Cycle News

CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE O ver the 42-year history of the MotoAmerica/AMA Superbike Championship there have been a few tracks that were one-and-done, where the cham- pionship visited just once and never returned. One such event was the sparsely attended 1987 AMA Superbike Championship event at Memphis International Motorsports Park. In spite of fea- turing one of the greatest rival- ries in series history with Wayne Rainey vs. Kevin Schwantz, Tennessee racing fans simply shrugged. It didn't help that the race was held in the dog days of summer, and the 100-degree temperatures made watching the race a true test of endurance, much less the challenges the racers faced with the heat. Even though the race did not attract a big fan turnout, many racers from the era look back on the race with fond memories. The Home of the Blues has always been known for its capti- vating night life and many of the racers and crew on hand that weekend took the opportunity to visit bars on Beale Street, so you might say Memphis became a fun work weekend. The Memphis round was the second-to-last race in the '87 AMA Superbike Championship and the title chase was still up in the air between Rainey and Schwantz. Both riders had won P96 MEMPHIS SIZZLER Memphis International Motors- ports Park was brand-new when the AMA series visited. It was hoped that the track would prove to be another major attraction for the city. There was good pre- race publicity leading up to the AMA event, so it was hoped a big crowd would show up. The road course was just 1.8 miles long and the layout brought mixed reviews. The circuit featured a half-mile front straightaway, which favored brute horsepower, and then a series of sweepers and switch- backs on the backside of the circuit. The track was fairly safe for the era, except for the final three races coming into Memphis (with Bubba Shobert the only other winner in the series that year) and the rivalry was intense, to say the least. Not only was it Rainey vs. Schwantz, two of the most talented riders in the history of motorcycle road racing, but it was also the two most domi- nant teams in AMA Superbike at that point—American Honda and Yoshimura Suzuki—going at it tooth-and-nail. Protests had flown back and forth between the two and tensions were high. Coming into 1987, Honda was on a roll, having won the AMA Superbike title three years in a row. Suzuki was coming off a dry spell, but now had the potent GSX-R750 and Schwantz, and they were eager to win back the championship for the first time since 1980. Yoshimura Suzuki's Kevin Schwantz celebrates his 1987 Memphis AMA Superbike victory on the podium alongside runner-up Wayne Rainey (left) and Bubba Shobert (right), who finished third. PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY LAWRENCE

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