Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125742
DICK MANN,. PART THREE M "Some people are talkers, others are doers." By David Swift The Corona National started and the riders were told nothing could be done except to file an official protest afterwards. Bill Boyce was sitting on tbe fence on the rna tter but had to stand beh ind Kellem's decision. When the decision became final, Mann was silent but looked right through Boyce. Then he said, quietly, "Y ou know you're wrong, Bill." The force of his words dwarfed the sound of a dozen bikes. Mann sat on one of the crates next to his dormant BSA and carefully penned his offical protest: "Starter failed to give a fair start and th en failed to disqualify the offending rider or riders. 1 am protesting Mr. Kellem's decision to do nothing to recitify the situation. Richard S. Mann." There was the usual carnival in the pits after the race ended. Mann busied himself loading the bike and spares into his motor home and changed clothes. I asked if 1 could hitch a ride home with him in order to gather more in forma tion for the interview, planning to catch a plane back in the morning. Exasperated, he declined permission, but said, "Okay, let's finish it right here." What could he say with bottle rockets exploding over his head, with tonight's winner Jimmy Odom pumping his arm, with. a thousand potential autograph-seekers milling about? Alas, he had won. So 1 thanked him for the time he had given me, quite sincerely. Mann is dedicated to his profession, motorcycle racing, 100 percent. Count your fingers and you will see this leaves zero percen t for in terviews, posing for pictures, publicity shunts, and other time-consumers. If you watch him closely, you will find that every time someone sticks a camera in his face or asks for an autograph, particularly when racers do. He' seldom brags about beating another rider unless he is joking. The element he's up against is himself; his own limitations. When asked about his stra tegy for winning the number one plate, he declines that there are any. "I just go out and race." If asked if he looks forward to winning the Championship, he'll say, "I don't get too pumped up about it." "What sort of advice would you offer to a young guy wbo wants to race?" "If he wants to race, he'd be out racing. " "Well, what if he needs to know where to start... ?" "If he wants to race he'd be out racing. Some people are talkers and others are doers. If he wants to talk, he'll ask how to start racing. If he wants to race, he'll already be racing. The only people who want to race are racing right now. In fact, there are a lot of people racing right now who don't want to race." So there you have it. He's not a talker; actions do speak louder than words. If you listen closely, Mann is shouting for an end of the superficial rantings such as you've spent the fast few minutes perusing. Go out and find your own happiness, if you must. But don't lean on his laurels as if they were your own. he's preparing to race, he will smile and say the things most celebrities are supposed to say. But he always looks just a little bit hurt. To be a professional motorcycle racer, now more than ever before, takes a combination of mechanical and riding skill that cannot be equalled in any other sport. Mann has been at it much longer than anyone else, and has .worked harder than anyone else, yet has only been Grand National Champion once, seven years ago. He has finished in the top ten nearly every year for the last decade and, until this year, turned his own wrenches whenever possible. He led a brief portion of the Sacramento Mile last year with a broken foot, such is the extent of his dedication. Yet, he looks for no recognition, and when it is offered to him he stammers, blushes, and seeks to squirm out of such an embarrassing situation. One reason for this is his lack of confidence in the press. When a person represents a creative, volatile force such as Dick Mann does, the last thing he wants to be is misrepresented. It's a matter of pride; Mann will never be too proud of himself. Once, 1 asked him to mention someone, past or present, who he thought was important, great, whatever - just someone he admired. Again, that long pause, but this time it was longer than usual. "AI Gunter. He was a fantastic late-50's racer. Well, more than a racer. His motorcycles were so far ahead of their time. Still are. He had a tragic accident one year and injured his head. Everyone said he wasn't the same but that's not true. A tremendous free-thinker. " Mann is a free-thinker, perhaps the Philosopher King of the National Circuit. But he's not ahead of his time, or behind it. He does not seem to occupy the same- segment of time other " History is chock-full of people who have done great deeds for the common good. Mann is not one of them. He represents the most beautiful facet of human existance: individuality for its own sake. Once every generation there comes an entity who creates not for another person's benefit but from the yearnings of his own soul. R~cognition is irreJ evan t, and sometimes, as in this case, a pain in the ass. 1 hope, as a result of this article, people will appreciate him more than ever, but from a distance. To interrupt his train of thought is like shattering a delicate stained glass window. A couple of times during the interview / promised Bugs 1 would send him a manuscript of it before publication, in order to insure the fact that he wouldn't be misrepresented. Naturally, it became impossible because of deadline problems and the erratic circuit he follows. The promise was sincere, and broken. / hope he accepts my apologies for not realizing how stupid my promise was; but he probably knew / wouldn't keep it, anyway. He exercised the utmost patience with me, gritting his teeth occasioruJlly when / displayed my lack of knowledge, but he tried very hard to accommodate me...as much as Did< Mann would let him. -D.S. '" en '" .... en C>.