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Brennan shows up to Loretta's with no intention of claiming anything. Derek Harris pitches his great idea to Brennan, here is $17,000, all you have to do is claim the bike. Derek gets to split the cases, Brennan gets to race it. Dad may not have known in the beginning, hence why he wasn't around at the first meeting.
Matt Walker, Donnie Luce etc.. are mad as hell that Harris talked a 17 y.o. into submitting a claim, that will tarnish his reputation, and since Walker is his trainer, he doesnt want anything to do with it.
Dad and sponsor get wind of Harris antics, knowing it wasn't Brennan's money nor intention to submit the claim, they go and shut it down.
The Shop
Initially Tim and Matt could have perceived the claim as an annoyance, but little more. Over a short period of time more & more parties get involved, with a rather clear goal of rescinding the claim. Even Yamaha realizes they may have overstepped boundaries and offers restitution in the form of crate engines. But the offer’s goal remains making the claim go away.
Once Brennen’s sponsors get involved, it likely overwhelmed the Schofield camp, with the intended results. Parties both directly and indirectly involved used their influence, and likely thought it was put to bed once Brennen got his money back. Brennen’s interview with Tyler ignited a firestorm, sending everyone into damage control while watching Vital fan the flames.
Lesson learned? Claims against large race teams do not exist in a vacuum. Most LL riders would jump at the chance to recover 2X the MSRP (modified racing equipment has paltry resell value). However, if the bike sits under the same tent as a professional championship team, rest assured you won’t roll your new ride into a trailer without a fight. Team Brennen underestimated the pushback, and likely never imagined that his own sponsor would frown on making a claim. And as Burkeen said himself, Brennen will forever be labeled “that guy”. Both positively and negatively.
I think that opens it up to this type of intimidation we have now.
I think this would also allow for a lot more accountability for these factory teams putting amateurs on factory equipment.
That way if someone like Harris wants a Star bike, he can put in his own claim. The rule is there for a reason. The more it's used, the less likely a kid is riding basically a $50,000 factory bike.
2x MSRP if in same class
3x MSRP if out of class
Problem solved.
Let anyone claim a bike.
Pit Row
In history sometimes the Hero status comes later... So this could be a scenario like that... This is up to us fans and to the amateur racers.
It SUCKS that people says "it could damage your reputation" if you claim a bike...DAMN NO! it should be the other way around...
Good for every kid that works his ass off to be a factory rider.. but leave it out of amateur racing IMO, they could train, ride, test everything factory but when it comes to amateur racing, bring a bike you would not be afraid to lose...
That may be the very reason why so many amateur racers that had a lot of support are not having that much of succes, if amauteur racing was that "amateur" we may have more "surprising rides" for unknowns where you could see better "talent"
Now they can run any motor they want. They made an example out of Brennan
As for my Moto X comment, I just noticed he no longer tags them in his posts and he was highly critical (negative) towards Matt... so I'm assuming that Brennan has cut ties with them.
-If the kid was jealous or mad about prior events (Southwick) before the claim is irrelevant.
-If he got the money from working on motors or giving out hand jobs in alleys is irrelevant.
-Notice how everyone interviewed is "a big fan of the rule" until they are on the losing side of it and then they'll make sure it doesn't go through at all costs. It's a great rule but also the entire industry will shun you and you'll be run out of town. "it is what it is" BS
-Everyone seemed to agree that things got "aggressive" during talks but then when Walker is interviewed he says absolutely not, things never got nasty. Just outed himself as being the aggressive one.
You don't have to be an FBI investigator to piece it together.
Post a reply to: The Deegan Bike Claim Story - Part 1, 2, and 3 | UPDATE: Brennan's Sponsor Responds | Schofield, Cotter, Burkeen, Deegan, Luce, and Walker