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RACE WATCH

Trans-Americas Rally: Never Mind

You’ve read all about it here— twice, in fact. So this marks the third time the subject has been discussed in this magazine. And it just might be the last. We're referring to the inaugural Trans-Americas Rally, the 9000-mile, 3 1-day motorcycle competition that was scheduled to begin on August 1 of this year in Mexico City, and conclude on August 3 1 in Toyaktuk in Northwest Canada.

Well, for the second year in a row, the Rally has been postponed for another year. A last-minute misunderstanding with the FMM (Mexico's equivalent to the American Motorcyclist Association) has forced the Rally’s organizers to reschedule the event for 1988.

Starting on August 1 of this year, however, they intend to run a “test" event, a greatly scaled-down version of the Rally that will cover the entire 9000-mile course, but with just six or eight select riders and a minimum of support people, rather than with the original 99 riders (three each from 33 different countries) and 66 team support personnel. The purpose of this test, which will be filmed from beginning to end, is to demonstrate and document that such an ambitious Rally is indeed possible, thereby assuaging the fears of potential sponsors who doubted the Rally's feasibility.

Ever since this event was first announced in 1985, CYCLE WORLD has been functioning as the organizers and managers of the U.S. team. But due to the various scheduling disruptions, sponsorship withdrawals and personal disillusionments brought on by two consecutive postponements—not to mention the negative public relations that accompany them—we have decided to withdraw from all further involvement in the event.

We will not take part in this year’s test rally (which, as of press time, had not yet been run), and at this point we have no intentions of getting involved in the actual event —if it actually is held next year.

We regret this decision, and apologize to anyone who, as a result of reading about the Rally in this magazine, somehow altered their plans for the month of August. We still believe that the Trans-Americas Rally is. potentially, a terrific idea that could be a motorcycling adventure of unprecedented proportions. But we now have joined the ranks of those who doubt that such a rally will ever take place.