being talented American road racers who went on to success in Grand Prix racing?
All of them were fortunate to have an American in GP racing who wanted other Americans to be there, a man who wanted to guide them and try to make them World Champions.
His name was Kenny Roberts.
Do you know what Garrett Gerloff, Cameron Beaubier, Jake Gagne, JD Beach, James Rispoli, Jake Lewis and any other young American racer with a dream of going Grand Prix racing have in common?
None of them have a chance in hell right now of living that dream. And that’s a crying shame. Why?
It’s simple: They don’t have an American team owner or an American in Grand Prix racing who is hell-bent on bringing riders to the series in an effort to crown another American World Champion.
They don’t have Kenny Roberts.
And because of that we are a country with three MotoGPs and not much hope of being able to go to those three races to cheer for a young American racer with a chance of winning. Instead, we have Spaniards. By the dozen.