What Happen to (2) of Factory Husqvarna Zipty Racing Riders?

[DesertHusky]

I notice that Kevin Rookstool & Kevin Urquhart profiles are no long listed on Zipty Racing's website? Did poor racing results or racing budget send them out the door?

 

[Bobby]

probably needed to cut two to fund Corey as he just got signed a couple of weeks ago after the Vegas EnduroCross.

 

[Droolsport]

Didnt those guys race WORCS mainly? Sutherlin rides the Hare and Hound series and I know he could ride WORCS but havent seen his name there lately. Seems like the new focus is on EX and the new 250.

Maybe they are saving $ for a supercross team?

 

[krieg]

Whatever it takes to get some Husky's on the podium and on TV and in Mags. The web is only so effective. Most of the MX riders Cody's age watch Speed Channel for motocross. Just seeing Husky being competitive against the big boys would be a terrific boost. Keeping prices just under the big boys' rides is also vital... at least until sales are proportionate.

I asked Cody today if he liked that his bike was different than the rest of the bikes at the track. He hesitated, then said he liked all the attention we get from curious riders and fans, but he wished he saw his bike winning on the Speed Channel.

We gotta get these young kids on these bikes and winning at the grass roots level and on TV... then Husky will be where it deserves to be.

 

[Bobby]

Rumors point to them walking away from whatever arrangement they had.

 

[ScottyR]

I heard that their wages were based on Husky Bucks and seeing as they werent winning anything, they were not making any money and decided it was in their best interests to move on.

 

[oregontrail]

Rookstools on a Suzuki and Urquhart is on a Kawasaki or Honda, at least at the WORCS races in Washington.

 

[Bobby]

I heard that their wages were based on Husky Bucks and seeing as they werent winning anything, they were not making any money and decided it was in their best interests to move on.

I'll throw Husky under the bus as they seem to think motivated dealers should be like sheep,...........too many DNF's means they couldn't even win the husky bucks as part of their pay. However I have not heard this directly from either of the racers so take it for what it's worth.

 

[robertaccio]

its way out of the bag now so I say it , on 16May we were up at Rynoland and K Urquhart was there in full zip ty gear riding and training on a CRF450, at the time I thought it was was odd, but noticed shortly after that both the Kevins were off the website. Ty is not one to have his team trying for a top ten, podiums are a must and maybe the budget was tough to run the H&H, WHS and WORCS?? Plus if the riders themselves were not down with the machines why should they stay around, especially the young fast guys looking to move up. the new 250 is a better tool for that.
Thats top level racing, example we brought a certain spanish rider(former team member) in to fill for the injured german and his results were less than expected he was unexpectedly released after a few races, its always been that way the silly season thing.

 

[Husky Relic]

I'll throw Husky under the bus as they seem to think motivated dealers should be like sheep,...........too many DNF's means they couldn't even win the husky bucks as part of their pay. However I have not heard this directly from either of the racers so take it for what it's worth.

Here are some facts to help the CafeHusky crew understand what really happened. But first I want to point out that Kevin and Kevin are great young men. I really enjoyed working with them and getting to know them. I hope they are able to achieve all their racing goals.

2009 is our first year racing in the U.S. with an all new team and all new equipment. We expected set-up challenges just as any other team would. All you need do is look around the WORCS paddock and look at all the other teams experiencing technical issues and you will see that many other much more experieneced teams have experienced technical issues from the start. Fortunately for us in Kevin and Kevin's case the majority of any technical faliures they experienced were during testing. In actual racing conditions there were only a couple of times that they experienced a problem that led to DNF during competition. On the other side when the riders did finish the results weren't as good as any of us hoped or desired. Ty worked his butt off to develop the bikes and frankly by now has developed some really good racing machines more perfectly suited to the unique demands of U.S. off road racing. What he has learned through the process has led to great results in the desert with Nick Burson and now in Endurocross with the new 250s and Graffunder.

Developing a new racing team can be a frustrating experience especially when you are young. It requires patience. I must admit "patience" isn't a concept I am usually associated with but I do understand the reality of it at times. At mid-year we sat down with both Kevins to determine where we stood and to see what our best path forward would be. We listened to their input on the program and we shared our impressions as well. It was an open and frank discussion. My philosophy has lways been to only want riders who fully support our efforts involved and if we can't ride under that assurance it is probably best to part company. As a result of the meetings that were held it was determined that it would be best for all parties to work in their own direction. No Hard Feelings, just a simple business decision and change in direction.

Husqvarna Motorcycles North America is committed to fielding competitive national racing efforts. We are all new from the ground up as of one year ago and know we have a lot of hard work to do to catch up. I have seen many things that reassure me that we are heading in a good direction. One thing I have learned over the years is that if something isn't working you need to be flexible enough to find a different line around it. This is what happened with Urqhart and Rookstool. Those guys helped us a lot to get the bikes to where they currently are and I thank them for it and wish them nothing but success in the future.

And now we move forward. We keep working to get better. We keep our eyes open for opportunies such as the recent signing of Cory Graffunder.

ONE THING WE WON'T DO......THROW ANYONE UNDER A BUS!

Scot

 

[BlipBlip!]

Scot, I feel for you! You've probably aged by 5 years since you took this job a little over a year ago.

No matter what anyone else says the Husqvarna community has the utmost confidence in the Husqvarna team.

For all those that have doubts, remember it took BMW 5 years to build and re-launch the Mini Cooper brand from when they purchased it from Rover group in 1996.... It wasn't until 2000/2001 that they launched the new Mini.

With Husqvarna... BMW pretty much has had to do the same thing. In just a little over 2 years we now have a brand new HUSQVARNA FACTORY in Italy where all the Husqvarna motorcycles are manufactured UNDER ONE ROOF! (Remember Husqvarna use to be manufactured in three different Cagiva factories... I remember at times Cagiva's, Ducati's, MV Agusta's and Husqvarna's all being build on the same same production facility and sometimes at the same time! so separating Husqvarna from Cagiva was like separating twins connected at the hip if you know what I mean? Very, very complicated!) Then again that's what happened to Ducati and look where they are today!

We've come a long way in a very short period of time. So yes it great to have passion and loyalty for the brand, but please be patient... I’m still confident that good things are right around the corner.

BlipBlip/HuskRips

 

[robertaccio]

Thanks for checking in Scot, all us fans can't wait for the end of the year silly season to end and for the 2010 racing season to open up. The direction looks powerful.

 

[JimO]

Thanks Scot and Blip for the insight. As a X pro racer I'am familiar what it takes to just set up a bike for good results and personal preference, but an entire team to race in 2, 3 series', that must be daunting. To have a guy like Ty Davis doing what he is with Husky is priceless, his impact will definitely put Husky results back up and put the name where is once was. And young racers of today and tomorrow will be throwing a leg over one, but one year at a time.
I caught the end of Husky greatness in around '75 when I started racing. Then it went all Japanese after that.
Like Krieg's son said earlier I think we all like the attention in the pits riding Huqvarnas.

C-ya Jim.

 

[ARod2000]

Hey Scot, like others said, thanks for posting here. I race SETRA here in the southeast and think it's great. I'm not trying to be a smartass but I'm curious, why would Husky court WORCS series racers when Husqvarna is known more for tighter woods racing? Yes, I would like to see Husky racers in SETRA. I know of a kid (15 yrs old) that was on a Husky briefly in the last year. That got some attention in the circles I run. I thought he should have been on a 2t but I'm partial to the 2 strokes. Anyway, thanks for posting, it's good to see. Please do what you can to keep her closer to home with some SETRA love. We'll win, I promise. Especially with the new Kayaba stuff.

 

[dick falcon]

bring scott summers back!

 

[BlipBlip!]

bring scott summers back!

x2... Scott Summers was a true GNCC ambassador

Actually what Husqvarna should do... is take 6 WR125s and have a program where the top kids from the GNCC mini ranks get a full factory ride the following year in the AM race.... all the kids have to do is show up at the race and Husqvarna does the rest.... call them something like the "Husqvarna All Stars" and have Scott Summers mentor them.

Talk about a press opportunity

 

[Droolsport]

Gary Sutherlin raced this weekend in the Western Nat Hare Scrambles in Monticello. I know because he lapped me 3 times! Not sure how he finished but I dont think he was top 3 but the pro field was pretty stacked.

 

[columbia510]

x2... Scott Summers was a true GNCC ambassador

Actually what Husqvarna should do... is take 6 WR125s and have a program where the top kids from the GNCC mini ranks get a full factory ride the following year in the AM race.... all the kids have to do is show up at the race and Husqvarna does the rest.... call them something like the "Husqvarna All Stars" and have Scott Summers mentor them.

Talk about a press opportunity

What a great idea

 

[BlipBlip!]

What a great idea

They could also do this with the WORCS series.

125s are inexpensive and don't break, so the cost of running the program would be manageable.

The media would eat it up!

BlipBlip

 

[Droolsport]

Sutherlin is not on Husky's anymore. Got it second hand from a friend who talked to him that he wasnt thrilled with the bikes. Lots of reliability issues and DNF's. He wasnt bad mouthing the bikes so much just didnt seem to work well for his riding style.