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/125987
I FROM ~SWEET BURRITTO~ ~ t G R: It 's a good lif e , but I wouldn't recommend it t o anyo ne. No t everyon e can go o ut and win b ig races, and it's quite dangerous. But if that's what you wa nt t o do, there are o nly two ways of doing it . Go racing all the way, or d on 't go at all! On unsafe eq uipment you're gonna hurt yourself. And even with safe equipment you'll have problems. Bu t safe equipment will limit the amount of problems , so I think it 's a good deal . safe equipment . But as [ said, [ wouldn't recomment it to anyone. It's not that I'm complaining, but it's just not as easy as a lot of people think it is. CN: You won Ontario , when Ken ny had the wrong tires mounted. You won Daytona when his clutch blew up. Many people say he is the best racer in the world. Don't you feel frustrated about that when you win big races? G R: Well, let's put it this way - [ d on ' t feel frustrated at al l when I go to th e b ank and put the mo ney in ! CN: OK, but yo u understand w hat I me an. G R : Yes, I understand what yo u m ean . CN : So me p eopl e say you wi n b ecau se o f this , and t his, and th is. . . GR : Well , not to o much I ca n say abou t it - you kn ow . Bu t t h ere ar e a lo t of people who are really good race rs an d st uff like that , but you have to fini sh to win. You go around a track in 50 seconds. Boy! That's really neat! But the winner is the first one at the finish line! I was the first one at the fi nish at both Ontario and Daytona, so . . .Kenny is a very good racer, but · you know - he thinks he can walk on water better than [ can. TO ~ANGRY By Philippe Debarle/ Moto revue Phillippe Debarle , a staff member of th e Paris, France based magazine MOTO RE VUE, spent 1974 in th e Unit ed States covering the AMA Grand National Championship circuit . During that season he mastered English and earned the respect of most of th e country's top Grand National competitors, including the subject of th e following interuieui Gene Romero. » CN: Ho w lon g h ave you been racing, Gene? GR : Well, a lon g time ago, in fact ever since I was b orn, we h ave been racing in the family . My dad was involved in racing, in automobile racing in Califo rni a , and then. .. 10 ' CN : Did he race? ROMERO~ GR : No, he didn't, but he was · you know . a mechanic and car owner at that time and it seems like we were in some kind of racing at one time or another. I started racing in quarter midgets • little race cars . when I was about ten years old. Almost ten. And then I raced them for a few years , about four or five, and then I bought a motorcycle. . .No , no! Then I raced go-karts for another two years, and after that I boug ht a motorcycle just to ride to school. My dad said, "You should race that !" I didn't want to race it , because - you k now • you get both wh eels sliding and you get in the air and - wooo! . that's t o o scary fo r me! But I we n tracing, and th e first race I rode, I won . CN: What ki nd of race was it ? GR: What we call scrambles . In the one year I raced scrambles, [ went from a Novice in the District, number 130 in fact, to Amateur, to Expert , and [ was Number One in the District in that one year. And the following year, [ said ['d like to race professional, but I knew I couldn't because I was under 18, and you had to be 18. I was only 15, so I got a phony birth certificate and went racing. The first race I ran, I won. And then everything just started getting bigger and bigger. I've had some bad times, like when I've been hurt, but it's been a really good business for me as far as finances are concerned. And on the othe r h a n d , it's been really good because I t rave l a lo t and mee t reall y neat people, like you . That makes the world real small and I enjoy it. Very few people can d o what they want to do and have fun and get pai d for it. I co nsider m yself very lucky. A lo t of people don' t know a good thing whe n they have it. I do! I really app reciate eve rything that's hap pen ed to me . I worked h ard fer everything I have , b ut I still app reciate . you know . what people h ave done for me. [11 never forget them Dr what they've done. CN: Wo uld you recommend racing as a living? CN : When you won some races last year, I rememb er that you were very polite, very nice to your sponsors and mechanics. You were almost too sweet, But at Daytona, for the first time, you acted different. You weren't very kind to guys like Ago, Kenny and McLaughlin. When you said, "Ago and [ had the same bike, the only difference was a faster rider!" or "McLaughlin was riding too hard , and [ was sure he wo uld crash," or "The slowpoke walks away with the checks," as an answer to Kenny's remark - well, you appeared to be a different Ro mero. Last year you were some kind of "Sweet Bur ritto " and yo u became so me kind of "Angry Romero ." GR : Yea h! I'm angry and I want t o get Nu mber One back. T hey kno w we re m y head is at ! Last year I was learn ing t o ride Ya rnahas, an d I feel t h at I proved myself. And the second thing ' is like I was supposed to go to lrnola and race , but everybody else is going there and I' m not! And that got me pissed off. That's probably why I had a bad taste in my mouth. And then everybody had a monoshock frame, if you remember, and I didn't have a monoshock! Right ? CN : Yes . G R: Well, OK, that kind of thing made me go faster on Sunday at Daytona. And [ beat Agostini, and the only difference between his bike and mine was a faster rider ! CN: Most .o f the time you get a slower bike than Kenny, I would say. What goes through your head as concerns that. GR : Well, ['m with the best team there is in the whole world, as far as [ am concerned, and [ feel priviledged to be on it. Maybe [ don't think his bike is much faster than mine. A nd [ think a lot has to do with tha t. CN : What I m e a n is he gets a mo nosh o ck and stuff like t hat. GR : Well, the t hing is I do n ' t !;.:low what position I am on the t~am . But as I said, I'm hap p y t n?t i'm ridi ng for Yam ah a and Ke] Carruthers and all those people the re have been fa ntastic w it h me. T hey d o a very good job. I do n't have any bad feelings there. I feel if they have o nly o ne mo nosh o ck , he should get it. [ would like to have it - don't get me wrong - but if there's only o ne, he deserves it, because he's Number One. But if I' m Number One, and there's o nly o ne monoshock . ['d better get it!