Battle lines!
By TMX Archives on 12th May 05
An internet war of words has broken out after US star Mike Brown, who signed to race the '05 and '06 seasons for RWJ Honda, sensationally quit Europe and flew back to the States and a ride with the Pro Circuit Honda team.The first punch was An internet war of words has broken out after US star Mike Brown, who signed to race the '05 and '06 seasons for RWJ Honda, sensationally quit Europe and flew back to the States and a ride with the Pro Circuit Honda team.The first punch was landed by Brownie - who walked out on the RWJ team after DNFing the first MX2 moto at Lyng - in an interview on US website dmxsradio.com where he listed a string of reasons for his return home.In response to interviewer David Izer asking what obligations his team failed to meet, Mike replied: "Money, really. A lot of money. And the bikes. What they promised me I could run on my bikes didn't happen. I get there and they have a lot different stuff on the bikes than what I expected. I wasn't going to really stay over there and not get paid for what I was doing and be that far away from home."When questioned further about the parts on his bike he was unhappy with Mike added: "Everything really. On the contract it was Pro Circuit everything and I get over there and it was totally everything that they wanted to put on the bikes. They never really even tried Pro Circuit. I mean, everything on the bike was different. Not one thing was Pro Circuit."They said their stuff was better and before I came home I was just agreeing with them and riding whatever I had because it was just a no-win battle, really. Nothing was Pro Circuit. I never rode Pro Circuit. It was kind of a crappy deal for me."After being contacted by Racer X editorial director Davey Coombs, RWJ team manager Colin Reed responded strongly to Mike's allegations.Colin claimed that Mike initially breached the terms of his contract when his mechanic failed to get the necessary work permits and visas. He also refuted Brownie's allegations that he hadn't been paid since January and described his claim that he was promised Pro Circuit parts as "total fabrication"."We had Pro Circuit stuff available for him," continued Colin. "Some of it, not all of it, because we were on the understanding when we went testing in Spain that Mike was bringing Pro Circuit stuff with him. This is what he told us right the way down the line, that he would be bringing stuff with him."And we said if he comes fitted with his Pro Circuit equipment and it was better than what we could give him we have no objection for him to use Pro Circuit. He didn't bother to bring very much with him to Spain. So we tested what there was - Pro Circuit and our own - and the components that we had of our own in comparison with Pro Circuit were considerably better and this was seconded by the other MX2 rider Erik Eggens. So they decided they would go along with the engine specifications that we had ourselves."For full interviews check out www.dmxsradio.com and www.racerxill.com