Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Continu ed f ro m page 15 bu t always endi ng up at th e same place . - co mpetition. When I wan de r out. the Rolling St ones are cha nting into the night. "I am wai-tin g. I am wai -t ing. I am wai-ti ng. " Gen e sings along softly, looking very somber . C\l C\l .... u ..c o ...... u e "Yeah, 1guess that's what it 's all abou t. Who cares if th e riders get wasted as long as th e spectators get a show? That s what it's all ab out. " It's morning again, and Gene's washing his car be for e Do n Castro sho ws u p to play golf. The subject is Ontario, and I've just to ld him Gavin Tri ppe decid ed to run the na tio nal backwards on the course to give sp ec ta to rs a be tte r . s ho w . T he informat ion made Burritt o mo od y. This is bu siness, not sport ; livelih o od. n ot recreation . Rom ero star ts to tal k abo u t racing an d specta ting . "J ust Iike I don ' t thin k jus t anybody can beco me a d octor. or an electronic engineer, so me p eople have a natural ab ility to do t hings at spe ed , like in bike an d automobile raci ng. So me people ha ve ability an d talent and develop it to be able to han dle a vehicle at high speed. Other peopl e can't do that. That 's nothi ng agai nst them , be cause th er e 's a lot of t hi ngs I can ' t do. Tha t's wh y we have pe op le in the stands watching so me th ing t hey can't do and get ti ng enjoyme nt from it. Th at puts mon cy in ' my poc ket . But wh en I'm racing I d on 't even know spec tators are there. You never noti ce 'e m . " Gene 's alr eady pa cked for th e 50 mile dr ive . to Ont:,rio th at nigh t, his helmet wrapped ' carefully in a tee shi r t and pl aced in a br own leather satchel with his ne wly-repai red ABC leath er s. A suitcas e holds the clo th es h e th inks he 11 need, along wi th fac e sh ields an d "rip offs, tt A dozen ph on e calIs o r so la ter it 's off to go golfmg on a par- three cours e with Don Castro, who had arrived whil e Gene was polishing his Z's m ag wheels . Th ey pl ay fo r fun and money en d ing up even af te r 36 conse cu ti ve hol es of gol f. Maybe th e fun niest part o f the long day on t he links was Donn y taking pot shots at the ducks on a water hazard with damaged " d uc k ball s" he no longer w ant ed . G en e ins tru ct e d a n d co ngratu la te d Don on good shots, an d on ce wh en Donny was ahead, Gen e kidded "Oh , p ut t ing on a race face, huh ?" Racin g kept popping up bet we en putts and driv es. " Wouldn't it be a drag if thi s thing was ra ine d out?" Gene ask ed o n the da y 's 27th ho le under a semi -threatening sky. "Yeah. When wou ld they run it ? " "Ne xt week. " It didn 't rai n. In Dan 's Cam aro on t he way ho me, Romero th inks abou t the first da y he Tl spend on th e r evised track . " No screwing aro u nd. Tom orro w it's getti ng down to busin ess. " 42 Gene Rom ero coas ts to the Yamaha gara ge at On tari o aboard his T Z 700 Frid ay , in fro m learning th e course. The left side of his rea r ti re (On ta rio has mostly left turns when run backwards) is melted and deformed. an d he's "got a rich engi ne ." There isn't a smile on his face . Ins tead, a determ ined , al most detached , look of co ncen tration. "On the backfield the ass end W;IS getting real slippery," he tells the gat hering crowd inspec ting the tire. Before the wheel is removed for a tir e repla ce ment, Giacomo Agost ini co mes over and squats down fo r a better look. Kenn y Roberts leans ove r his shoulder. T he stage is se t. Tires can d et ermine who will lose and who will win co me Su nday, and everyone eit he r kn o ws o r is starti ng to suspect it. Ago is ru nning Du nlop slicks o n his European Team Yam ah a , wh ile the America ns are using Goodyear slicks. Certai n tha t the rubber compound they're running isn't hard enough to last an enti re 100 mile leg of the two-heat Natio nal, Gene and Kenny switch to another slick synthesis . Don Castro doesnt. Anno uncer Larry Huffman is in the pit s gathering interviews to be played over the public ad dress system during lull spo ts in the wee kend's rac ing program . He latches onto Barry Sheene firs t (With Ken Ro bert s ye lling in the b a ck gro und " Shee ne sucks! Barry Sh een e su uuucks !") , th en Donny , t he n Gen e. Gene so un ds bi tter whe n as ked th e inevitable "who 's goi ng to wi n ? " " I 'm no t ev en consid ere d a da r khorse," he says grimly. Larry deci des he wa nts a press predi ct ion too. He asks me and I tell hi m who I th in k will win. Pract ice is almos t over when I p ull into t he pi t area lat e Saturday morning. As I p ass t he Yamaha garage building a t th e Big 0, I hear an am pli fied Larry Hu ffm an ask "J ohn Ulrich , Associ at e Edit o r of Cycle News" wh o he thinks is going to win th e Nati on al to morrow. "Well , most people favo r Giaco mo Agostini or Ken Roberts; but I'd really like to see Gen e w in this o ne ," comes th e answer. Hard to t o beli ev e th at kilowatt boom be longs to m e. Just befo re the first Ex pert/Junior Lightweight Co mbined hea t Gen e 's in terv iew blasts t h ro ug h t he mul ti -speakers sprinkled all over th e infield, p its, and stands. " Watc h Gene Rom ero, he 's up an d would very m uch like to win th is wee ken d ; a very perso nabl e yo ung Huffman hesi ta tes as t he m an . " tw o -mi nu te s ign go es up . "Wait , Gene Rom ero's eviden tly not goi ng to rid e thi s one . lI e was scheduled to start in the nu mber two slot ." lI e as ks so me o ne in the booth with him if there is any word why Rom er o hasn 't shown up on the grid. "No. Larry , n o wo rd fro m th e pits. " Ra cer s don 't worry about wh at the ann o uncer knows. "J j us t did n 't feel like riding it," Gene Romer o says of the 250 as th e heat shriek s o ff th e line . He is ten se co m pa red to yesterday, waiting for h is Expert heat. Every ti me he turns around someone wa n ts so meth ing, an autograph, a word or two, share a memory. He handles it, even stopping to deal with people twice in a 50 foot walk to the nearest me n's room. Don Castro wins his Ex pert 750 heat, beating Ken Rober ts. Gene is fourth in his , behind Agostini. Afterwards both Gene and Kenny arc fu riou s over the tire sit uatio n. Rom ero investi gate s the possib ili ty o f gett ing his hands on a set of Dunl ops, with no success. Kenny tell s his mech ani cs he won't rid e unless th e tir e problem is sorted o u t. Debate an d discussion co n tin ues. Cast ro decides to stick wit h the soft co mpound he used in the heat race. Kenny is the lo ne holdout going for the hard ru bber in th e " wear vers us tract io n" h yp othesis. Gen e swit ched over to Donny's side and started helping t he pi t crew change tires . Later . he ate a s teak dinner and went to bed before I I p .rn. Go ing to bed th is early mean t o ne thing ; Gen e Romer o was serio us about this race . "He races best when he 's a little bit pissed ," an ol d friend said of Gene th e morning of the Nati on al , Sunday , Oc to ber 6. "And he's pissed ab out t hos e tires. " The s ta rt of th e National is less th an one hour away. " We're goi ng to ru n th e soft co mpo und we 've al ways used. They had some trick on es, but they didn't work." Gen e pauses a moment, then slowly say s H wanna win this sucker. n I T he first heat Gen e moved fro m seventh int o firs t with amazing rapidity , sto ppe d fo r a four second gas pit, and wo n. Whcn he steppe d o ff the bike during th e br ea k between pi ts, lo ts o f people wan ted to co ngratu late him , but what Gene Ro m ero wa nted was to know where Do n Castro was. '" saw a bike crashed out th ere against t he wall . but I cou ldn't see who it was be cause a crash truck was in the way . Wh e r e 's Donny? Was tha t Don ny?" A t first everyone says they don't know. Then one man says he 's afraid it is. Gen e wipes his face a to wel, takes ano ther hit o ff th e Coke so me o ne handed him , and wal ks towards th e garages. lI e breaks into a run. on (Donny crashe d whil e in second place a nd hit th e wall , b ut was uni njured .) The second heat would be th e decider. Ro ber ts . after a slip pe ry first hea t third place had swi tched to th e tires Gene used in th e first, an d ran away wit h the second heat. All Gene had to do was fin ish secon d an d he 'd beat Ken ny o n po ints. A fte r a pr ol on ged bac k-and-forth battl e with Barry Sh een e (Suz), Ge ne 's three second versus Sh eene- 's seven second pit stop mad e th e di fferen ce. I stood wat ching th e su rging sea of people su rro undi ng victory circle, trying to ca tch a glimpse of Gene. He had won his first National road race! Sudden ly he was moving towards the gate. Nancy was smi ling radi antl y , hanging o n to both Gene 's arm an d th e floral winner's wreath. Gene saw me, reached ou t his hand , and said with thi s incredible grin. "I gue ss thi s sh o uld put a ca ppe r on it , eh John? " Yeah , Gene . _

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