Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Tony DiStefano: The most important tlUng is that we're hired to win the National Championship. That's first priority. Then, you take where the most money is, the most exposure is, that's the Su pe rcross series . The Trans-AMA's next. We're getting into a different area of discussion. Let's try another question. Should teamwork be accepted as part ofAmerican professional motoCTOSS.' The most obvious example, of course, was this year 's final 12Jcc National race where Broc won his title over Danny LaPorte. There was obvious teamwork there, when Bob Hannah was signalled to let Broc pass, and it stirred up a lot of controversy. What rules, if any, should be made, and how could they be enforced.' Broe Glo ver: Hey , how are you gonna make a rule on something like that that's happened all year? It happened to me of course, and they've made a big deal out of it , but Suzuki did the same thing in Missouri. Billy (Grossi) stopped right at the finish line, right in front of the AMA officials -- stopped! -- and waited for Danny (LaPorte). I was way ahead in second place or something -- Bob (Hannah) was in first or something -we didn't see it . I didn't do anything. I just said, 'tough,' you know? It happened to me. Big deal. That was the second to last race; that didn't have any pull or anything. Bu t the last race re ally did? H a , The last one was pretty dramatic, and press people did jump on it.. . Broe Glover: I got jumped on hardJ That's like saying, if you were walking down the road, and you saw a hundred dollar bill lying there, and you looked around and there wasn 't a soul in sight, would ' you pick up that hundred dollar bill? Or would you walk on , thinking that someone else should come and pick it up? What was I supposed to do? That was the championship right therel Was I supposed to say , 'No, I don't really want my bonus from Yamaha, and I don't want a Number One plate. I think I'll wait for next year when I really win every race, or when I really earned it , or something?' What would you do if you were in my position? Marty Smith: "To me, probably th e same as these other two squids sitting next to me, fans .are the most important thing. If you don't have fans, you're just not going to make it! "-I've taken the most crap off thatl I can't believe some 'of the ink they're writing. Are they short of something to {" ri te about? Do they not have en ough races to cover? I w guess they are getting short on something to write about -- I picked up the new Motocross Action and saw a test on 50cc Ital-Jetsl About a three page thing on them. 'It was a joke, the whole thing was a jokel ( T hey also had , I think, a two page article on this team- work question. no matter who their rider was, as long as their company could get the Number One. That's all that counts. That'll sell 'em a million motorcycles right there. I think that anybody who tries to take it away from Broc is jealous. That's what I think, because he earned it. No matter how he got it , he earned it . To ny DiStefano: I don't think there was anything so wrong with what happened in Texas.. . Tony DiStefano: Su pe rcross _. it's different, that's for sure -- it's two different types of racing. It's definitely different than motocross. The only way I can justify it to myself is to think that it's two different ways of racing. For sure, man, there's the biggest money there and the most exposure. Sometimes there's 50,000 people! And that's a lot of exposure. The racing's good. It 's just different. Let me interrupt for a second. This question wasn't in In outdoor motocross, if you fall down in the first tended to decide on this one part icular incident. It's comer, it doesn't make any difference. If you're gonna general question about something that might come up go fast , you can still be up there. In the stadiums, it's not that way. I can't really say that's bad; it's just the way it is. So, I'm for Supercross. it's getting better. It 's sure getting us a lot of exposure. I know it opened people's eyes to mo tocross the few times it's been on TV. l ' And at the present, the only way motocross is going to 1-0 Q) get on TV is through the stadium races. I think it eventually will get motocross in general built up and it'll help us outdoors, help us all the way around. So, I think Q) they're super. Broc Glover: " T h at was the champion ship r ight there ! Was I supposed to say, 'No, I think I'll wait for next year when I really win every r ace, or when I really earned it or something? ' " next year. Do you think that this is right? Should one team member slow to let another one by' Marty Smith: It shouldn't be done so conspicuously. It should be a lot more inconspicuous. The end. Tony DiStefano : It 's always been like an unwritten law -- you just do things -- but any company would have done the same thing. Everybody's spending a lot of money to go racing. If their team can do something to help win the championship -- it's how many "tools" they ' have. The way it was, Yamaha had more tools than Suzuki. I think it would have been something to worry about if Hannah had run into LaPone or something. But it just was handled very poorly, that's all . I don't think it's every gomg to come up again, now. It's something bad that came up; it posed a lot of problems, and everyone's aware of it. Everybody's smart enough now that it won't happen again. I like to think of the sport as individuals racing, but you've really got to face reality, The factories are puttin g a lot of money into it . Marty Smith: It is individuality, though. If Broc wasn't good enough to win the motos that he won and placed high in the other ones, he wouldn't have been in the position (a potential National Champ) he was th a t let the incident happen. So, he did do it. He did d o it. He got a little help from his team but so do we all. We all get a little help from our team once in a while. So there sh ouldn't even be anything to talk about! OK, we won 't talk about it anymore. Next question. Supe rcross, when it was originally introduced; was generally disliked by riders due to the tight and sometimes dangerous courses. Have things improved, as far as rider safety is concerned, since then' And how do you feel about riding in Supercross events now that you've done so and have had a chance to consider the benefits as well as the disadvantages' Broe Glover: O h yeah, I didn't get a chance to read that. I'd like to see what they had to say. I try to read all Broe Glover: I've never ridden one. that stuff, but there's so much right now , I'd have to buy To ny DiStefano: (la ughing) No more comment, th en , every magazine in the whole world to read about it. Hey , from youl it (teamwork) is in every other spon. It is! It's in every Ma rty Smith: I think a couple of the promoters like Rookie Leopold down there in Louisiana try to help us spon, and.. . Marty Smith: Well... that's your opinion, and that's out keeping the tracks safe. But others, like the Supe r, because it happened to you . But now , let's get my or bowl , that thing is not any safer at all . It 's more Tony's opinion now . I mean, I think it's the same way. I dangerous if anything. That thing has ninety mile an think it's pretty bad. Brae earned what he got. If you get hour straightawaysl I like Supercross because of th e money, and you've a Number One, it isn't ~ven to you. You earn it! No matter what it is, if you WIn a ra ce in any sport, you earn really gotta get hot on the first two laps to get up in the it. In tr ack , if you win a race, you earn it. Whatever you top positions. But I know every rider is thinking 'safety first' and I know every rider has definitely got it on their get , you earn itl He got that. And the only reason everybody m ade minds all the time that they could get-off just like that . But I think Su pe rcr oss is pretty good. I'm all for it . I such a big deal ou t of 'it is because Yamaha.. wasn't earlier, but now that I see Rookie Leopold and a Broe Glover: Blew it! Marty Smith: . .. Yama ha made it so open. Every body couple other guys making their tracks a little safer, it's a saw it. I d on't know who was running the thing _ little easier on t he riders. A rider comes out to an indoor track, and it's (Yamaha management) that day, bu t whoever di d it , that's whose fa ult it is, and that's who should be jumped dangerous, and h e says, ' Oh boy, we've gotta race on on. Not Broc. Broc was ou t there, riding every race, this thing tonight!' And it really just kind of bums the doing what he's supposed to do . But it just happened to rider out! It puts the pressure on him . He knows he's be that they tied on points. That's the way they worked gotta do good for his factory , and he wants to make money, and yet he doesn't want to go out there and get it. I know for a fact that if it was Honda, Suzuki, Maico hun. Bu t, yet again, if he wants to make money, he's _ or anybody else , they would have done the same thing gonna go out to ride hard, ya know? ..c 8 u Q) We 've seen some pretty impressive changes in MX bike development in the past few years, in suspension and in power characteristics. What do you think ~ll be the next trend in MX bike development? Is there anything lacking in the ones you ride now' Any improvements you 'd like to see made. ' . c::l Marty Smith: Each year you want a little bit more horsepower and a little bit better handling because each year it gets a little faster. But I don't really see any way it can get any different than it is now because the bikes .. .there's no way you want any more travel than what we have already. I mean, we're running 12 inches on our Hondas right now. And I can barely touch the ground when I'm sitting on the starting Iinel 1 don't see how we could change the suspension on our bikes ...it's working good. We have good horsepower. They might be able to help us out there a little, but then we can only go so far. You can only punch out a 400 so far. 1 think the bikes are pretty much at a peak right now . The only thing they might change is the design of the bikes . . .the shape of the gas tank or stuff like that. But as to the way the thing works and runs, it's already pretty exotic right now . I don't see how they can change it. _ ' ' Ton y DiStefano: I agree with Many. We're pretty well to the max. But I think automatics are something of the future ; we'll see more of them possibly. I rode a Rokon one time a few years ago -- did some testing for them. At the time I was racing a CZ, and I went a lot faster with that Rokon than I could with my CZ. And that was before they had it all sorted out. Now Husky has theirs pretty well sano'd out. _ 1 think for new riders to use an automatic would be easier than for one of us to adapt to it. It seems wrong to us because we have a stand ard .. our own bikes -- to compare it to. Yet for a guy wh o never adjusted to a standard transmission, that'd be the way to go -- no shifts. I know so many times I've missed gears! Broe Glover: What do you think about rear shocks? They're not all ... l mean, they're pretty nice , but...r think tire compounds are probably the next thing we'll be messing around with. And also , what about putting gas tanks down lower, like where the airboxes are, and then running the airbox up where the gas tank is with a dummy gas tank so you can still slide up on it in turns. Marty S m ith: Dummy gas tank an' a dummy rider! Bro e Glover: That's it . And you'd have a lower center of gravity by getting the weight of the gas down low. T ony DiStefano: " W h en I first started out, th ey'd say, ' Motor cycles and no school, man? You've got five million things against you !' Now th i n gs are a little better... " ' And they're going to come up with more stuff, like that full -floating front brake and thi ngs like that. I'm sure there's not an ultimate motocross bike, one that can't stand some improvements. I think you guys just described a late model Rokon -automatic transmission, and they 've buill a bike with the gas tank under the seat. Not only that, they put a 9

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