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/125845
Throttle twisting therapy eauc By Gary V an Voorhi s Photos By Ray Ninness and Van Voo rhis Rex Be a uchamp IS impatient. Alw ay s. That 's why Rex IS a racer altho ugh impatience isn't the only reason; Re x has a natural feel fo r .6 two wheels and the speed that goes wi th competition. The class ic Beauchamp appears about two hours before practice begins and is always in leathers - even if it's a 100 degree scorcher. Kinetic energy , stored up all week , begins to surge as Rex exp lores t he p its walking, search ing, prowling every inch of the area like a tiger sizing up its foe before the strike. In this case though th e enemy is the track and it sometimes appears that Beauchamp will explode. before practice. Other times Rex will seem almost subdued altho ugh, you should be quick to no t ice , he is still the first and only rider in leathers ; a devout sign of his faith that maybe, just mayb e, practice will start a little early. When the b ik es finally do ro ll out onto th e dirt for practice-be it mil e, half mile, short tr ack or IT -t hen and only th en does the fa ce seem t o relax and a calming influence take over ; racing is Rex Beauchamp's way of getting rid o f a weeks frustrations. Throttle t wist ing th erapy I like to call it ; Rex ins ists it's jus t impa ti en c e ( wi th j ust ab ou t everything from st o p . Iigh ts to slow waitresses). "On the track it 's legal to get out and go just as fast as yo u can with nobody to hassl e you for berserking it; it's my ch an ce to let it all hang o ut ." Beaucha mp is not a berserk rider though ; he does not ride a ragged edge like some but takes pride in the confident mastery of controlled speed as a badge of his profession . B eaucha mp 's riding style is best described as t hat of a charger; a rider who actively seeks the fastest line to the finish and is not afraid to ra t tl e a few ha ndle bars along the way. Watch Rex on the line just before the nag drops and you'll notice that he seems oblivous to every t hing and everyone around him ; it's professionalism and the ability to fo cus to tal concentration on the most important item at that time. "I look at one spot in the first co rner and the starter at the same time; I'm going to that spot unless somebody knocks me down before I get there. If somebody gets in the wa y I still head for that spot. Just before the naj( drops the spe ctators and the other riders dissappear and the re's just mc , the spot in turn one and the starter. If something happens then I just handle it when it comes up." An interesting insight into what makes Beauchamp tick but then Rex is an interesting individual full of insights, opinions, dreams and astute enough to understand his shortcomings but not make excuses for t he m. It took Rex three seasons to have one tha t satisfied him. "Rookie year was like running into a brick wall after my Junior season (Rex was Top Junior in the Nation in 1970); m y second year was a little better." It was try and try and try again during the first two seasons but a second at Santa Fe (1971) and a t hird at t he Homew oo d mile (9 I 72) was as close as Rex got to the champagne glory of a National victory. 1973 fulfilled two immediate goals: that of a National win ยท" It was a long time corning" -and a spot in the top ten riders in the nation; the only e x c lusively dirt rider to break the lineup. , To some Rex's op inio n of himsel f on dirt might sound like a lot of wind; an ego trip 'to fill space. I think it is a sincere observation of himself, his talent his co nfiden ce and what he feels he can do. "I can beat anybody on dirt. \Vinning a race is in your mind, your ability , y o ur machine and how you feel on that particular day. There ar e days when you can't do anyt hing wrong and others where nothing goes right. Lu ck is another factor -b eca use everything is a gambl e." " M y main cornpetrnon is Kenn y Roberts, Gar y S cott, my Harley teammates and a number of other good Harley riders. Kenny is by far the best rider I've ever seen . Gary (Scott) is more headstrong , more forward motion; Kenny throws some style into it which might just make Gary the better racer in the long run. Right now Kenny is on top and he 's got it in his head that he's the best ; it's going to take awhile to dethrone him." Does Rex then co unt the top plate as above his sights? No way . Beauchamp believes that number one is definitely within his grasp as an exclusive dirt rider; sure it would be hard and take a 100 percent season but, as Rex points out, Kenny Roberts had enough dirt points to win the title last year withou t his roadrace placings . "I'd like to get up there to second o r third in the standings this season and I don't think it will be that hard if everything goes well. The big problem is having what happened to Jim Rice last seaso n happen to me. I think J im had every National won that he went to but his machines broke; it was bum luck:' Road racing in a word bores Rex; it's not that it isn't exciting but just that things happen so much slower on a road race circuit than on an oval. Rex has road ra ced but it was so unsuited to his charging style that he felt the dirt required his tota l co m m itt m en t and it was better to be a winner on dir t than an a l s o ran on the road ci rcuits. Strangely the form of racing that most suit s Rex's sty le is short track; an event