Fellow N.A.H.A. members,

 It is with great pleasure and honor that I have been given the opportunity to announce the most significant event in motorcycle hillclimb history.

Through many years of hard work and dedication to our sport on an international level, Patrick Innocenti, Robie, Bret, Jean Abadie and myself have brought the World Championship back to hillclimbing as the 2004 Hillclimb des Nations.

The inaugural event will be held in Decazeville France on September 5^th 2004. The countries that currently hold motorcycle hillclimb competition, France, Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Estonia, Canada and the U.S.A. will all be represented with teams.

         As like the Motocross des Nations, the event will be under F.I.M control, the European equivalent to the A.M.A and the F.F.M, the French motorcycle competition governing body. These two Federations will be in full force at this event in an effort to certify and approve the competition and the sport of motorcycle hillclimbing for official world recognition and future sanctioned events on an international level. This approval is a literal e-ticket to the BIG TIME for our sport and will automatically take us to the next level of exposure to the world.

I have accepted the position of Team Manager for the North American Hillclimb Team and have been working on riders and resumes for media and promotional purposes since our September 2003 meeting in France. The North American Hillclimb Team will consist of 12 riders, 1 Canadian and 11 Americans. The Americans will be represented by 2 A.M.A Pro-Hillclimbers , 8 N.A.H.A Pro- Hillclimbers and 1 cross over rider. ie: a world famous motocrosser. The French team will have an equal amount of riders as well as a famous cross over rider. The other nations will be classified as North Europeans and also will have as a group an equal amount of riders.

4 runs will be made per competitor with points awarded by finish to determine an overall World Team title as well as an individual champion.

Patrick has a budget in excess of 200,000 dollars to promote and run the event with an anticipated purse of 30-40,000 dollars. North American riders will be provided with round trip airfare, food and accommodations while in France. $1200 will be provided per motorcycle on a total of 6 bikes so there will be some anticipated doubling up between riders. There is the option of paying your own freight if your not in favor of sharing bikes.

I greatly regret the date conflict with Halter’s event and made every effort to have the des Nations moved with no success. The date was awarded through the F.I.M. and was not negotiable. I trust we can work out a compromise between now and September.

There is a possibility of an additional event in Southern France the weekend prior to the Hillclimb des Nations. This event would be open to the North American Hillclimb Team as well as any other riders that wanted to compete by paying their own expenses. I will provide further details if this event becomes reality.

Obviously this is a broad overview of this very exciting and complex inaugural event. The many details and precise game plan will be worked out in the coming days, weeks and months between the French and myself. The North American Team members will be announced prior to Tracy and upon acceptance to compete for their country, will be promoted allover Europe in a massive media blitz to attract additional sponsors for the event.

I am extremely grateful to be a part of this wonderful event and to help my good friends Patrick and Jean live their dreams. I pray that those that are chosen to represent their country in the most important hillclimb in the world will be honored and proud, and those that are not, will be supportive and able to see the big picture view of our sport.