Japan Supercross 2018 Cancelled

Gonzaburo
Edited Date/Time 10/30/2018 4:55pm
It appears that the Japan Supercross scheduled for November 3rd in Tokyo has been called off due to a forecasted typhoon.

The promoters are saying that they fear that track preparation won’t be possible next week so they have decided not to attempt the event.

It would have been the first time in a long time (since the 90’s, oh the 90’s!) that some top class riders would have come out for a race. Anderson, Brayton, Mookie, Ferrandis and a few others were on the entry list.

Massive disappointment for fans here, hoping that Tokyo would again become a staple off-season race for international riders to make a bit of extra coin.
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tempura
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tempura 10/24/2018 9:48pm
10/24/2018 9:48pm
That’s too bad... I wonder if this event would have been a success anyway. A lot of people I’ve spoken to weren’t going to go.
Sully
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Sully 10/24/2018 9:48pm
10/24/2018 9:48pm
That's weird, because, according to JMA, the typhoon is way down south heading towards the Philippines. Tickets were way out of my price range, so it doesn't really affect me, but that seems an odd reason to cancel it.
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tempura
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tempura 10/24/2018 9:59pm
10/24/2018 9:59pm Edited Date/Time 10/24/2018 10:00pm
Sully wrote:
That's weird, because, according to JMA, the typhoon is way down south heading towards the Philippines. Tickets were way out of my price range, so it...
That's weird, because, according to JMA, the typhoon is way down south heading towards the Philippines. Tickets were way out of my price range, so it doesn't really affect me, but that seems an odd reason to cancel it.
Yep, I thought so. Perhaps their projected numbers didn’t add up. Not many people I know were keen to go.
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F150Motocrosser 10/24/2018 10:00pm
10/24/2018 10:00pm
tempura wrote:
That’s too bad... I wonder if this event would have been a success anyway. A lot of people I’ve spoken to weren’t going to go.
That's interesting.. Do you (or anyone else) mind going into more detail about why the event might not of been a success in the first place? or what reasons you've heard about why people aren't going? I see Sully mentioned the cost as a reason..

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tempura
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tempura 10/24/2018 10:05pm
10/24/2018 10:05pm
F150Motocrosser wrote:
That's interesting.. Do you (or anyone else) mind going into more detail about why the event might not of been a success in the first place...
That's interesting.. Do you (or anyone else) mind going into more detail about why the event might not of been a success in the first place? or what reasons you've heard about why people aren't going? I see Sully mentioned the cost as a reason..
The main reasons I’ve heard from people not going is cost and a lack of interest in supercross.
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F150Motocrosser 10/24/2018 10:10pm
10/24/2018 10:10pm Edited Date/Time 10/24/2018 10:10pm
tempura wrote:
The main reasons I’ve heard from people not going is cost and a lack of interest in supercross.
oh...so, you weren't referring to people who already have a general interest in the overall sport of motocross?
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tempura
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tempura 10/24/2018 10:24pm
10/24/2018 10:24pm
tempura wrote:
The main reasons I’ve heard from people not going is cost and a lack of interest in supercross.
F150Motocrosser wrote:
oh...so, you weren't referring to people who already have a general interest in the overall sport of motocross?
No, I was actually referring to people with interest in Motocross (riders, bike shop owners and ex pro riders).
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McLellanMX66
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McLellanMX66 10/25/2018 12:02am
10/25/2018 12:02am
Weather looks completely fine for next week. It's probably an excuse for not having enough support and lack of interest for the race.
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Gonzaburo 10/25/2018 1:26am
10/25/2018 1:26am Edited Date/Time 10/25/2018 1:32am
I have to agree that the timing was somewhat suspicious. In the lead up to planned date, the promotion has seemed to decrease and the website & Facebook management has been pretty lacklustre.

I messaged them a few times (in Japanese) and got no response..

As for the pricing, I feel it was an economy of scale. With likely minimal interest, the prices were set accordingly.. That being said, promoters here do tend to assume that Japanese fans will pay exorbitant prices for anything. (Strung Out played a gig here late last year, or early this year, with no support acts for ¥9000 (around $75 USD), if my memory serves me correctly.)

They should have aimed a little lower in terms of international rider draw cards, as most of those people who appreciate just having an event, would have gone regardless.
Having less high-paid riders would have meant more money for promotion and lower ticket prices, with the possibility to capture new fans to increase attendance in future years..

I’m curious to know if any of the manufacturers here put any funding towards this and why they don’t seem to have encouraged (or pushed) any of their stars to come over like they had done in the past..
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F150Motocrosser 10/25/2018 4:52am
10/25/2018 4:52am Edited Date/Time 10/25/2018 5:04am
tempura wrote:
The main reasons I’ve heard from people not going is cost and a lack of interest in supercross.
F150Motocrosser wrote:
oh...so, you weren't referring to people who already have a general interest in the overall sport of motocross?
tempura wrote:
No, I was actually referring to people with interest in Motocross (riders, bike shop owners and ex pro riders).
Wow.. interesting that your dirtbike friends don’t have interest in watching professional dirtbike riders BlinkBlink But, everyone is allowed to have their own preferences..
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tempura
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tempura 10/25/2018 5:02am
10/25/2018 5:02am
F150Motocrosser wrote:
Wow.. interesting that your dirtbike friends don’t have interest in watching professional dirtbike riders BlinkBlink But, everyone is allowed to have their own preferences..
lol..what ever man, supercross just isn’t popular over here.
Tokyo_Tiddler 10/29/2018 10:11pm
10/29/2018 10:11pm
I used to go to the Tokyo Supercross all the time in the 90's and it was always packed. That is when almost all the top US pros would attend.. McGrath, Swink, Cooper, etc. All the team managers were there, too like Decoster, Stanton, etc. It was a big thing. This is when they used to hold it in a baseball stadium right in the heart of Tokyo, not way out by Disneyland. The tracks were killer and the local Japanese riders used to kill themselves trying to do the jumps and keep up with the US pros as only riders like Akira Narita had any real supercross experience. The ambulances were carting the Japanese riders away every 10 minutes it seemed.
Tokyo_Tiddler 10/29/2018 10:12pm
10/29/2018 10:12pm
In addition to the Tokyo supercross, they also used to have another one in Fukuoka every year, back then.
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Sully 10/29/2018 10:21pm
10/29/2018 10:21pm
It's probably a good thing they cancelled it, otherwise those guys might have had to race in phenomenal weather...


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Matthes 10/29/2018 10:45pm
10/29/2018 10:45pm
Yeah...typhoon.....yeah...thats it.

Must've known it was coming a long time ago when they were missing payments to teams.
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FGR01
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FGR01 10/29/2018 10:58pm
10/29/2018 10:58pm
Tokyo_Tiddler wrote:
In addition to the Tokyo supercross, they also used to have another one in Fukuoka every year, back then.
And Osaka, too. I went to that one a few times.
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scott_nz 10/29/2018 11:03pm
10/29/2018 11:03pm
Tokyo_Tiddler wrote:
In addition to the Tokyo supercross, they also used to have another one in Fukuoka every year, back then.
FGR01 wrote:
And Osaka, too. I went to that one a few times.
i went to Osaka in 1995, one of the coolest things in my life, MC Emig, Hughes, Larry Ward, Decoster, Cooper, Ferry,

stadium was about 2/3rds full,

watching the Japanese riders in practice was awesome as well, they truely had no fear,

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Sully 10/30/2018 12:03am
10/30/2018 12:03am Edited Date/Time 10/30/2018 12:04am
Matthes wrote:
Yeah...typhoon.....yeah...thats it.

Must've known it was coming a long time ago when they were missing payments to teams.
I didn't dig too deep into anything (as far as finding out who promoted it), was it being put on by the same people who do the Japanese nationals?

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ctbale
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ctbale 10/30/2018 12:05am
10/30/2018 12:05am Edited Date/Time 10/30/2018 12:23am
F150Motocrosser wrote:
Wow.. interesting that your dirtbike friends don’t have interest in watching professional dirtbike riders BlinkBlink But, everyone is allowed to have their own preferences..
tempura wrote:
lol..what ever man, supercross just isn’t popular over here.
Supercross is dying here too. Its not real racing. Just kind of a stunt exhibition. Dont even have to be in good shape. Outdoors is real, indoors is fake and lame so I think its no surprise it got cancelled. SX and 4-strokes have ruined the sport. Wont be long they will be cancelling events here too ...
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Tokyo_Tiddler 10/30/2018 12:38am
10/30/2018 12:38am
Matthes wrote:
Yeah...typhoon.....yeah...thats it.

Must've known it was coming a long time ago when they were missing payments to teams.
Sully wrote:
I didn't dig too deep into anything (as far as finding out who promoted it), was it being put on by the same people who do...
I didn't dig too deep into anything (as far as finding out who promoted it), was it being put on by the same people who do the Japanese nationals?
I doubt it was the same guys but they could have been involved. I remember one year.. I think about 2000 or 2001.. the year the last new design KX250 debuted, they were trying to find another track closer to Tokyo to hold a national, so they decided to have it in a small lot behind the registry of motor vehicles at a place I think was just north of Ibaraki. The motorcycle cops had a couple of very small dirt tracks to practice their skills on. One was a trials course and the other was a little motocross course that looked like not much more than a beginners kids track. It was so funny to see the trickest factory bikes in the world racing around what was not much more than a little kids beginner track. They never did that location again and just started doing more races at Sugo which is quite far from Tokyo. Not many good tracks near Tokyo after the Honda track in Okegawa, Saitama closed down in 2001 or 2002, but they did start doing Nationals at another tiny track nearby in Saitama.. a place called Offroad Village which I didn't even bother to practice much at even though it was close by because it was so small. I was shocked when they started doing Japan nationals there.

Here are the pics of the pre-production KX250 at that RMV mini - track Smile


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mattyhamz2
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mattyhamz2 10/30/2018 7:38am
10/30/2018 7:38am
Bummer. My nephew and his wife are stationed just outside of Tokyo and I was going to tell them about this.
tempura
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tempura 10/30/2018 7:48am
10/30/2018 7:48am
Tokyo_Tiddler wrote:
In addition to the Tokyo supercross, they also used to have another one in Fukuoka every year, back then.
I think it only came to Fukuoka once.
Tokyo_Tiddler 10/30/2018 10:21am
10/30/2018 10:21am
Tokyo_Tiddler wrote:
In addition to the Tokyo supercross, they also used to have another one in Fukuoka every year, back then.
tempura wrote:
I think it only came to Fukuoka once.
It wasn't just once.. there were SX's in Fukuoka in 1993, 1994 and 1996 that I know of.. there were more SXs held in Fukuoka and Osaka than Tokyo.
tempura
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tempura 10/30/2018 4:55pm
10/30/2018 4:55pm
Really, I only remember it once in Fukuoka dome. Perhaps it was at a different venue.
I don’t think it will be back to Fukuoka any time soon, if Tokyo can’t get the numbers to make it worth their while there’s little chance in Fukuoka...

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